2024 Open Studio

 

Today was the big Open Studio event at the art building in Ocean Grove.  We were asked to be there by 10:30 for a group photo, and promised a brunch for our troubles.   So I was there on time.  As I pulled into the parking lot I saw food being brought into the building, so I guess this was catered.  No problem there.  I dropped off a few things in my space, then headed up to the 3rd floor where the brunch and photo would take place.  A good crowd in there already, at least 20, and more were coming.  There were some quiches, some plates of sandwiches, some pinwheels, tins of salads, jugs of beverages, plates of cookies, etc.  I just took enough to fill one plate, as I don't like being stuffed for teaching and talks.  I knew some people, but others were strangers to me, but that's life in the basement.  The photos weren't posed, just group shots of people sitting at tables, which was fine by me, as it would have been quite difficult to make it across the room.  Lots of food left over, so maybe there will be some leftovers in future days.  Everyone had a chance to introduce themselves (board, artists, others) then I headed down to the first floor to get a second bag from my car.  From there down to my space.  Rearranged a few things to make more room for visitors passing through, and got ready.

I put out my recently rescued postcards, and a tin full of cookies I brought in, as we were asked to bring treats to have in our studios, plus I had promised them to anyone who showed up.  

A few framed artworks were arranged around the room.  My tables were cleared, and I was ready to cut.  I had done just a little more drawing on my block, re-drawing that car hood one more time, and a few minor corrections.  I had brought all my tools with me, but took out just the good ones for today.  Also brought my jazz/blues book of discs, which seemed appropriate for my plans to work on a Robert Johnson block.  All of these have been written about before.

The first hour was kind of slow, but eventually people started visiting.  Sometimes families- parents and children on an outing.  Sometimes groups of adults, all ages.  I had sent emails and postcards to a few people, most of whom had been to past events there, but none of those showed up.  But that's not to say everyone was a stranger- among my visitors was Vince from the critique group, and Ann, who organized the group show we had at OCC several years ago.  And of course, people I knew from the building.  First time visitors mostly noted two things- the great light that the room has, and how intense woodcuts are, between the work that makes them, and the impact of the black on white.  A few people took cookies and postcards, but most remained there.  I kept count of visitors, and by the end of the day, I had 55 people show up in my space, breaking the record I had from last year.  I have tentative orders for a print or two, so I need to follow up on those soon. 

Because I had so many visitors, I didn't have a much time to cut as I might have.  I decided to start at the top and do the buildings and land in the upper half of the block.  Figures are more fun, but this had to get done as well, and I was going to be in that room for five hours.   I finished almost half the block, which is a good start. Results from today can be seen below:

At 5:00 I shut my doors, put the room more or less back the way I found it (some of Molly's stuff is still out of the way, but nothing where she can't find it if she shows up in the next few days), cleaned up any mess I made, took a reference photo of the block, and got ready to go home.  It had been a long day and I was exhausted.  On the way out I ran into Jeanne, who said overall it was a very successful day.  It seemed to be for me.