Jamaica Plain Open Studios 2012

What a weekend!

The weather was perfect, the crowd was engaging, and I couldn't be happier with my first JP Open Studios.





I was so lucky to secure a spot at the Eliot School. The whole event was very well organized and ran so smoothly. It was great to get to know some of the other instructors there as the screen printing class I will be teaching is swiftly approaching.

The response to my work was positive and I had some wonderful discussions with a few local art-appreciators.



These birds got a lot of attention (most folks tried their hand at IDing each species) and the Arboretum tree was popular as well (a young couple recognized it as the place they had recently taken their engagement photos!).

This was my view of the event:


During both days I painted while sitting behind my table. I had a few kids come by and ask if they were "real paints" and I chatted with them about their own art adventures.

I can't wait for next year and have plans to bring more cards featuring my watercolors (the animal postcards were a big hit) and maybe a few more 'product-y' items (stationery, animal toys, another calendar).



Thank you JP Arts Council and everyone who came out!

xo
Sarah

IT'S OFFICIAL

I'm registered!

September 22nd & 23rd, 2012 from noon - 6pm! Jamaica Plain Open Studios!

Since my 'studio' is in our tiny home, I'm participating in a group space. I'm so excited. I will be at the Eliot School showing my stuff! I hope you'll come and see me.
It's a ways off but I have so much to do to get ready. Stay tuned for one million updates along the way.

xo Sarah

Art Everywhere!

Last weekend was Somerville's Open Studios. 1) I love seeing ANYONE'S studio in photos or real life. 2) I miss Somerville quite a bit. This is my second May as a JP resident visiting SOS as a spectator. We couldn't go both days so our stops were limited but we got our 'money's worth' by visiting three shared spaces.
The Washington Street Art Center is awesome (and one of my nearest/dearest, Megan Mary Creamer, has a studio there), Fringe is such an enviable space and cooperative - and it's so so cool and The Little House Studios are as awesome as they are tiny.

Here are some photos (you can click to go to Flickr for more info)...







Seeing how others work is so inspiring! It makes me miss having a designated workspace but it pushes me to work more so someday I can have that kind of space again - either by seeking outside studio space or by moving to a bigger place. The day of wandering (and drinking of many iced chais) and enjoying good art talks made me so excited for my own upcoming JP Open Studios (I have an informational meeting on them tonight!) and the show at the WSAC that I will be having with my fellow Dream Team (group working title) in September.

 Here are some raspberries...

Up in the Woods...for a birthday!

Sunday was my dad's 70th birthday!
Curtis and I drove up to see him and to have brunch with him and some more family. My dad and aunt/uncle live in Barrington, New Hampshire.

My Dad's house:




My Aunt Jenny and Uncle Gary's house:




Me and my dad & Pa with his special custom Thimblewinder birthday ribbon:




And I made sure to wear my pig-u-corn pin that my dad made me way back when:


He also made the giant feather hanging in one of the photos above. He's an awesome coppersmith but doesn't get into the shop very often these days. I hope he gets in there soon!

It was a nice, cozy day. We ate good food and had good laughs (my aunts are a HOOT). Family. :)

xo
Sarah

So very busy... see you on Sunday?

This blog has been so neglected.
The Bazaar Bizarre is swiftly approaching and so much needs to be done AWAY from the computer. Here are some studio shots to hold us all over until I get a chance to write again....











Hope to see you Sunday!

Sunday December 4th, 2011
Noon - 6pm
Cyclorama at 539 Tremont St. Boston

Something Sweet!

Hello internet!

Tonight a very exciting, very special event is taking place!

Something Sweet is an art auction (with dessert buffet!) to benefit the Somerville Homeless Coalition. It is being hosted by the awesome Washington Street Art Center in Somerville.

This is the mixed media piece I donated...



And this is how I made it...

Screenprinted the houses in white on to a wood panel:


And watercolored over:




In all honesty, it was mostly an experiment. I paint over screenprints pretty regularly but usually on paper. I love how the watercolor bleeds in to the wood and calls attention to the grain.

Oh and here are the cookies I made for the event!


Something Sweet takes place TONIGHT November 4th from 6pm - 9pm at the Washington Street Art Center 321 Washington St. in Union Square, Somerville. Hope to see you there! I'll be the one with my face full of brownies, bidding on EVERYTHING.

Everything! All at once!

Every single month I take a deep breath and think "at least THIS month won't be as crazy busy as LAST" and I did it once again at the beginning of September, I blinked and now the month is more than half past in a whirlwind of busy-ness.

This past weekend was no exception to the busy overload!
- Friday night Curtis and I went with Jen to dinner and to see the movie Contagion. Both were good.
- Saturday my folks came to town on the train. We picked them up at North Station, went out to brunch, did a little South End Open Studios, wandered, had tea/espresso, wandered some more and dropped them back at the train.
- Saturday night Jen spent the night since we had to be up at FOUR AM Sunday to head out to Hopkinton for the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk! (The walk was great. I'm exhausted but so happy we did the whole thing again this year. What an event! Friends and family and snacks and laughing and WALKING.)

Mid walk:


Post walk:


Do you mind if I use the rest of this post to make a big list or two? No? Thanks. You can read it if you want.

Upcoming ART Deadlines:
* Oct. 18th : WSAC/SHC art due
* Nov. 1st : Artworks! (New Bedford) art due
* First week in November : Craftland work due
* Dec. 4th : Bazaar Bizarre Boston 2011

Upcoming EVENTS:
* Wednesday - to Storm King! (more about that later!)
* Thursday - Storm King + Curtis's Birthday! + driving to North Adams
* Friday - Mass MoCA!
* Saturday & Sunday: JP Open Studios, Beantown Jazz Festival, MICE
* 9/26 - Elbow concert
* 10/1 - Tangled show opening

I know there's more stuff in there but if I don't remember it, I don't have to worry about it, right? These things don't WORRY me, really, it's just so much running all over, neglecting my chores and having fun. I'm very lucky. But I do need to find some time in there to pack orders and build up stock for upcoming fairs and the holiday etsy selling I'll hopefully be doing. PHEW.

Man, this post sure has a lot of words.
More pictures soon!
xo
Sarah

JP First Thursday no. 2

We've been pretty good about getting out to a couple of our favorite local art venues during Jamaica Plain's monthly First Thursday. I usually forget to bring my camera - but not this month!

First stop - Aviary!


The current show is beautiful to look at but the story behind it is even more amazing. It's an exhibit of prints made from "Glass negatives from the Providence Public Library Special Collections printed at the AS220 Darkroom." One of the AS220 members/co-curators, Krystal Grow was there and I listened in as she told another spectator that the glass negatives (mostly from the early 1900s) had been hiding in boxes and folders and drawers for years and years and years.

When the members of the AS220 Darkroom caught wind of these negatives they wrote a proposal and got a grant to collect them, archive and protect them and to PRINT THEM. The resulting photographs are breathtaking.

The clarity picked up on a glass negative are so minute and to see these photos - which, in their day, would have been printed relatively small - blown up to 11x14, a size they were never meant to be, all of the tiny details are still there. The photos of old (mysterious!) machinery are fascinating.


Such an amazing project. You can read more about it (and see all of the photos!) here.

Next stop - the Hallway Gallery!



Mixed media by Jeremy Majewski, sculpture by Ben Silva and paintings by Christopher DiPietro.

I love these comets/astroids by Dipietro and this storefront by Majewski.




Both bodies of work on the walls complimented each other nicely and I loved the fallen-star-like placement of Silva's 3D pieces. The Hallway is such a cool space for a group show. Sculptural pieces sit quietly as viewers maneuver around them and it's impossible to see work by the two artists at the same time which makes the intimate space magically create solo shows for both artists!



After our doses of art we stopped at Harvest and the Cupcakory truck* for dinner fixings. We sat by Jamaica Pond and dined al fresco. Lovely.




*if you EVER see the Cupcakory truck, run right over, give them $3, get one of their salted caramel cupcakes and GOBBLE IT UP. So good.

I love JP!
Have a great weekend.
xo
Sarah

Soon! Bazaar Bizarre Boston 2010!

Site here!

Busy busy!
xo
Sarah

Trunk Show

A couple of quick iPhone shots from my little one-day trunk show at Magpie in Somerville. We had tea and cookies and it was lovely.

JP First Thursday

Jamaica Plain's last First Thursday of the season took place yesterday evening. There were gallery openings, sales, music, free samples, activities and demonstrations.

The First Baptist Church on Centre Street had music and a craft sale that we unfortunately missed (as we were working our way from the opposite end of the street) but we got to see a few selections from a lovely and haunting photography series by Ashlee Wiest-Laird. On January 18, 2005 the First Baptist burnt down and they are now rebuilding but before they started, Ashlee photographed the church. I found the photos taken in the winter are really breathtaking but sad; Curtis called them surreal.




After reading a lot about it online, I finally got a chance to visit The Hallway Gallery.
The space is tiny (literally a long, narrow hallway) and the size forces/allows you to be very close to the artwork on display (as well as your fellow gallery-goers).

Monotypes and artist's book by Maria Molteni.


Mixed media pieces by Brian Patrick Adams.


Photography (the backs of peoples' heads - wonderful!) by Hallway's owner/curator, Brent Refsland.

I don't have a dog but Polka Dog Bakery is AMAZING. They have a few cat things but the majority of the space is filled with beautiful toys and collars, and rows and rows of glass jars filled with every shape of dog cookie and treat imaginable.


And lastly, check out this fake Hanni we spotted at an insurance agency on Centre Street!


Next First Thursday in JP will be December 2nd, 2010