{Night Out} From Junk to Art…
A night out on the town isn’t the same as it used to be. Just like an art opening in a small town isn’t at all like openings that we have both been to in NYC. Saturday night was date night without the kiddo and we had an adventure- one that I just had to share. And it all started at a favorite junk store. The gallery that we had our art show at, is in a little town called Edison. I think it’s smaller than La Conner, the town I’ve talked a lot about. Both are about 20 minutes away from our house & both look like they are made from theater props. On the outskirts of Edison (next to one of our favorite little restaurants) is a house full of junk/ store. We like to stop there when ever we are in the neighborhood. Last time we were there, we spotted a really cool old chair for $20 (that needed a serious face lift) and we wanted to see if it was still there…. it wasn’t.
Oddly, this little town has more culture and cool stores than many big cities. City folks tend to gravitate there -along with real locals which makes for an interesting mix of people. You can buy $30 cheeses & truffle oil, art, handmade bread, or someones old bric-a-brac, all on the same street. Saturday night there was a blues band playing at one bar & and ’80’sish, something or other, sequin- short skirt wearing singer in the bar at the other end of the street. The buildings are also full of character & architectural interest. So it’s a diverse town to say the least.
After dinner in Edison, we walked down to the end of the street to the art opening. Realizing during the walk that there were tons of stars out. The gallery is in an old restored school house and is the brainchild of two woodworkers. The openings always bring in a crowd. Below are 4 pictures of the show taken before the opening – property of Smith/ Vallee Gallery. Chris’ piece is on in the left photo- mine is in the right. We are actually chatting it up in the last photo. I’m the one with the yellow bag & Chris has on his cool hat.
Now back to my pictures again… Here is another view of Chris’ work. It’s actually an interior look at our bathroom & hallway made from cardboard. Rather than have me explain his thoughts on the piece, you can read more about it here. You can also see the back of him chatting with our friend Wendy (she’s the one sort of hidden), who made the black & white sgraffito ceramic place setting on the table.
It was really fun to be in a show with Chris that wasn’t a faculty show. Unfortunately our pieces weren’t near each other. Although we have really different styles of work, I love seeing it together. His studio is in the basement- mine is in the attic. My characters are made up- his spaces are reconstructions of our personal space.
Even though we don’t work together, I think our work compliments each other well. I sort of see it as me making people for his spaces. The first thing I did when I was finished with my figures, is place them by his piece. It just seemed right. They are looking into the hallway, up the stairs to my studio … where they were made. Hope you enjoyed your little tour of a night at a small town art opening!
