art hop

Last night was the Art Hop in town, we exhibited our paintings and people came round to take a look, and I was able to walk down Broadway and drop into many of the open galleries and shops (which as I've mentioned, are practically one and the same), meet some new people, and unexpectedly try on a pair of vintage western boots. But more on that later. By we, I mean myself and another artist in residence, Megan, who arrived on Friday. We'll be sharing the studio for the next couple of weeks. We each sold some work, laughed and talked with visitors for a few hours and agreed that the night had gone well. This is the first gallery opening I've had which was preceded by a 2-hour soak in the backyard with everyone. Being mellowed by mineral absorption is probably a good way to start such an evening.
Pictured is one of the two tiny (2"-3") paintings I sold (7-Up.. this one is paint & collage, and inspired the Art Guitar I made for Beacon last month), neither of which I made here but brought because they were small and led to some more small pieces. But there was some fun comments on some of the local things I've painted. Also another painting of the Trail Motel sign, 16"x20", a bright and luscious celebration of cadmium red, idea being to create something in which the negative shape is as much a part of the composition as the sign itself, but still integrated. I am unable to rotate it, but you get the idea.