Post Pop-up Art Invitational

Admirers looking at my wall, 4-26-19

My wall after I was done hanging it, 4-26-19

I wanted to show those of you who were unable to come to the one night art invitational what it looked like. We had to be there to hang between 9-11 the morning of, and the art had to be taken down either after the show or the next morning starting at 8 a.m. I had a plan for hanging my wall and though I didn't follow it, because I had a pretty good idea, it went pretty fast. I wish I had thought to take photos of how the different artists did theirs, as just like when there are a group of artists painting the same subject and each one is so different, how to hang a wall of art follows pretty much the same pattern.

My friend, Jeannie Paty, hanging her wall

It was my first experience with this kind of a venue. It may well be the wave of the future as yet another well established art gallery closes this month in Denver. I thought it was very successful overall. There was a continual stream of people in attendance with the busiest time starting around 7:30. I believe I had the first sale of the evening, the little hollyhock study on my wall above. For an artist, our loyal supporters are always very close to our hearts, and without them where would we be? When a total stranger likes your work enough to buy it, that is a different kind of validation. It is an entry into a new relationship. The man who bought the little piece below the hollyhocks, "Along the Arno," wrote on the subject line of his check "Keep up the great work!" This is particularly poignant for me as I have been struggling with whether I should stop painting altogether. My shoulder has been reconstructed twice and it has been causing me enough trouble that giving up painting was definitely on my radar as a possibility. I received so much validation to keep on keeping on during this show. I will share one more experience: I was standing in the vicinity of my wall during a quiet time where I was not engaged with anyone else. A man and his wife approached and stopped next to me looking at my wall. He said to his wife "Now these paintings tell a story." He proceeded to go through each painting telling the story he saw. I cannot tell you how gratifying that was to hear. I want my work to draw people in to tell a story or open up a dialogue.

I know I was happy with how many people stopped at my wall and really looked and enjoyed. A great big thank you to Cherry Creek Art Gallery for organizing this event.