It's here, the day I've been working towards for nearly a year. Tonight is the opening reception and we'll provide food and wine for it -- party time! After Bob and I installed the work yesterday, which took a surprisingly long time, I stayed on to take some photographs and enjoy the space's transformation into a vibrant collage of fiber art. A lot of friendly people passed through and chatted with us while we were working and we invited them to come join us tonight for the opening.
It's dawning on me that tonight I"ll be surrounded by people who really love art -- no one will come see my work there by accident. They will be interested in the concepts and ideas that I'm exploring. That kind of audience will appreciate the way I've developed my ideas and recognize the amount of work that has gone into it -- and maybe will even offer resources and suggestions for further exploration! I confess that when I shut the door to the gallery after we finished yesterday, I already was envisioning new compositional ideas to explore next, so it doesn't appear that I am going to be leaving this subject any time soon. At least another year or two ahead of letter forms, but the ideas are evolving and so will the work that I create.
I love love LOVE the acrylic holders for the Pages pieces, and will try to get a closeup of those for you before everyone arrives tonight and the celebrating gets underway. The fabricator -- his name is Gary but he calls himself Plastic Man -did an amazing and beautiful job on each piece. I am so appreciative of how many talented people I am meeting. The sign people at Event Graphics were wonderful too -- isn't that a great sign on the window??
I realized yesterday how important it is to me that this body of works reflects, however subtly, how ideas evolve. The working process from one piece plants the seeds for the next one-- and that's where my writer self really steps in. There is a story in the making of a body of work, not necessarily obvious but an undercurrent that is much like a hunt for buried treasure. Clues, secret maps and journeying to new lands all blend together in the search. It feels sometimes like falling under a spell voluntarily and watching magic unfold from the inside out.
I'll share the photos from tonight's opening with you tomorrow. We're going to get there a bit early and put some different bulbs in a few of the spotlights to improve the lighting. I have no idea how many people are coming tonight --a few loyal (bless em) friends or a crowd, could go either way -- but we'll have a nice spread and I'm celebrating with or without a lot of people. It's wonderful to set a goal and make it to the finish line with good, cohesive work and still have as much, if not even more enthusiasm to continue building this body of work.
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