Yesterday, I went to the opening for the New Hampshire Art Association New Members Exhibit in Portsmouth (we seriously need a shorter name for that), walked in and saw this happy red dot:
The red dot means it sold! And that’s in the first day of the show, we haven’t even gotten started yet. That feels pretty good, I love selling art to strangers, it’s the highest compliment.
I had some good conversations with a couple artists: Jeffrey Wagner, PHD in Psychology, who has an Rod Stewart vibe (When he talks and doesn’t have a British accent and that seems wrong), who’s aggressively minimalist website is here: jeffreywagnerstudio.com -he must have built his own template to make it that sparse- explained that he uses glass cleaning squeegees cut to various lengths to apply his paint as if this is not astonishing. Deadpan serious about this, he was, and I begun to suspect that it’s a deeply dry schtick, that in his mind it’s hilarious… so I started stifling giggles, God I hope it’s true, it’s genius. If you had brainstormed an opposite kind of art from mine you couldn’t do better than his, check it out.
It’s in my nature to drop every single thing I’m doing to run out and get some window squeegies to try it out but I can’t can’t, too many things to do.
The businesslike Carol Reynolds, NHAA Gallery Manager cornered me about what the hell is screenprinting? And her every non-verbal communication broadcasted a deep wariness of wacky artist explanations; she’s been to the wacky artist dog and pony show and would like a clear answer, plz. There was a roomful of people and I tried to explain in a pithy way but it didn’t come across very well and she told me to write it up. “People looking at your artwork want to know and I’m not sure what to tell them” she said, and that’s the happiest problem ever, for me, I’m on it.
So here it is, knocked it out this morning:
