Open Studio recap

Despite the crazed end of last week with me attempting to prepare my studio for this past weekend's Open Studio event and plan for a party on Friday, everything turned out pretty well in the end. This is the fifth year that I've participated in POST and preparing for it is always nerve-wracking. Luckily, I had my wife here to help out a bit and keep me on a more even keel.

I didn't have much prep time on Friday, so on Saturday I spent the first couple of hours putting work up on the walls. I knew from past experience that no one shows up for the first 2 1/2 hours on both days, so I had some wiggle room to finish getting the studio in shape for visitors. Since my most recent work is in the show at the Art Alliance, I dug out a bunch of older paintngs and drawings. Some of the paintings I hadn't looked at in four years and it was good to see them in relation to the couple of newest paintings I have.

Overall, the weekend was good. The weather was nice which people took advantage of. I had about 18 visitors over the two days. Not bad, but fewer than I've had in the past. There were a few first-time visitors, which is always good. The interesting thing is that my space is now off the beaten track. Old City was much more acitve with artists years ago, but with the changes in the real-estate climate, most of the pockets of art studios are spread out further north, west, and south. On top of that, it was just a really nice weekend for being outdoors. I know that if I wasn't participating in POST, I would have been out there, too.

I look at the open studio events as another tool to get people to know who I am and what I'm up to. It's a great way for people who don't know what I do to find out and for others to see what I've been up to lately. I thought I might actually work on a painting or something, but I'm not in the paitning mood during Open Studios. I might mess around with a small drawing or something between visitors, but that's all. Having my wife there working on and showing some of her jewelry helped with the boredom that comes with just hanging out waiting for people to show up, too.

The second part of POST takes place next weekend for people who have studios west of Broad Street. I won't be able to visit anyone's space since I have to work. I'd like to, but visiting studios doesn't pay the bills.

More photos from the weekend are here