.first.friday.adventures.

My sister's in town so everything has got a bit hectic, but somehow we managed to get ourselves out to June First Friday. The sky was beautiful...

And we did a drive-by of the Other Gallery, where some of my work's been hanging; only to find it was closed, on First Friday, which is sad. I also finally noticed the sign on the door that said "By Appointment Only", which is useless.

And after 20 minutes trying to find parking we were almost trampled by a peace march. I took a really horrible photo.

At the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center there are two particular exhibits which I wouldn't mind owning pieces from. The first was Acts of Selfishness and Devotion by artist Jane Almirall, where I took another horrible picture...

The room after was a group show, Terra, with artists Victoria Reed, Shannon Sullivan, and Ellen W. Wolf.
A.MA.ZING.
Victoria was our favorite.

Just a short jot upstairs was show by Clint Metcalf. I'm not really one for impressionistic abstract brushstrokes, but I really liked his work despite all of that. His paintings look like painting feels.

And over at Windhorse Tattoo is Head Games, a solo exhibit of new works by Alicia Ross. The Mister almost did buy me something from there, but we really don't have the wall space at the moment. And half of the work was already sold anyhow.

Somehow after we ended up in Zona Rosa at Bo Lings - I got the Pad Thai which was awful, but Mister got something delicious served in a pineapple.

We saw a comedy show at the Improv, and went home exhausted.
All in all and excellent First Friday!

.first.friday.april.

Two openings!
St. Louis and Kansas City!

"Solar" debuted at OfficePort as part of the Future Currents exhibit for Middle of the Map Fest...

And "Tea and Tears" debuted at the Mad Art Gallery in St. Louis. Krystal Chittendon was kind enough to send me a photo...

I wish I could have made the St. Louis show - the theme was much more to my interest, plus all my bellydance-St.Louis ladies were there performing.
But, staying in KC the mister and I were able to drop by Windhorse, where Reach Beyond Death is still showing - and it's amazing. My favorite was "Narcosis" by Jeff Srsic, and Mike Didia's piece took a very close second in my heart.

By the by, Windhorse is the place to go to in Kansas City for tattoos. Mark Galloway is just phenomenal  - the guy responsible for my birds, and who will some day do my octopus.
When I sell a few more paintings and can afford my octopus.

.art.opening.

Another one!
But only one painting this time 'round. And I swear I am going to take pictures this time.

Tonight is First Fridays, and also the second day of Middle of the Map Fest - mostly music, but also the Forum, which includes art by local artists (like me) with the theme "Future Currents: Relationships Between the Now and the Not Yet." I'm not sure how well my work fits the theme, I ended up painting Solar Flares. But still....

Open to the public at 5pm (I expect to get there at 6?), at OfficePort, 208 19th St.

And then at 10:30, the LateNight Callers are playing at Firefly.
100% worth seeing. Completely.

.ramble.

Friday my beau and I wandered over the the First Friday openings - which was mostly disappointing, though not as disappointing as last month though I'm pretty sure that was due to the lack of heat (it was hot but not as hot), as most of the galleries we went to look at were filled with the exact same art as last month - and it wasn't good. Not that we looked at many galleries - after three repeats (one I was actually really happy to see a second time) and one gallery that was so inadvertently elitist I walked out, we gave up and went out for dinner.

The one repeat I was really happy about was Andrew Batcheller, who's showing at the Mojo. There a review of it at the bottom of this, and you can see his work here. Between his good work - and the several bad shows, I got my studio cleaned, finally, and did some painting of my own.
And I really need to stay away from acrylic paint from now on.
And that's easily managed.

I'm still trying to figure out what it is I want to be doing with my own art. Reading mostly. It's coming. A big rant. I feel it.

This afternoon I'll be posting videos for the Dance Challenge - around 5 I think?