Gallery reception

Today was the reception of the gallery I judged. It was a nice little event. Nothing too big or flashy. I did cause quite the stir with my selections. Some of those little ol' people are so cute when they're flustered.

"This one is BEAUTIFUL. This should have won. Who would even PICK that one?"

(Apparently I would, my good crone!)

"Francis, come here. This is the one I want. Why didn't this one win?"

(Because it's bathroom art. You can buy it and look at while you poop.)

I wanted to sort of mess around with them and have some fun. But that wouldn't have been very nice. Especially since I already rocked the foundation of what was considered to be beautiful. They were already convinced the judge was on crack! I love it. Haha.

Now I get to decide if I want to be part of this Artist Association. Of course, that might just be inviting more old-school, rigid-minded approaches from the 65+ crowd. I'd be the only one not old enough to collect social security! Though it might be fun to have my young-hooligan-ness dripping on their set ways. Good times.

Judge, jury and ribbon bestower

I judged that show today! It was sorta fun even though it took a lot longer than I thought it would. Part of the problem was there was no clear distinction with what the categories were going to be. I guess in the end it doesn't matter too much since no one gets anything but the recognition.

I had my favorite piece actually picked out in the first 5 minutes. It was a mixed media project, which sort of surprised me because it's not usually my thing. But this piece was amazing. The artist used dried flowers in conjunction with watercolor to set up this scene. So cool. The whole thing was monochromatic, and even though the theme dwelt more with gardens gardens, the browns just stood out to me. Haha, possibly because there was color belching all around it. I don't know. It reminded me of an old-school storybook. Or a sepia toned photograph or illustration brought to life. Really impressive stuff. I'll have to see if I can take a pic of it, though not sure if you're allowed to do that in a gallery...

I wound up selecting 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for Oil/Acrylic, Watercolor/Pastel, and Mixed Media. Also chose an honorable mention in the first 2 categories. I was told one of the people I bumped down to honorable mention for a pastel always won awards. I had actually kept him off my list the first few times around because his piece was what some like to call "bathroom art." It was very good, don't get me wrong. But it didn't have the same life as some of the other pieces.

The president of the association walked in when I was finishing up and started talking to the woman who was recording my selections. I had walked to the other side of the gallery when I saw her point to a piece I chose. His response was a rather loud, "Reeeally?" Hahaha it was funny until I thought, "Shit, here we go," but then I decided, "So what? I'm the judge, am I not?"

The reception is next Saturday. Think I'll probably head over and check it out. And see what kind of waves were stirred up by my ribbons.

Judge!

I received a phone call today from the local arts center in town... And they asked me to be the judge in the upcoming show! That's right. Not a judge, the judge.

Wow.

Granted, I might have to finagle my way out of work for this (who cares?), but now I feel like I should brush up on some of my crit skills too. There will be both professional artists and amateurs in the upcoming show. Either way, I doubt I will know many of them. Which is a good thing when you're trying to objectively judge something that is influenced heavily by subjective impulses.

I think I talked her into three categories instead of just one best-in-show piece. The winners don't get any money (and neither do I!), just recognition. So why not? Plus, I think it's difficult to weigh an oil painting against a water color or a mixed media piece or even sculpture. It's like asking, which is a better piece, Starry Night or the Pieta. Okay, well it's not exactly like that. But you get what I'm saying.

Can't wait--should be exciting!