GJ Willis' Art Notes

This Saturday I really wanted to head down to the Creative Alliance so that I could get some shots of The Big Show. The Big Show is the Creative Alliance’s annual members’ only show. I contributed a painting this year. Oddly enough, the painting I contributed sold. The reason why I really wanted to go today because today is the last day the show will be up.

As you can recall I never went to the opening of the show. It is my custom to skip opening nights. In fact the only time I saw the show was during the critique this Tuesday.

In the end I had to nix my plans of photographing the show because the #10 bus was extremely late in arriving. If I had taken it the maximum amount of time I could have spent photographing the exhibit would have been about 5-10 minutes. Not to mention the fact that the street in front of the gallery would be blocked off for the annual family day at the gallery which includes sidewalk chalk drawing. So thus there was no way of telling how long a trek it would have been to the gallery. Oh well, at least I know it made me and the gallery a little money....

In the end I decided to go to the movies to see the new John Cusack movie.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a short sleeve turqouise Minnie and Mickie Mouse t-shirt along with black shorts.

Nothing very interesting happened today other than we had a surprise morning get together at work for the new guy we recently hired birthday. The only problem I had with this is that it was way too early in the morning for cake. I swear it wasn’t even 10pm yet.

QUICK MOVIE REVIEW

THE ISLAND
Yesterday, I saw The Island at Towson Commons.
It wasn’t the greatest movie that mankind has ever created. It was an ok movie. I did not feel that I wasted an hour and a half of my life.

I have to admit that I found it difficult to feel empathy towards the clones that the movie was about. However, the action scenes in the movie were great. Steve Buschemi was great in the movie playing a low level worker who befriends the clones.

Ewan McGregor was great in a dual role as clone and the man who the clone originated from. I thought it was interesting that he played the clone with an American accent while the man the clone was based on had a Scotish accent. Overall, I’d say wait till it comes out on cable.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a bright white short sleeve blouse along with a crinkle brown printed skirt....

Yesterday, I was going to see a movie at the Creative Alliance to escape the heat. I decided against it because the movie starts at 8pm which means I would be standing around waiting for a bus at 10pm at night.

So I decided to see a movie at Towson Commons. This summer Towson Commons has become my home away from home. I’ve been there so many times that I’ve memorized the names of the staff. The movie I saw started at 7:00pm. I made it down to theater at 5:15pm. So thus I had time to use up before the movie started.

I wanted to cross the street and go over to Barnes and Nobles but I felt afraid because there was a long line forming in front of the Rechter Theater. The Rechter does not show movies. It’s a concert venue.

I don’t know why but I feel afraid of passing crowds. I know it’s illogical to feel that they all might decide to make fun of me as I passed by or physically attack me. To be safe I decided to stay on the side of the street I was on.

I decided to go back to Towson Commons were I noticed that they also had an art gallery inside. I went in. The woman who was a sitter at the gallery told me that all the work in the show was comprised of graduates of Towson University’s class of 1973. She also told me that she had contributed a piece to the show. Sadly, she never identified the piece that she was responsible for. Also I must say she looked very well preserved for her age. If she hadn’t told me that she contributed a piece to the show I would have thought her to be around my age.

Feeling inspired by all the art I saw I walked up the street to the Plaza Arts, art store. While there I browsed around and finally decided to purchase a black scratch board and scratch board tools. I have always wanted to give scratch board a try. Finally, I can give scratch board a chance!!!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a cream coloured short sleeve blouse and a black skirt with a cream coloured circle design throughout.

happywaiting, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This evening I went to my first ever art critique. The critique was held at the Creative Alliance as part of there members only, Big Show exhibit. I admit that my main motivation was not to get my work critiqued but to get out of the unbearable heat that has gripped our fair city.

I made it over to the Creative Alliance a little before the 7 o?clock start time. Just as I walked over to the exhibition area Jed Dodds was either talking to me or the elderly gentleman who stood by me. It was kind of hard to tell whom he was addressing. Overall, I was absolutely amazed that upon seeing me he did not say in a curt manner, ?Who are you? What do you want??, then make moves to call the cops. He was actually personable. I mention this because it seems as though the majority of times that I have run into Dodds he has been downright hostile towards me. I?m not sure if it?s racially motivated or if there was something else going on. Perhaps on the previous occasions I ran across him he was just having a bad day. So now ladies and gentlemen that makes three times this year that I?ve run into Dodds and he?s been pleasant twice. So perhaps as Meatloaf once sang, ?....two out of three ain?t bad??

As the critique started Dodds explained that the entire exhibit was hung by him and a few other folks. He said that last year?s exhibit had an all time high participation of 200 artists. However, with this year?s show the number went down to 175 artists out of 1,000 members.

The work was arranged chronologically according to when we joined up as members. There was an outer wall and an inner wall. The work on the outer wall consisted of members who recently joined. The work on the inner wall consisted of long time members. The most popular form of work this year was photography.

Three people not including me were there when the critique began. The three people were all senior citizens.

At the critique was Skip. He was an older gentleman who wore glasses and carried a cane. He had on a tan Indian like print shirt. Then there was Carol. Carol was an older lady who wore her grey hair in a ponytail. She also had on a seersucker long sleeve top with a jade necklace. Next we have George. George wore a baseball cap along with a rainbow coloured vertically striped shirt. Pretty soon at around 7:10 the number of three went up to four when a young twenty-something lady came in the door. I didn?t quite catch her name. So thus she remains the nameless woman.

The first piece we looked at first was Skip?s. Skip contributed a black and white photograph of sand to the show. The photo had a highly textured feel to it. It looked more like waves in an ocean than sand. It was taken while he was vacationing in New Mexico. I?m not sure but I think Carol might have been his wife. They both seemed to have a close familiarity with each other. Anyway, the main opinion of the group was that Skip should change the mat from grey to white. The reason for this was that the photograph itself had a grey tone to it coupled with the grey mat. This gave it a very monochromatic look. Carol however, felt that it would have looked better with a darker charcoal grey mat.

Next we walked over to the nameless woman?s piece. I learned that she was originally from Massachusetts but is going to school in Maryland. Her contribution to the Big Show was a black and white photograph of a woman with a people in the background. To my eyes the woman in the photograph had very odd eyes. The picture looked very mysterious. The woman explained that it was part of a series she was working on. Apparently, all the people in the photograph are her friends. No one had any real critiques to make about the photograph. Carol said that the photo looked very narrative. Dodds said that it looked like a scene from a play.

For a short while we looked around at other pieces. The group became enamored of Sally Mercle?s very lovingly detailed teeny theatre. I kind of sort know Sally through the Art-Mob mail list. Also she has a blog.

Then next we moved into the inner wall to critique George?s painting. George said that he paints what people might like to see. I liked his attitude. He was like an elderly baseball capped, every-man who just happened to like to paint. His painting was a large oil on canvas of a female face. It had an almost yin-yang feel to it. The overall scheme in the work was red, black, and white. It had a nice linear feel to it. The eyes were done in a realistic manner. This gave it the feel of eyes looking through a mask. One side of the face/mask was black, while the other was white. He said that he was inspired by wanting to paint eyes. He wanted to paint them huge. He also said it was part of a series of four to five paintings. To my eyes the piece had a Picasso like feel to it.

Finally, we walked over to Carol?s piece. Carol said that she was an art teacher at a senior center. She also said that she was developing cataracts. Her painting was a very kinetic looking abstract. The painting was done in pastel coloured scheme. The only critique that came up was the possibility of adding borders to the painting. Then the nameless woman upon critiquing Carol?s painting said that, ?... trying to put borders on the painting would be like trying to put a lid on a trash can.? I do not understand why she had to be so cruel. Carol is an elderly woman who is going blind with cataracts!!! What she said right then and there made me not like her very much. She came off as being a very arrogant, condescending, bitch. I hope never to come across that nameless woman again!

I never did get a critique done on my painting as I did not know where it was located at in the gallery also I was frightened. Everyone there had little stories to tell as they showed there work. I was afraid that I would break down and start to stutter uncontrollably if I said anything. Thus, throughout the evening I stayed my typical quiet autistic self. Also I have to admit that I think I might have openly cried over whatever cruel remark the nameless woman dished out about my work. She seemed to have some sort of weird obsession with borders and mats. It seemed like every painting she looked at she mentioned the mat.

Just to let you all know, I did not find my painting until the critique was well over. It was located on the inner wall. I recall getting an email from Dodds saying that the painting had sold or that someone was interested in buying it. I wasn?t quite sure how to respond to the email, thus I never did write back. I was surprised to find that it did in fact have a red dot under it indicating that it had in fact been sold. I hope that the buyer does not change his or her mind.

Now, I wish I had found it sooner so that I could see what the nameless woman would have to say about it. You see her photograph did not sell. In fact my piece was the only work amongst those that came to the critique that night that sold.

WHAT I?M WEARING:
Today, I have on purple plaid mini skirt and purple v-neck short sleeve blouse along with black slides.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning it was very rainy outside. I suppose the reason for this is that there is a warm front on the way. The heat wave that has crippled the other side of the country is moving to our region. Thus when you have a cold front hitting a warm front you get rain. Gee, I wonder if I’ve been following local TV weather too closely?

At 5:27 I got on the #1 bus. The bus’ serial number was #9524. The air conditioner was on. However, it wasn’t too cold.

At 5:37 I got on the North Avenue light rail train. The number on the train was #5036. I was the only person besides the driver aboard.

At 5:55 the B shuttle bus arrived. The number on the shuttle bus was #8912. The ceiling over my seat began to leak when we made turns on the highway. Earlier in the ride when we were on the city streets there was no indication that I was sitting under a leaky ceiling.

QUICK REVIEWS:

SHAGGY at ARTSCAPE
Yesterday, I saw reggae artist, Shaggy at Artscape. I know that I haven’t written this before but a lion share of songs on my iPod are songs by Shaggy. So I had to see the man, the myth, the legend, Shaggy live and in person. I was simply mesmerized by his performance. I was dancing and singing throughout the entire show. Shaggy loved the audience and they loved him back.

I also found it interesting that he does not talk the way he does in real life on his songs. He sounds like a regular person when he’s talking in between songs.

My two favourite performances this year at Artscape are Shaggy and Morris Day and the Time

HUSTLE AND FLOW
I saw this movie yesterday after I left Artscape for a brief point to later arrive to see Shaggy. I saw it at the Charles. There was a ticket taker there wearing what appeared to be a Napolean Dynamite wig. Seeing him frightened him. I think I dropped my ticket in fear when he reached out to tear it. Somehow I made it into the theater to see the show show.

Overall, the movie was brilliant. It’s about this small time pimp who dreams of becoming a rap star. The star of the movie Terrence Howard really made me feel for the seemingly unlikable character of DJay. Despite his character’s obvious flaws you end rooting for a pimp to make good. Also rap artist, Ludicrous appears in the movie as you guessed it, a rapper. Music legend Issac Hayes is also in the movie as a bar owner. All in all this was a very good movie I’d highly recommend it.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on denim capri pants and a watercolour-esq turquiose short sleeve blouse.

After I left from church I walked over to Artscape. A dance troupe was about to start up the day at 12:00. And who should I see sitting on the grass reading a book on the hill by the Sun stage? That cute Amer-Asian, Latino, Fillapino, beautiful foreigner guy that always wears black. He was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. I wonder what book he was reading? He left immediately after the dancing ended.

I’m proud to say that this year I ran into absolutely no one I know personally by name or used to know.

However, I did see local semi-celebrities. I saw Megan Hamilton from the Creative Alliance at the Jah Works/Shaggy concert. I don’t know her personally but I know her when I see her. She left just as Shaggy was about to take the stage. I guess the huge crowds that were beginning to fill in either got to her or she wasn’t that into Shaggy. I also saw a woman who looked like State’s Attorney Pat Jessamy watching the African drummers in front of the MICA book store. She seemed to be very into it.

Well, that’s all for now...

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a yellow short sleeve top that has a pattern of blue flowers on it. I also have on blue shorts to match the top.