Coming to a storefront near you: art (and maybe wine)
I'm noticing a trend in right-brain-left-brain cooperation: art + nearby storefront = new creative enterprise that might drum up business in the surrounding area. Today on LivingSocial I noticed this:
Corks and Canvas Events offers a deal for a 3-course lunch and art lesson, usually $130 but only $65 with the deal. Alcohol not required for these events: you remember The Boy's seventh birthday party, right?
Notice the subtitle says "paint & sip studio." Besides kids' parties, Canvas in Kirkland, Washington also does grown-folks events.
If I remember correctly, the Canvas space used to be a pop-up art gallery to occupy a vacant storefront during the depths of the Great Recession. Business and city partnerships in Chicago and Seattle have also used this tool. And it's not just major cities: late last year Stephanie Lee coordinated a pop-up in southern Oregon.
Have you seen new art-related businesses in your area? Tell me in the comments.
If I remember correctly, the Canvas space used to be a pop-up art gallery to occupy a vacant storefront during the depths of the Great Recession. Business and city partnerships in Chicago and Seattle have also used this tool. And it's not just major cities: late last year Stephanie Lee coordinated a pop-up in southern Oregon.
Have you seen new art-related businesses in your area? Tell me in the comments.
It's their party, and he'll cry if he wants to
Happy birthday, Schack Art Center!
The kids and I went to the Schack's first anniversary celebration this past weekend, and like all good parties there was something fun for everyone.
A collage table for kids and adults...
... a print-pulling center...
... even the little guys like TwoBoo could color masks.
The art gallery featured some incredible masks from artists worldwide, both traditional (like the Baule mask from Ivory Coast)...
... and contemporary (by Margo Grothe and Marita Dingus).
But no birthday party for a one-year-old would be complete without a meltdown.
TwoBoo was happy -- well, not happy AT ALL -- to provide this service when I informed him it was time to go. I was just terrified he'd knock something over. Wood, clay, glass... so many choices.
Have I ever mentioned when he commits to a tantrum, he really commits? For about 45 minutes? As I carried him out kicking and screaming, one person joked TwoBoo is destined to grow up to be an artist. Personally, I think The Boy is already the artist...
... while TwoBoo, on the other hand, will be the agent who screams until the art gallery agrees to pay Rembrandt-level prices for The Boy's work. Plus TwoBoo's commission, of course.
Miss Lucy's debut
Isn't it time you had a little more steampunk in your life? Of course it is.
Let's join Miss Lucretia "Lucy" Pettigrew, relaxing in the garden in full Steampunk Sally gear, shall we?
Originally I was going to set the watch face, surrounded by copper tubing, on her chest. But it just seemed a bit much. Then I remembered, hey -- I have a ball tea strainer that would make it look like a pocket watch!
A green tag from my stash contrasted better against the rest of her clothing color palette. That tag turned into the base for a necklace hung on a chain of safety pins.
You might remember I said Miss Lucy's a bit of a firebug. She keeps a match within easy reach, in a bottle at the end of another safety pin chain woven into her curls. (Not gonna be easy to explain that to the authorities.)
And the goggles... putting them together from rubber scraps was so much fun I recommend making your own.
Miss Pettigrew will be joining me at the Artists' Garage Sale in mid-June. So if you'll be near Everett, Washington next month, come see us in person!