Friday, November 13, 2009

open studios

studio

This town I live in is pretty sweet. Open Studios is a yearly event here and it's a weekend for artists of all kinds to open their doors and share their goods. There were a ton of galleries participating, but we stuck to one section of town, Pendleton Street art district. There is an abandoned old mill near the center and old buildings of a once thriving little area are left. Of course the artists, being the pioneers that they are, have re-claimed the strip and set up shop in some amazing spaces, right next to some umm, crack houses. Makes it eclectic though!

art-bomb

Art Bomb, the first we toured, had at least 15 different studios inside. A sort of cooperative, where they could share and create amongst one another. Our favorite was Jo Carol Mitchell-Rogers who had these little square acrylic on masonite paintings. Is it weird that I fell in love with the "singlewide trailer" & empty bathtubs in a field? I guess there's just something about junk that brings out nostalgia. Kind of reminds me of the drive up to our mountain house in Beersheba Springs. It's a slice of America that's like no other. I wish I could stumble upon a field full of old, discarded bathtubs. That would be rather nice.

©mitchell-rogers

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Next it was on to Flatiron Studios which sits on a triangular lot down the street. There were a couple stores inside including art & light gallery which had all sorts of eye candy. The shop was tiny and packed though and that usually spells disaster for a 6'4" husband. He knocked over some magnets and caused a commotion, but luckily nothing was broken and the owners were cracking up. It's hard to be tall. Then it was on to Knack next door. I introduced myself to the owner and found out she refurbishes old furniture. Paints them pretty colors, adds fun knobs and just makes a worn out piece look simply fabulous and new again. I wish I could do that! I was eying all sorts of stuff in her shop. All the shops are open the first Friday of the month and I can't wait to go back.

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