First Friday

Opening night at the Bromfield Gallery with the two artists, JIll Weber and Bettsyann Duval this past Friday was very well attended, even though the weather was less than ideal, rain. In fact the whole area was really crawling with a lot of people. I think the large number of people can be partly attributed to what I consider a"disaster attitude", the end is near, so we better go now. The Boston Globe, the Phoenix, the Big Red Shiny all reported this  week about a shift in the gallery scene. A few galleries are closing, some are moving and others are reconfiguring. To some, this triggers the chicken little response, others are bit more philosophical and think in terms of Darwin. I tend to lean towards the Darwin theorists. 

The South End is evolving, and yes, I am sure part is due to this lagging economy, but I am equally sure, that it is also do to the natural rhythm of business. So who is staying and who is leaving. Allston Skirt had their last opening on Friday. MPG will be closing its doors in July. Bernie Toale, is bowing out of the gallery operation, but his business partner, James Hull, will be taking over and maintain the current roster and promoting newer artists. The really good news for the area is that Howard Yezerski will be moving his gallery into the newly renovated 460 Harrison Ave this September. So all the doomsayers out there relax, take a deep breath the end of the Boston art world is not in sigh its just redecorating.

Back in my studio I have just finished gold leafing 20 6x8" panels for my hula-hoop project. I got an e-mail from Ginny Sykes earlier in the week asking if she could change the show dates. I broke out into a cold sweat, oh no, not another show cancellation ,and me with all this work and I should have been working on the work for the show in October, instead of wasting my time making work for shows that don't happen. Thankfully she is not canceling the show, she has reassured me(now who sounds like chicken little) its just that the dates need to be adjusted.

 I have started painting the new group of hulas and I am really happy with what is happening and an looking forward to seeing them as one big group. I have been painting them for a year, but I sell them and so I have not amassed a large number, this will be the first time. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow, the assembly line is kind of cool.