San Francisco Open Studios has been going on all of October. I have live tweeting from my various studio visits each weekend using the hashtag #SFOS. But as both the month and Open Studios draws to a close, we look back and my own experience on the first weekend, showing my photography at Art Explosion and in the showcase at SOMArts.
The works were mostly drawn from the same set that I featured in the solo show at The Parts Room in Oakland in early September, include the “triptych” of the large red, blue and yellow pieces.
The show in Oakland was a great experience, the best visual arts show to date. And I learned a lot about hanging which I put to use for Open Studios. This was most true for the showcase at SOMArts, where I showed up fully equipped to have my piece perfectly centered and mounted in the allotted space. The tools and meticulous measuring and drilling of holes seemed to impress the staff at ArtSpan.
And the work paid off with the end result (though the camera distorts the leveling a bit).
During the preview party, I received numerous positive responses from visitors and various people in the arts community.
The response at the studio itself was also positive. There weren’t always a lot of people visiting, it came in waves throughout the weekend, but those who did come were quite engaged.
[Photo from Art Explosion Studios Facebook page.]
I received both positive and constructive feedback over the weekend. One thing that is clear is the strongest works are those, like the “triptych” that focus on details of the urban landscape, a particular shape or pattern or color. Those are also among the most rewarding to work on, so I will likely focus more on this in the future. I will probably continue to have humorous pieces as well. People of course loved the big orange cat. The doll was a lot more polarizing (see the most recent Wordless Wednesday for an example), with some people really liking it and others hating it.
In balance it was a good experience – it was also great to share it with the other artists in the studio. It was also nice to get it out of the way during the first week, and spend the rest of the month as a viewer rather than presenter. But I am left with a sense of “OK, what next?” in terms my visual-art work…
The neatest thing about presenting your work is feedback.
You have learned things and as long as the learning continues
it will probably continue to be fun.I think it is great that you
have presented your pictures to an audience.
Bet they are more impressive in person 🙂
I also learned from reading your post 😉
Sounds like you are enjoying yourself,
and that is great 🙂
I was hoping I would get to see a wrap-up on the show. You have a great attitude about feedback, and that isn’t common. I hope you do continue with humor, even though you’ve isolated an area where you want to focus. I always like photos that make me smile!
That is actually one of the benefits of waiting a bit of time before posting the wrap-up. Most of the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but some of the “constructive” feedback stings at first, and it’s only after a bit of time that one can absorb and react to it.
Everyone can rest assured I will not be giving up with humor – it’s a core part of my personality and art 🙂