the weekend
The second day of 'Open Studios' went pretty much the same as Saturday. Overall, I had about 30-35 visitors for the weekend which isn't bad at all. I think it helped that my expectations about the number of visitors weren't as high as last year. That, and a few glasses of wine during the day, *heh* I had a couple of people come in who are interested in possibly purchasing work. I'll be following up with them soon.
At some point in the afternoon, my circle of friends started trickling in, turning the event into a spontaneous get-together. Having them around made the down-time between visitors a lot more fun. Every year, when I do Open Studios, I can count on having some friends around to hang out with and have a little bit of a party. As the day wound down, they left to have dinner and I joined them after talking with the last guest I had.
I caught up with three friends for dinner and dessert. Then, out of the blue, we decide to go see A History of Violence, which stars Viggo Mortgensen. It was ok, I wasn't really taken with it. I respect David Cronenberg as a director, but this film just wasn't as good as it's being made out to be. The idea is good, but there was something about how the characters were handled that made the story feel less than fleshed out. Mortgensn's Tom Stall has a family in a small, idyllic town somewhere. He's involved with thwarting a robbery which brings him a lot of attention. Some of that attention is from mobsters supposedly from Philadelphia who think Tom is somone else. Is he or isn't he? That's the thread that the story hangs on.
I appreciate the moral/ethical issues brought up, but the movie could have had more of an edge to it. As is, I found myself laughing in places that I shouldn't have. Most of that has to do with the thinness of the characters and story. I could see where it was going long before it got there and that took lot away from the experience of the movie for me.
I saw The Constant Gardener a few days ago and that's a much better film all the way around. It's a very well-made film centering around a mild-mannered British diplomat in Africa whose activist wife is found murdered in a remote part of Kenya. At the center of this is a story about a huge conspiracy involving pharmaceutical companies and drug trials in Africa. I was really struck by the nuanced transformation the title character goes through as the film progresses. He starts off on the outer edges of his wife's life and ends up taking up her fight after she dies. The character and story could have been ruined if it was in lesser hands, but Ralph Finnes does a great job as does the director, Fernando Meirelles. If you want to see a good recent film, check out The Constant Gardener.
......
Now that this weekend is over, I can begin to get back to something of a regular studio schedule. The next big event on the agenda for October, is the AFF Contemporary Art Fair in New York. The gallery was juried into the fair this year, and 7 of the artists Bridgette represents, myself included, also had work juried into the show. That's happening next week, from Wednesay to Sunday. I'm heading up there for at least one of the days. I'm thinking of going up on Thursday and returning Friday afternoon or so. I need to work on Saturday so I can't stay longer. I'm hoping to connect with a couple of gallery reps from outside of the Philadelphia area for possible shows and representation.
At some point in the afternoon, my circle of friends started trickling in, turning the event into a spontaneous get-together. Having them around made the down-time between visitors a lot more fun. Every year, when I do Open Studios, I can count on having some friends around to hang out with and have a little bit of a party. As the day wound down, they left to have dinner and I joined them after talking with the last guest I had.
I caught up with three friends for dinner and dessert. Then, out of the blue, we decide to go see A History of Violence, which stars Viggo Mortgensen. It was ok, I wasn't really taken with it. I respect David Cronenberg as a director, but this film just wasn't as good as it's being made out to be. The idea is good, but there was something about how the characters were handled that made the story feel less than fleshed out. Mortgensn's Tom Stall has a family in a small, idyllic town somewhere. He's involved with thwarting a robbery which brings him a lot of attention. Some of that attention is from mobsters supposedly from Philadelphia who think Tom is somone else. Is he or isn't he? That's the thread that the story hangs on.
I appreciate the moral/ethical issues brought up, but the movie could have had more of an edge to it. As is, I found myself laughing in places that I shouldn't have. Most of that has to do with the thinness of the characters and story. I could see where it was going long before it got there and that took lot away from the experience of the movie for me.
I saw The Constant Gardener a few days ago and that's a much better film all the way around. It's a very well-made film centering around a mild-mannered British diplomat in Africa whose activist wife is found murdered in a remote part of Kenya. At the center of this is a story about a huge conspiracy involving pharmaceutical companies and drug trials in Africa. I was really struck by the nuanced transformation the title character goes through as the film progresses. He starts off on the outer edges of his wife's life and ends up taking up her fight after she dies. The character and story could have been ruined if it was in lesser hands, but Ralph Finnes does a great job as does the director, Fernando Meirelles. If you want to see a good recent film, check out The Constant Gardener.
......
Now that this weekend is over, I can begin to get back to something of a regular studio schedule. The next big event on the agenda for October, is the AFF Contemporary Art Fair in New York. The gallery was juried into the fair this year, and 7 of the artists Bridgette represents, myself included, also had work juried into the show. That's happening next week, from Wednesay to Sunday. I'm heading up there for at least one of the days. I'm thinking of going up on Thursday and returning Friday afternoon or so. I need to work on Saturday so I can't stay longer. I'm hoping to connect with a couple of gallery reps from outside of the Philadelphia area for possible shows and representation.