100 Canvases: Things That Matter.

Over the weekend my friend Kayla and I went downtown Chicago to see both the Pride Festival in Boystown and also the opening reception for the Silver Room’s art show “100 Canvases: Things That Matter,” a fundraiser for the 10tn-annual Silver Room Block Party. First, we started off by checking out the Pride Festival and having a fun time with all the sightseeing, food, and drinks. I had some cheese Pierogis (haven’t had those since college) and a little Sangria. Both delicious. Then I stopped by the Kit Kat Lounge, a prevalent joint in Boystown featuring some very talented entertainers. First to lip sinc for her life (RuPaul’s Drag Race reference) was the ultra fabulous Aurora Sexton. She strutted her stuff on the runway with a You Go Girl! flavor 🙂

Later on in the afternoon my friend Kayla and I trekked to Wicker Park where the art show was. We stopped at a really funky store called Hollywood Mirror on the way there, where I picked up this awesome Salvador Dali-inspired ‘melting clock.’ This is absolutely perfect for me as an artist, and I needed a clock in my room because I haven’t had a clock in my room for over two years. Most clocks are too bright me for during the nighttime, so I’ve been relying on my cell phone as a clock/alarm in the mornings!

Kayla and I took a bus and then walked for about a mile until we reached the Silver Room. This is actually my second year in  a row as one of the featured 100 artists for the  show. Last year’s theme was “100 Canvases For a Better Earth” (Which I wrote about in my here in my post from last year) and my piece sold at auction! I was so happy because it was the very first painting I ever sold (random fact: Vincent Van Gogh never sold a single painting while he was alive)!  Last year I was curious to find out who bought my painting, so I emailed the intern, who then offered me the buyer’s phone number…but I felt a little creepy calling someone I didn’t know on the phone about it, so I just thought I’d leave it a mystery. Then, about two months ago when I emailed the store about this year’s show, the current intern Rebcecca emailed me back to tell me she was the one who bought my painting last year! She also said she loved it, which made me super happy as well! I asked her to photograph it hanging on her wall so I can share it with you all here on the blog, so I’ll talk about it when she emails me some photos 🙂

My piece (above):

All That’s Left, 12″ x 12″, mixed media

For this painting I used elements from nature including leaves, flowers, clumps of grass and dirt, and reeds from bushes to create a naturalistic stamped effect.

What message or meaning do you take in from my piece? What do you think matters in this piece?

*another photo below (second from the left)

I was pretty excited to see my piece up on the wall again, and this year it was right up near the front of the store right behind of the counter. As the gallery got more and more crowded as the night grew on, however, I realized that the larger wall was better for ‘people-watching’ and was getting more foot traffic, so I couldn’t sit by the wall as a watchersby would and gauge peoples’ reactions. The people-watching, on the other hand, was marvellous. The city is full of colorful and wacky characters. There were a few ladies there who were  dressed to go to a gala ball in cocktail/evening dresses and sky-high stillettos as well as very ‘street-chic’ hipster folks. It was a grand ol’ time.

I got a look around at the other pieces and saw quite a few I liked besides my own; below are pictures of my favorites!

Which one is your favorite? Personally, I love the one of the spicket with the drop of water dripping from it. So simple, yet profound in its content.

I ended up not staying long enough to see if mine sold during the auction, since they started pretty late (I had a 10:40 train to catch back home) and my piece would have been one of the very last ones up. Hopefully, either it sold or Rebecca added it to her growing collection! 🙂

don’t forget you can add me on Instagram @ghostandlamb