Today is a quiet day for me: sleeping in, coffee, cats on the lap. Later today I’ll go to the Santa Cruz Art League to help return the art from the Open Studios Preview Show to the artists. And if the sun comes out, maybe my tent will dry and I’ll be able to take it down.
It’s a well-deserved day off. The past two weekends have been chock-full of activity, as I took part in Santa Cruz’s 25th annual Open Studios Art Tour. Not to mention the several weeks of preparation: printing last-minute prints, matting, framing, labeling, putting up the displays, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.
Here are some photos of my setup. I have boxes and bins of matted prints on tables underneath a tent, and inside the garage are display panels with framed prints.
Some paintings on the fence. These had to come down the second weekend, since it was raining. And the tables with the boxes of matted prints also had to come indoors once the tent soaked through and began to leak.
Looking into the garage. It was much less spacious once the tables came in!
My wire panels with cloth coverings (sewn by Sarah-Hope):
My little baby press and a panel describing how I make my block prints:
And here are a couple of my mini-lino cards. I found these cut-out cards at an embroidery store, and tracked down the distributor. They are perfect for small prints.
I meant to take pictures of people actually visiting and looking at the art, but it was too busy the first weekend, and too quiet the second. Oh well. But thanks to all who visited! It was a lot of fun.
Now to start getting ready for next year’s Open Studios….. I have ideas!
Oh Melissa, this is so professional! I love the printmaking display and the greeting cards. And the art is gorgeous.
My friends and I are doing our first show next week and it’s not going to look anything like this. (For one thing, I don’t think we could even get into the garage!) ;-j
Looks great! And I love those panels on the display screens – it really showcases your prints (and hides the major appliances…) But one of my major complaints about those big wire screens is that any stuff in the background makes too much “noise” for any art to be properly noticed, so you 2 solved that problem beautifully. Congrats on a successful 2 weekends.