opening night!!!!

Tada! Here it is. Opening night, 19 pieces total, 6 -ish or so in the evening and people showed up! I was so happy. It turned out so well. It meant so much to me that friends showed up. On the ride home from Michigan that same day I was starting to feel nervous about how late we would be arriving in Blacksburg. But my mom and I made it with the kids 2 hours before the show! It was such a nice thing to not have to really do anything to prepare except show up! Noreen said "it was kinda like your wedding!" It was a funny feeling indeed. Preperations were all made, all was set up, and all I had to do was come and greet my visitors. But here JM caught a quick pic of me secretly showing my excitement!

In this picture above ....I am trying to....explain, something, with my hands to John. Definitely using my hands here. As you can see I'm not really sure what Im trying to explain, it happens often actually. So here John waits patiently as I try to convey something about a piece of art. What could it be that I was trying to say? I have no clue. Maybe he asked my process? and I said something like "well, I mix paint and then get all these colors that I didn't plan on getting and then realize I made too much so I had to use them up quickly before they dried up. Or maybe I said " I cut out paper and glue it together to make an image....kinda like cut and paste in kindergarten...." And John is like "huh, ok."


My mom and I in front of "Love me, love me not" To the right is a cut-out titled " Berry Pickers" It is actually inspired by one of my first days out with Zoe, Zane and Keo together to a berry picking field. In the picture here they are holding their berries in the basket, that day though when I took a picture of them, they were standing exactly like that but with the berry baskets on their head! I have to post the picture its really cute. The cut-out to the left of the canvas one is "Home" It is self portrait of the house we live in. I have the cutest picture of Martha and Neal Crawford looking at it. It was so much fun to make.
I think my mom really liked this green one though. Its the colors I think.

Our wonderful and fun playgroup! Annsophie with Jayme on the left, Noreen , Kyooyoung, me, Ryan and Jeoungwoo in front. Behind us are two more cut outs framed in bleached wooden frames, the ornate gold frame is 'The Little Prince'The other four on the left are part of the "faces" series.
Amy, Jim, Leigh, JM and I and half of Kenji's face. Thanks Jim and Amy for the strawberries and grapes. They were fresh from our garden I could taste!

Veronica and I in front of her favorite piece! I thought it was so sweet that everyone had there favorite and told me so. The one there is "Evening in London". To the right is a garden plot cut out, and now I know whose it is! It's Susie's! She recognized it, or was it Jim who recognized it?

My mom and Keo above and a glimpse of Kenji and his friend Caitlyn to the right. Caitlyn said "I really like your art gisa!" I think it's the best when a child compliments anything on an adult. Whether it's art, what your wearing or your cooking!

Noel came early to help me, she took pictures and mingled with everyone.
Behind her you can see "Phoenix Rises" in the rectangular frame along with four others. Two of them were custom framed, two were not. I'm not sure which ones looked better..
Yoko and I in front of her favorite piece in the show :)
The night came and went, after show drinks came and conquered! We had a fun night out afterwards at Boudreauxs - sans kids. I'm glad my mom was there to share it all with me.

And finally, A picture of me before the show. I love the scenery in the back. It's very Blacksburg. It reminds me of why I enjoyed doing the cut-outs. feel as though I'm standing in one of my own pictures, the green color, the shape of the tree. And also, I'm standing is in such a way that only happens when my mother visits. A very " Gisa! Stand properly" kind of moment.