It's all over but the clean-up

set up overview 1
Originally uploaded by bertmac.

Open Studios was fun! We had about 20 people, about half our usual number. Unfortunately, there were many other events happening on the same weekend. But this year we definitely had quality over quantity.

On Saturday someone drove over from San Ramon, probably an hour each way. She was so enthusiastic and asked tons of questions about my work, both the ideas and the processes. This is what makes Open Studios so valuable for me. When I had work in galleries, I seldom got to talk to people. Most of the gallery owners I dealt with were lovely people, but they have to approach everything from the "will it sell to my clientele" angle. Of course this makes sense, they have to pay their rent. But they don't usually have the unbridled enthusiasm that some "fans" have. I try to remember this when I see work I love. You can't tell someone too often or too emphatically that you like what they do.

On Sunday two people came from BABA, a wonderful book arts group. I don't get to meetings very often, and was delighted that they came. It was a chance to talk to them about books, and about content in art. I hope we will be able to continue these conversations. There were also visits from friends, who I just love to see. And in between guests, I worked on taking photos for a photo-tour on Flickr.