If you are a reader of this blog who doesn't live in Knoxville, I'd like to fill you in on one of my favorite things to do here: First Friday. 

Every first Friday of the month, businesses and galleries in downtown Knoxville hold art art openings and receptions. It's the kind of area-wide event that I can go to with people or alone because I know there's lots to see, eat, and drink, and I'll always run into people I know- friends, acquaintances, artists, and former professors. I love it. 

Nostalgia on McCalla

Most of the time, places are packed, but in the colder months, crowds are more sparse, so I was grateful this past First Friday to see a lot of life and zeal.

I went to my first First Friday at Nostalgia on McCalla, where I have a booth, and was incredibly impressed. While they may not have an official artist on display there each month, their intention is to showcase the vendors all ready there... and to have a really great time.

The incredible spread at Nostalgia on McCalla

I've shown artwork for years in multiple places all over Knoxville for First Friday. Some venues have been great, others, not so much. 

I do understand how it could be easy to burn out by hosting First Friday each month. First you're dealing with artists (I know how difficult this can be because I am one and have also dealt with many). Second, you are putting on a party for hundreds of people, providing them with food and wine.

I've noticed a lot of places over time won't hold First Friday each month, or they provide less food and/or no alcohol. It's understandable, but in some ways works since I feel like the night should be about artwork and not how many meatballs and cheese cubes you can fit in your stomach.

Booth at Nostalgia on McCalla

With that said, I was amazed by the food and drink selection at Nostalgia. They came out with their boxing gloves on, and I did not hesitate to reap the benefits of the bounty of free meatballs and beverages.

Each First Friday at Nostalgia will be put on by different vendors, so hopefully that will prevent burnout. (I'm afraid whenever it's my time to host, people may be disappointed to see a huge bowl of Goldfish and boxed wine.)

Ridiculous amount of beverages to enjoy

One of my favorite stops during First Friday is the Fluorescent Gallery on Central. Here are a couple of photos from the show last Friday.

Fluorescent Gallery

The work on display was by Knoxville artists Carri Jobe, John Bissonette, and Herb Rieth. I really like their work.

I love Fluorescent because, while not all art displayed in Knoxville hits a high standard, Fluorescent is at the very least conscientious of art relevant to today. It's off the beaten path, so the downfall is that it won't teach anything to mainstream Knoxville about art, but at least those informed make the point to go there. It's a breath of fresh air here in Knoxville, Tennessee.

I'll end with this photo of my friend Austin and me at Nostalgia. They had a "photo booth" with a leprechaun. No lie, when I told him he was a little creepy, he said in an Irish accent, "I'll see you later... in your house!"

Here's to fun and bizarre First Friday memories.

A lot has been going on in the world of With Bear Hands.

Since I quit my desk job, life has been a whirlwind. I've attended a business class, acquired some new commission work, participated in the Dogwood Arts House and Garden Show, been asked to be on a radio show and a part of two other House and Garden Shows, moved my booth at Nostalgia... (phew!)

New booth at Nostalgia on McCalla

I feel like most of my time has been spent driving from one place to the other. Unfortunately, I haven't adjusted to this new non-schedule, and I keep forgetting appointments, so I rush from one place to the other all day long.

It's making me long for a building where everything I do is in one place, The Salvage Room, 17th Street Studios, and my apartment. Then people can just come to me and my center of creativity, hospitality, and recycled building materials.

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It's been pretty neat to see how quitting my one stable job has propelled my thoughts forward. The visions in my brain have been running rampant, and all I can do is look forward, not backward or sideways- a first for me. For every one item I check off my to do list, five to ten replace it. There's no time to tarry.

This made it hard to sleep in the beginning. That's getting better, but sometimes I wake up in a mild panic some nights. The whole process has been humbling, sobering. It's made me reconcile my dreams with reality, to think about what is in my means. If my dreams aren't attainable right now, I should adjust them in order to exist in the present.

It's like Kid President says: "Don't stop believing... unless your dream is stupid. Then you should get a better dream... Get a better dream and keep going." Best advice I've heard so far.

Hopefully soon, I will get the hang of it.

A big obstacle right now is making sure I actually create art while I'm in my studio. When I'm there, I can easily be distracted and spend most of my time emailing and strategizing. As this new week begins, I want to focus on that area and give some other things a rest. It's hard to trust that if I take moments out of my day or week to make art that I will survive.

Another thing I've been thinking, in regard to missing appointments, is that it may be time to replace my phone. I know people ran businesses in the past without smart phones, and I wish I could figure out how they did it. The rubber band is slightly unprofessional, but maybe it fits: I fixed this crappy phone With my Bear Hands... and this rubber band. 

Perhaps it's time for this 80-year-old-at-heart 28 year old to bite the bullet and enter the 21st century. 

If you follow this blog, you may have noticed I haven't been writing as much as listing the work I've been making. While a major role of this blog is to share the work I make, it's also an outlet for my thoughts. Heaven knows I need an outlet for those.

I do think about writing all of the time, the list of subjects is never-ending, but I haven't sat down to do it. I thought today, I'd give it a whirl, to get the ball rolling again.

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Last week marked a big milestone for me- I quit my part-time job as an Administrative Assistant, a position I held for four years after a six-month unpaid internship. I'm still Knox Heritage's Architectural Salvage Coordinator, and I'm still making art, so, while I don't have a new job, I'm hoping to expand and grow the two I've had for a few years now.

I know. It's nuts to quit the only job that gives you a steady paycheck in this economical climate. I have strategically decided to ignore everything I've been told about the reality of the world, but I am not blissfully unaware. I made the decision to put on blinders and face (/jump) forward (/off a cliff). It's not so silly if you really think about it!

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I know I run the risk of sounding like a baby, but... Being creative can be a painful thing, and being an artist is even worse. Everyday you're filled with new ideas to create but what you are stuck with is ADD, self-doubt, an incessant need for validation, and very few career opportunities. Most creative jobs out there are built on a foundation of a non-artist telling an artist what to do or have nothing to do with the creation of art. (No, thank you.) So I've taken jobs in non-creative fields, only to realize they can't keep me forever. Where once they were engaging and I was content, they and I are no longer, and Art is what I find to be most alluring.

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So I am currently self-employed, basing my income on what I sell. It's strange to realize that I really do like sales if it's something I believe in whole-heartedly, like the architectural salvage program or the art I make. I'm not saying it's easy, but when I can find that person out there that wants what I can offer in these areas that I'm passionate about, it's a good feeling. No. Great! Phenomenal! It was enough to make me think, "Maybe I can do this."

I realize I've based my career path on my emotions. I do aspire to be more rational but what I feel compels me to make foolish decisions sometimes. This would not be the first time, and I'm still here.

My hope is that I'll learn what the next step is and have a clearer vision for my life, but I'm worried, not just that I may not be able to make ends meet, but that I won't find a career that suits me, a fear so many of my peers face, not just artists. Why? Because we are self-centered, proud, and had too much handed to us by our hard-working parents? Probably.

Another possible explanation is that reality hasn't equaled the expectations we were told to have. It wasn't until I threw out the life that lived in my imagination that I could embark on a new path that exists in reality (I'm still working on this). I'm optimistic, trying not to worry but to develop a healthy fear about what it really means to be an Artist, one of the scariest jobs out there*.


*more on that later.

FYI, I now have a Facebook page, and I would love for you to like it. To do so, just click this link.

Thank you!

Here are some photos of my artwork at Nostalgia on McCalla.

As the months progress, I'm sure this wall will evolve, but the idea currently is to display artwork made from salvage- particularly mason jar paintings, older works that have been in past exhibitions, and fine art prints.

Some of the older items will have reduced prices, and I'll be able to run sales on other items from time to time, so check in often. I will also begin featuring limited editions of fine art prints there very soon.

FYI, Nostalgia offers layaway, which is very nice.

To end, here is one of my most favorite new mason jar paintings on slate, No. 66.

I am proud to announce that beginning today, I will have artwork up on a wall at the new Nostalgia on McCalla.

After showing all over Knoxville for several years now, shoveling artwork from place to place, setting up booths at markets, etc., I've decided I need a permanent place to showcase some of my work.

I chose Nostalgia for several reasons.

One: I could paint my wall white. Accessible white walls are hard to come by for an artist in Knoxville, at least one that is open to the public on a daily basis. That leads me to

Two: Nostalgia on McCalla is open Monday through Saturday 11am to 6pm and Sunday 12-5pm. It will be great to have a space dedicated to my work, where I can send people each day of the week.

Three: While there is some overhead, a lot of Nostalgia is booth-owner run, so costs are kept to a minimum.

Time will tell if this white wall in particular will be good for my artwork. Also, to be clear, I still intend to have regular shows throughout the year in other locations, featuring my most recent work. My booth at Nostalgia will feature mason jar paintings, salvage artwork, fine art prints, and older original works.

If you are an artist interested in a space at Nostalgia, there are several spaces left near mine. I'd love to have other artists show near me, so act now. They're going fast.

On that note, I'd like to invite you to Nostalgia on McCalla's Grand Opening. It's from 11am to 10pm this Saturday, Jan 19. I will be there from about 7pm to 9pm. Hope to see you there!

Nostalgia on McCalla
1401 McCalla Ave
Knoxville, TN 37915
(right down the street from Barley's in the Old City)

Happy belated New Year! 

Many unforeseen events (aka life) happened at the end of 2012, and so writing here was put on the backburner more times than I liked. With the new year and some new opportunities on the horizon, I hope to stroll through the blogosphere more often. I know you're glad. I am.

I've made a few pieces so far this year, and I'm sharing some of them today.

Aubrey paint pen and sharpie on window sash $235

I'm continuing to work on the window drawings which has been really enjoyable.

Aubrey (detail)

For me, first finding each image is the most fun aspect of these pieces.

I find most of the images in magazines, but Google Search takes this process to a completely different level of wonder and delight. For example, for Aubrey I searched "Aubrey Plaza fashion ads" (because over Christmas "break" I watched what feels like 100 episodes of Parks and Rec) which led me to Miu Miu's short film It's Getting Late, which led me to Spotify to listen to Zola Jesus, which pointed me to Polica, which just so happens to be a sound I've been in search of for some time.

Oh, the magic World of the Wide Web.

 

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Elle paint pen and sharpie on window sash $235

Last year, I watched The September Issue, a documentary about Vogue, where Anna Wintour discusses the phenomenal impact photographing celebrities instead of models has had on the fashion industry.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because I had never intended to draw celebrities, such as Aubrey Plaza or Elle Fanning (above), but when you're looking at fashion as an inspiration, I suppose it's inevitable. While I'm more interested in the image than the fact that they're famous, I did choose photographs based on if I like the celebrity or not. Something about this feels... I don't know... too easy?

 

I struggle when things come too naturally, wondering if it's worth making if it's too enjoyable. Should work cause some amount of tension if it's challenging in the right way or is making art about finding the least resistance?

 

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Elle (detail)



 

I'm ready to expound on and expand these drawings. Green Room (below) is the start of using the whole window and more "scenic" subject matter. The image is from an Anthropologie catalog. 

Green Room paint pen, sharpie, and acrylic on window sash

I'm not satisfied with the outcome of this one, but I'll keep toying around with the idea to see if I can improve. I have high hopes.

 

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Below are images from my show at the Tomato Head in West Knoxville. Some work from the end of last year, the drawings on windows above, and some new fabric pieces are there until Feb 3.

Please go take a look because (my) photographs don't do many of these pieces justice.

Below are photos of six drawings I have up at the Tomato Head right now. They are drawn with paint pens and sharpies on the front and back of window sashes. Each exposes the wire in the back for hanging, and the windows are each about 24" at their longest dimension.

Valentino (my favorite!) Sold

As you can probably guess, my subject matter is models/ the clothes they wear.

CL Sold

They're titled after the model, the designer, or a detail about their clothing. 

Naomi Sold

I'm anxious to make more of these and try some other subject matter as well. (I've all ready begun drawing mason jars on glass.)

Lanvin Sold

There is a sense of delicacy to these pieces, not only in the femininity of the subject matter but also the materials used. They are glossy, the metallics shiny. These qualities are off-set by the older, salvaged wood frame.

Flowerburst

Note the captions to find out which ones are still for sale, and please let me know if you're interested in purchasing one by emailing beth@bethmeadows.com.

Dior