I had a fantastic time this past week with the Younger than Amy exhibition. After dropping my artwork off on Sunday I came in on Tuesday and helped Ewa, the owner, take down the current artwork and patch up the walls and prepare for the exhibition. Thursday, I came back and hung up the artwork. Friday (yesterday), was the opening reception and once people started to relax a bit more and talk to each other I started to get to know the other artists. I ended up hanging around and talked to them and we ended up going out to Provincetown for the evening. We grabbed food and then bar hopped, one of them paid for my drinks so I didn’t have to worry about running out of cash so that was nice. Our first destination was the Underground, then we went to another one that I forgot the name of that had stand-up comedy and the last one was dance club, called Velvet and then danced for the rest of the evening. The others went back to the Underground after
words and I had to go home since it was getting late that time. They were probably the most down-to-earth people I have met and I felt really welcomed and included. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go since I was accepted into the show last minute, but now I have met some of the locals here and it feels really nice. 🙂 It also felt nice to just let loose since I haven’t really done that for awhile.
Category Archives: Excursions
Video from Mayfair Festival
Mayfair Festival Part 1
Wednesday, I left Longmeadow and I drove 7 hours to Quarkertown/Allentown, PA to drop off my artwork for the Mayfair festival. During my time here I’ve been visiting as many friends as possible. Tonight I saw my friends Samantha and Will and we ate dinner at a sports bar. It was so good to see them again and catch up. Being 6 hours away its difficult to come up often and see them. I’m staying with my friend Richelle in Quakertown as it’s a half hour drive to Allentown.
I haven’t had the heart to go back to this area since my falling out with Kris but I happy to say that I feel like I have mostly completely moved on from that. It just hurts to think I’ll never know what really went down for sure with that.
Tomorrow I’m planning on going to the Quakertown Farmer’s Market and taking a drive around the town and take a few pictures. Later in the evening, I’m attending the Meet the Artist receptions at the festival opening tomorrow and I’ll be taking my friend Richelle on Saturday and then leaving on Saturday evening. I’ll write up a second part after I come home on Saturday!
It’s Not Everyday You Meet a Soothsayer
Saturday evening I came home from my whirlwind trip to Santa Barbara, CA for an interview at Letter Perfect & Paper Ink. The interview went really well and there was a lot of positive things from it. SO, I feel pretty good about it. The interviewer had me do a 15 min test – design a business card under 15 mins and she like the overall design as well as everything else I presented to her.
The morning of my departure (I left in the evening), I had taken out scrapbook paper that had a handmade feel to it and printed my resume on it. I went the extra mile and printed on nice stationery since it is a stationery company. For the Minuteman Press position I had made my resume into an 8.5 x 5.5 booklet.
The evening after I received the invite, I learned my friend Gwen that I visited last September was going to be in the same proximity as I was in Santa Barbara. She was camping and was staying at the top of the hill where I was staying at the bottom. Thursday was SO hot that I slept late and got breakfast at Beachbreak Cafe and just walked the beach a little bit and then went home. Too hot to do anything really that day. The day of the interview was gorgeous and it was a lot easier to do things.
I met up with my friend Gwen at Sambo’s after the interview for mimosa’s to celebrate. We were comparing tarot notes as she is a reader too and at the end of the lunch the lady behind me turned around and asked if we could read her. We decided at 7 pm that evening that we’d meet and give her a reading. Afterwords, Gwen and I went deck shopping and I picked up Tarot of the Old Path as it was one of two decks that spoke to me for this particular reading. I don’t always buy a new deck for a new client, but Gwen wanted to go deck shopping anyway so I figured why not. It ended up being a 2 hr reading and walked away with $200 that Gwen and I split. I never had done a duo reading (two readers for one client). But it worked really well! Gwen knows a lot more about the systems than I do, and I just used my ability and experience with the cards and the knowledge that comes through. I’m not sure how much our client got out of the reading as she had been drinking and since alcohol shuts off my ability we couldn’t drink with her during the reading. Though I had a glass of wine or two afterwords and left for home. The whole trip was so synchronistic it made me wonder about the mojo bag I had blessed before I left on Tuesday evening for Wellesley.
A few weeks ago I performed a spell for the intention of finding employment before May 12th (the date that I was invited to the interview). For me, spells bend the light that is around you (as science has proposed that matter can be created from light) and help you attract the light that works best for you. That is my definition of spells and magick. As such, working with shapes and colors really work with this theory of magick because nature communicates through symbolism and archetypes. Anyway, in the mojo bag from the herb blend I had created previously for the spell I put:
– Alfalfa Leaf; money, prosperity- Benzoin: purification, soothing, dispelling anger
– Bergmot: money, prosperity, protection from evil & illness
– Meadowsweat: Increases chance of getting a job
– Pine Bark: clean breaks, new beginnings, prosperity, success, strength
And for crystals I had used the specimens that were in my crystal garden at Minuteman and then cleansed in my pyramid under the full moon…
– Citrine : Merchants Stone, Money energies, increase self-esteem, protect from negative energy from someone else’s abuse, open the mind to new thoughts, promote clarity of thought, attracting wealth and prosperity, promoting generosity, sharing good fortune, assists in fast money ventures, strengthens inner light and creativity, etc.
– Malachite : protection, absorbing negative energies, clear electromagnetic pollution and heals earth energies, a stone of travel and overcoming fears of flying, helps with jetlag and encourages smooth business travel, a stone for support for airplane and airline workers
– Tiger Eye : enhance our own personal power, release blocked creativity, and to bring good luck, prosperity, wealth and success.
– Quartz : harmony, balance, healing, releasing negative energy
– Carnelian : increase ambition, drive and confidence, protection from negative emotions, warmth, sociability, creativity and happiness, restore self-esteem, abundance
I definitely think the herbs + crystals worked their magick this trip. Especially powerful during the full moon which I believe was in scorpio which was all about death/rebirth and new beginnings.
Appearances ’14 – EcoFestival Recap
This past weekend I participated in the Appearances ’14 EcoFestival in Provincetown, MA. I probably should’ve gone to the first weekend of the festival as it rained during the entire time I was there and the weather last weekend was perfect. Oh well, last weekend I had to do the Cambridge Science Festival. I had wanted to do a Nature Divination workshop but was directed to the wrong location… so I missed it. Anyway, I still got to see my artwork at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies and participate in the Art + Meditation workshop at Gallery Ehva.
Anyway, I enjoyed the Art + Meditation workshop at Gallery Ehva. The meditation was the growth of trees and we had to do a drawing of what first came to mind during each stage of the growth of a tree (i.e: roots, trunk, leaves, crown, environment, etc). I ended up talking a lot about how I’ve been wanting to live freely and live my life on my own but I keep facing setbacks and associated my growth as an artist to the growth of a tree…
Anyway, I’m glad I went as it was fun to see my artwork in Provincetown, I was also invited to show at Gallery Ehva in their June exhibition but I haven’t heard anything yet, they have my contact info, so we’ll see if that comes through, but I’m excited at the prospect of it. I did some shopping, I didn’t buy a whole lot, just incense and a quartz point.
Gallery 263: Massachusetts!
On Friday I left work early to go into Cambridge, MA for two receptions. The first one, at this year’s VSA competition (the one that accepted my works into the Smithsonian) from the Massachusetts chapter. I ran across the blog and am going to submit my story to it (when I have a chance to write it). I met the one of the members who connected me to this reception who happened to grow up in Longmeadow! Crazy. The reception was nice and the gallery was nice but small. Afterwords, I sent the executive director an email seeing if they’d let me do a solo show at the Open Doors Gallery (where it was held).
Then I went to the other side of the river for the reception at Gallery 263: Massachusetts! A former high school teacher of mine came to the reception as well as my uncle and my brother. As you can probably tell from my photos, it was PACKED. It was probably the most crowded reception I have been in! (This is the reception where I was mentioned in the press release). Overall fun night, despite battling Boston rush hour traffic. Ugh!
PS: If you click the photo about it’ll take you to the facebook photo gallery.
Groundings, LLC
A couple of weekends ago I took a drive up to Noho and met with Lauren, a new age gift shop owner in Florence, MA. On the way I noticed signs for an Orchid show sponsored by the Amherst Orchid Society. So grateful I brought my camera with me that day! I met Lauren to discuss a solo show that won’t be happening until July. I’m super excited about this! I need to figure out ideas for promotion, etc. and what to do in general. I’m excited to be possibly showing new work too. They do weekly meditations and I plan on being at the Sound Healing meditation this coming Friday. Can’t wait to check it out.
On the way back I stopped at the Orchid Show and glad I did. Got some really awesome abstract photos of Orchids. One of which I plan on putting in my bedroom here in Longmeadow. The red in one of the orchids (shown in above photo) goes really well with my walls in my bedroom.
The Empty Spaces Project
Back in December I exhibited at a local gallery called The Boxcar Gallery. There I met a few more local artists and a gallery owner who owns a gallery in Putnam, CT. I learned that I was their first artist to be invited to their Tragic Love exhibit. Tonight I went out there to check out the space and have a few drinks. They were drawn to my ‘Smithsonian’ status (as it’s been lovingly called…) and it was the one of the many factors that went into inviting me to their show. A lot of work seems to have gone into the space and I guess this upcoming exhibition is like their “reopening”?! I don’t know!! But it has given me some thought as to how, where and the direction of my creative space will go. I’m intrigued by the idea of taking over empty store fronts for gallery and artist spaces (The Empty Spaces Project). There are some things that need to come to pass but for now I have to move out of my studio in Beverly and transition completely to Longmeadow.
Haymarket
Tonight I drove out to Northampton, Ma and met Kim the owner of The Boxcar Gallery – (yes this gallery is really in an old boxcar) at the Haymarket Cafe! I had their hot chocolate and their Fried Egg and Mozzarella sandwich. The sandwich was a little too much food than I expected but I enjoyed it overall. Kim asked me about my photographic process and I asked her about the arts in western Massachusetts. She had also asked me for a tarot reading and I gave her one at the end. Never been to Northampton (or “Noho”) before and it reminded me of Bethlehem – but holy shit did I feel at home in Northampton! It’s definitely a city I’d like to explore more. The funny thing with meeting Kim is that she had seen my artwork in Pomfret before I submitted my work to her as she grew up in Pomfret. It was a cool moment for me because I was all, “WOAH! MY ART IS GETTING RECOGNIZED!” I seriously hope this job in Enfield continues because I’m falling in love with this area.
The Healing Center in Beverly
Today I visited Joanna at the Healing Center in Beverly and we talked about a future partnership with my Kirlian Process and my studio space at Cabot Street Studios. We talked about potentially getting my research into workshop format and using the Healing Center space as well as Studio 19’s space for workshops and presentations.
We also talked about literally working with the life force energy as well, since Joanna is a Reiki Master and knows how to work with the energy we thought about trying to capture and visually express the differences of a charged object with Reiki energy and a regular object. I also talked about some of the things I had been struggling with and we decided that Reiki should be the next stage in my healing process as well.
Artiste Marketplace and a New Calling
This weekend I participated in the Artiste Marketplace sponsored by Artiste Art and Craft Studio. I didn’t sell anything but I gave away a lot of marketing material which is always a good thing. As usual, people were generally interested in my artwork and spent time asking questions and looking through the portfolio. I’m glad I had that experience. I even met someone who wants to do a trade – teaching her photo processing and her teaching me Reiki. In the past week that was the second time my artwork has attracted Reiki practitioners. I met the Owner of ‘The Healing Center’ in Beverly at my reception last Tuesday who is also a Reiki practitioner. It makes sense that I’m attracting these type of people because Reiki is all about using the life force energy to heal people. The owner of ‘The Healing Center’ wants to do a collaboration with me and my process which I mentioned in my post about the Studio19 reception. I went on their website and I found a class about plants – too perfect for my usage! I’ve been wanting to use the medicinal properties of plants in my artwork some how. And I love that it’s only one Thursday a month. I signed up for the December class since next week is a little to soon for me. I’ll have to leave work early, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I’m excited to see where my artwork is taking my professionally and spiritually. 🙂
Studio19 – Opening Reception Recap
On Tuesday evening I drove over 70 miles to attend my reception on the Northshore coming from Enfield, Ct. During work that day I learned that both my photographer and production crew (Estrada Productions) that I had booked for the reception fell through! My parents ended up taking pictures. But the fact that I have never put on an event like this before I thought the reception went very well. Several new people showed up and showed interest in buying my artwork! Some of the artists from Cabot Street showed up as well which I was very thankful for. It started slow, but ended well. There was definitely more people than I expected, which is always nice. I was even publicized in the Wicked Local: Wellesley. And Beverly Main Streets did a social media blast and my landlord posted the reception on the Cabot Street website. I put posters up around town which seemed to be the most effective. I even got interest from a Healing Center located down the street to do a partnership with my process and capturing people’s energy with it because they do Reiki. I’m pretty excited about that. I have to do some more research on that, but that won’t happen until I finish my proposal for my artist residency. I think in the end I’d definitely do it all over again, but I may focus on promotion next time. But it was difficult to work on getting the studio setup and do self promotion and starting a new job all at once. Now I just have to make a whole new body of work and have another one!