Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit..... black water snake 2013: Entry 69: A walk down Memory Lane

So, in order to start making steps towards my goal of getting work in a gallery in New York, I made two big girl trips to the city in 2011. The first was Labor day weekend, the second was Sept 28th thru Oct. 04th. The first weekend was designed to help me learn the layout of the city a little, gain some insight and see some neighborhoods. The 2nd weekend was designed to be the weekend I was going to march into each and every gallery I decided was a top match for me. I spent the weeks in between researching spaces, art reps, and galleries in an attempt to find buinesses I thought would be a good to partner with...if they would take me. Using online sites, like art-collecting.com: www.art-collecting.com/galleries_ny.htm, I gathered as much info as I could so on my 2nd trip to the city I'd be armed and ready. And that's what I did - portfolio brochure in hand, I went from gallery to gallery and asked if they would please take a look at my brochure and consider carrying my work.

To see a video about the portfolio brochere pictures above and getting your work out there go to:
http://youtu.be/y6XfpiYZJAs

The first weekend was a dream- took a bus from Providence to the city (won't do that again unless I have to), met up with my old high school pals Kathy and Paul and spent the next 3 days running around the city explored. 3 days of taxis, subway rides and walking, walking walking later and I started to get the rhythm and layout. I took pics of street signs, gallery and building placards, looked in windows and talked to people. It was pure magic and I did not want to leave.

The 2nd weekend was a bit more stormy...literally. I drove from RI to NY in the ran, out to Kathy and Paul's house on Long Island in the rain, got up the next morning and Kathy and I took the communter train from LI to the city in overcast/sprinkles but when we landed in the city grey and black clouds billowed in and absolutely filled the city skyline. We spent the rest of the day being pounded by a massive storm - thunder and lightening but marched ahead with our plans to knock on doors till I managed to gt someone to "yes" and show my work.

Torrential downpours, flooding, excitement. But despite the "incovenience" of weather, by the end of the day, I had walked into all my top gallery choices (all the ones I knew of at the time anyway) sporting a bright orange rain pocho from Walmart, a backpack and a handful of my portfolio brocheres. Every gallery I went into talked to me, every gallery rep liked my work and every gallery said "no". I could have been deflated that smart littlle me wasn't snatched up on the spot but it didn't feel like a failure because I did it - I stuck to my plan and after 9 months of hard work I had stuck to the plan I'd written out and I was here in NY pushing my work. Granted, I got so overwhelmed I cried a couple times while talking to gallery managers but they were talking to me...... and being nice. I did it, WE did it - I was in NY, with a friend for support, showing my work to top galleries! That is/was something incredible to me.

At the end of it, after a full, emotional day Kathy and I headed to Penn Station and the LIRR - soaking wet from the storm, exhausted from my moment to moment anxiety attacks and inner storms we sauntered in only to find out a breaker on the railroad had been hit by lightening earlier in the day which caused the entire system to fry which left us and thousands and thousands of other people completely stuck till about 1 am:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/l-i-r-r-knocked-out-by-lightning-strike/

Cut to the chase: we didn't get home till 3 am. In total it was a 15 hour day in the city.

Cut to the chase: We got up the next day and did it all again.

Cut to the chase: My friend Kathy allowed me to take her picture, later that night, just at a moment when she probably wanted to murder me which then lead to a painting I am incredibly proud of -

Painting of my very patient friend, Kathy, at midnight, in a Times Square Starbucks
waiting to get the LIRR home after spending a very long day with a very trying me in the rain..

Detail from "Waiting", a 2 panel piece -
oil on acrylic and aerosol with oil crayon and pencil on canvas

Detail of a section of hair in "Waiting". Like most of my work, the lines, color and layers are meant to express an inner energy - in this case exhaustion, lightening, frustration and excitment.