Details Details

This week I delivered my upcoming exhibit, titled "Private Property", to it's destination at LUX Center for the Arts in Lincoln, Ne. Its a very cool space and I wanted to make a good impression on the staff. I'd worked for months to put together a collection of paintings that would show not only my skills as a painter, but also my readiness to be on that particular stage.

There's alot to putting an exhibit together.  Creating the artwork may be the easiest link.  The devil's in the details, y'know.

My newsletter went out last week reminding my readers of this exhibit.  Despite my checking, re-checking and double-checking the re-check, I put the wrong date down for the opening reception.  There is no Friday, May 5th in this year of our Lord 2011.  Try Friday May 6th instead. And I assumed (you know what that means) that the exhibit would run from the beginning of the month.  Not so. The very official dates for the exhibit are May 6th (yes, it's that Friday) through June 25th.

Last year I took Alyson Stanfield's advice and made fabric enclosures for delivering artwork.  Made from blankets, they were royal red and leopard print, very hip and cool, because I'm a hip and cool artist, oh yessiree. Alyson explained that delivering artwork in proper packaging was an important detail that shouldn't be overlooked. I scored on that point.  My artwork would be delivered in style.

These homemade slips are hip and cool, however, they are not waterproof. A detail of a detail overlooked. I woke up early on delivery day to the deep throbbing sounds of thunder, interspersed with the crisp rat-a-tat-tatting of hail on the house. Or maybe that was just rain being driven by 30 mile per hour winds. It was hard to tell.

My vision of driving up to LUX's front door looking like a capable accomplished artist took a definite U-turn.
After a bit of fretting and fuming, I realized that there are some details a person can control, and some they can't.  Despite all my whining and griping, the weather falls into the latter category.  The more painful realization was that no amount of nifty red and leopard-spotted art bags were going to out-cool soggy artwork. 

Do you suppose it was bad form to show up with 12 paintings stashed in garbage bags?


Taking a deep, humbling breath, I packed the car with paintings nestled in leopard spots and deep, ruby-red fabric  - and white plastic garbage bags with bright  blue draw-strings. Very un-cool, despite my best efforts to tie the draw-strings in a sassy bow.

You're invited to the opening reception on Friday May 6th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. (If you come on Friday, May 5th you will be 6 years late.)  If it's raining, not to worry.  There's a pile of garbage bags in the gallery's store room. I'm sure they'll share.

©2010 Patricia Scarborough  "Good Morning Spring"  8x10 oil