art show (from thrifted stuff, of course!)

[Mattie]

I'm having my first solo art show in two years!  I'm showing ten new pieces, all made from thrifted and found materials, at Coventry Gallery in Sacramento.  The opening reception is this Saturday, so if anyone's in the Sacto area, you better stop by!  One of my pieces is a quilt-like thing made from cut-up, stained and stitched calendar towels.  The others are assemblages in shadowbox frames.  The materials I used include chains, fabric, copies of old photos, buttons, hair (mine), netting, used tea bag strings, and flattened eyeglasses I found by the side of the road.  Gromit even collaborated on one piece by contributing some chewed bits of a dog toy!

[SeSo_Says_So]

O Mattie, Congratulations and Best of Luck! This is so exciting! Sacremento is sooooooooo big time. Your work sounds fabulous, inspirational, and I love Gromit's touch. If you have a link, or take photos, I would love to see pics. You are toooo groovy, girl!

[valleythriftshopper]

Yes please post pictures, sounds exciting!  Hope you get a good crowd.  Congrats!

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Good fun, Mattie! I hope it's a huge success.

And honestly, Gromit's sweet face in your avatar totally tickles me. What a cutie. And so nice of him to help out. But, hey, that's Gromit for ya.

Perhaps next time you can include something he's knitted.

[oceangurl]

Great news Mattie! Isnt what you do called "Altered Art?" Just  wondering because I read alot of blogs and have come across many bloggers with their own site with things they have made from "recycled" ( ie things they bought at thrifts) and thats what these Artists call their craft! Let us know how things went, much luck and you go girl!

[Other People s Junk]

What fun!   

[foutchie]

Way to go!  Hope it goes extremely wonderfully, and relax, have fun!

[mccoysnina]

I'm having my first solo art show in two years!  I'm showing ten new pieces, all made from thrifted and found materials, at Coventry Gallery in Sacramento.  The opening reception is this Saturday, so if anyone's in the Sacto area, you better stop by!  One of my pieces is a quilt-like thing made from cut-up, stained and stitched calendar towels.  The others are assemblages in shadowbox frames.  The materials I used include chains, fabric, copies of old photos, buttons, hair (mine), netting, used tea bag strings, and flattened eyeglasses I found by the side of the road.  Gromit even collaborated on one piece by contributing some chewed bits of a dog toy!

Is there a link you can post with photos.  I'd love to see your work.
Jeannie

[Mattie]

Thanks for all the well-wishes, folks!   I've tried and tried to post photos but I keep getting an error message saying the upload folder is full.   

The reception went well.  I sold one piece.  (So far...the show continues through May, so wish me luck...!)

Sacremento is sooooooooo big time.

Haha, SeSo, you're funny!  Sactown is soooo not big time!  I've been showing my work here for twenty years, so it's just home to me.  There are a lot of artists here and we all know each other and go to each other's shows. 

Isnt what you do called "Altered Art?"

I guess it is.  I just call my work "mixed-media assemblages and collages."  Sometimes it fits into the category of "recycled art" or "found art," too.  The quilted things I make are harder to describe.  Sometimes I stitch paper into them, and I've used things like lint, hair, blood, and photos in quilted wall hangings, too.  I've also made three-dimensional things that are hard to describe.  I think the term "stuff" covers it all!  I make stuff! 

Since I can't seem to post photos here, I'll try to post them in the gallery.

[Mattie]

Okay, I just added seven photos to the "I made this with a thrifted something" section of the gallery. 

[Good Buddy]

Your stuff is AWESOME!
Thanks for postings pics.
I'm glad the posting went smoothly this time.

[SeSo_Says_So]

Mattie, I am very touched by your work! Girl, you've got heart!

How did the show go?

[Mattie]

Mattie, I am very touched by your work! Girl, you've got heart!
How did the show go?

 
The reception was okay.  Thousands of people come out every month for Second Saturday and they wander around town visiting every gallery, so I was hoping for the kind of massive turnout I had at my last solo show.  Sadly, this time I was competing not only with other galleries but with four bands playing simultaneously on four corners a few blocks away, plus a parade, plus a million other random events that drew the crowds away.     Eh, oh well.

Many of my friends did come to the show, and the musician I hired did a thoroughly professional job (he plays fiddle, mandolin and banjo, and he wails old folk songs loud enough to wake the dead - which was just what I wanted.)

I sold "Patience is a Virtue and a Curse," which surprised me.  I expected to sell a piece called "Clerical Death" because lots of people told me they could relate to it.  I don't have a photo of it because I was afraid it would damage my scanner.  It's made with a 1950s photo of a secretary sitting at a desk covered with paperwork, and the entire shadowbox is filled with used staples I'd pulled from papers at my job.  I glued magnets to the inside top of the box so the tangled staples hang and drape and swing around.  If you shake the box, the secretary is literally buried in staples. 

The show is up through the rest of the month so I'm hoping to make at least one more sale.  Fingers crossed!

Thanks again for the nice comments, friends!

[SeSo_Says_So]

O mi gosh Mattie, "Patience..." was one of my faves of the pics you posted, though I must admit all the work you posted is really stellar.

Congrats on your sale. Yeay!

I will cross my fingers for you, Mattie. I enjoy reading about your art experiences. You really do have it going on. 

Seeing your work and hearing about your experiences is very inspiring for me.  x0, SeSo

[anastasiabeaverhausen]

WOW! can I say I kinda know a for-real artist? amazing stuff..thank you for sharing!