A day in the gallery…
Nina Evans – painted glass art, window, room divider or outdoor art! Looks like the sun when the light comes through
Usually I write about exhibit openings and such but this is, just as the title suggests, a day in the gallery… Friday to be exact.
I came in early at 8:30 to get ready for my new intern Simon and before I even got to open the door Ryan waved me down asking if the new Lee High School student works (up in the Starving Artist Cafe hallway also known as the Gallery Annex) were for sale. He was in love with Snow White a really excellent contemporary kind of fantasy drawing/painting and wants to buy it. Then Emmy, manager of the cafe and chef extraordinaire, says someone wants one of the photos of student photos of downtown Lee to give as a Christmas gift.
At the gallery desk I start answering some email and in comes Simon. He shows me his portfolio online. WOW! What a talent. He does these drawings with great detail and fantasy – could go graphic novel. Then he also has some Andrew Warhol kind of pop art. We talked about art, framing, his studies. We take care of a few tasks and then we talk about preparing for Justin Canha’s exhibit coming next opening Jan. 4. and how the interns will help with set up and give some media coverage of the artist reception Jan 24. Simon also has some charcoal figure studies that remind me of some of Justin’s work so it will be an interesting night!
Simon leaves and in comes Ed Turner a local guy who came to the gallery last week admiring the art. In our conversation he revealed that he had been creating Bonsai type wire tree sculptures mounted on cool tree knots. I asked him to bring some in and so he did. There are 5 of his works on display now and they could make great Christmas gifts.
While Ed and I are going over his work, Molly Grant of the Cordwainer Shop came in to take down her wonderful handmade shoe display – she is off to California. Everyone really loved these unique shoes. A fabulous movie star, Amanda Seyfried a frequent cafe visitor, bought a pair! 
Amanda also deeply admired Dmitri’s paintings especially Paradise II – she said it reminded her of Starry Night by Van Gogh. I agree. Molly said if she sold a pair of shoes she would buy the painting by William McCarthy we had out on the desk and so she did! After we packed her truck she brought in some beautiful jewelry all hand made by American artists which are now for sale by the desk in the gallery.
Then before I can take a sip of coffee, in comes Sofia Sakharov who filmed and interview with Dmitri the weekend of his opening. She wanted to come back and take pictures of each of his paintings to integrate in the film. She will also be dong an interview with Irena, Dmitri’s mother. Dmitri was interviewed twice that weekend – he is getting great media coverage, more than any other artist since I have been working at the gallery.
In the afternoon another art student came in taken with the paintings, slowly went around the room absorbing the artwork and lingered. We talked a while about Dmitri’s work… After that Eileen of the gallery dropped in. A great day!
So 11 days til Christmas… we have handmade jewelry, handmade hats, the Lee High School Student Art Contest, Cards by Jimmy Reagan and Justin Canha, glass shard sculpture, painted glass tables by Nina Evans and of course the fabulous paintings by Dmitri Freund.
So much fun in the gallery. So much to see. Great people and the irresistible aroma of the Staving Artist Cafe!
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