Tara McPherson's Cotton Candy Machine - "Tiny Trifecta "Grand Opening

I've been seeing news about Tara McPherson's new art boutique circulating on facebook, starting around a month ago. Then Angie Mason mentioned it to me last time I met her at Last Rites Gallery. DH and I thought it would be great to check out the new store, since the opening would be on Saturday, which was perfect time for us. I personally like it on Saturday because it doesn't disrupt my daily schedule in creating art. While it never feels like work since I'm doing something that I really love, it's very important to me to have self discipline. Anyway, Saturday's opening is great because it's day that I give myself a day off. We also have never visited Brooklyn, so it's even better.

Tara transformed her storefront studio into a gallery/boutique called  Cotton Candy Machine. The new boutique will specialize in art prints, rock posters, tshirts, books, and a variety of merchandise including stickers, toys, buttons and more.  The grand opening featured its first group exhibition "Tiny Trifecta" curated by Tara McPherson and Sean Leonard.  It consisted of 100 artists, with each artist contributed tiny artworks priced at $100.

We arrived at Brooklyn at bit early, so we could eat somewhere first. We stopped by at Pierogi and Like the Spice galleries for a quick look on our walk to the restaurant. People at both galleries are friendly and helpful. Marisa Sage, the owner of Like the Spice, also has this blog where she posts some updates from the gallery. We hope to return there again for a longer visit next time we are in Brooklyn.

Then we walked over to Don Pancho Mexican restaurant for a big late lunch. DH got a molé burrito. It was one chubby gigantic burrito. I completely forgot to take photo of the chubby burrito as I was so hungry myself.

Feeling happy, energized and well-fed, we walked back to Cotton Candy Machine. As we approached the shop, we immediately spotted a long line down the block. We walked closer to the store and we could see that the space wasn't packed inside, so we were a bit confused since we thought the opening would be open for the public at 7PM.  Fortunately, we met up with Esao Andrews and his cute dog Soybean (^_^). He told us that those people were waiting to purchase the artwork, and that moment only participating artists were allowed to be in the gallery. DH decided to take  photos from outside the store while I was waiting there. I got a chance to meet some cool people while waiting *waving at Angie Mason and Melissa Heid*. Tara McPherson let us in around 8PM. The art boutique was cute and cozy. All the artworks hung on the left wall side of the store. They did stencil on one wall for displaying the artworks and painted huge rainbow and clouds on the other side using Tara's distinctive color palettes. You can find a lot of Tara McPherson's products like housewares, stationery, prints, stickers, t-shirts, and more in the store. I saw some art books like Travis Louie's and Mark Ryden's also available at the store.

By the time we were inside the store, it was already really packed. I recognized most of the artwork but not all since I didn't have a chance to take a look at each artwork closely. The display wall was next to the cash register where the store staff would call the buyers with their assigned numbers. Those buyers would wander around the wall to choose the artwork, while the staff checked the list to find whether that piece was still available or not. Other viewers also circled around the display wall either to snap some photos or observing their favorite pieces. If we lived nearby, we would definitely return there again to have a better look of them.

During that event, I finally got a chance to talk to Tara McPherson  in the middle of the crowd. I also met other participating artists like Martin Wittfooth, Eric White, Esao Andrews, Angie Mason and Arabella Proffer. Arabella and I have been friends both on twitter and facebook, so I was glad to finally see her that night. It was honestly difficult to spot anyone in that crowd, so I was happy to spot her:) I also met another facebook and twitter friend, Edith Lebeau. It was great to talk to you all!

If you want to visit Tara's new art boutique and the group show, here's the info

Cotton Candy Machine
Store hours: Tuesday through Sunday from Noon to 8pm.
235 South 1st Street (between Roebling and Havemeyer)
Brooklyn, NYC 11211
718.387.3844

The group show runs until May 1st, 2011. I have the feeling that all pieces are already sold out, but you can always call the store to see if they still have some available.

Some photos from the event...
(all photos by David F. Luecke, © Alamanda Art. Original works © their respective creators. All rights reserved.)

 The line was long!

 

Arabella Proffer, Melissa Heid, Angie Mason, Edith Lebeau, and I

Things we did while waiting. Pictures and chatting:)

 

 With Tara McPherson. Congratulations, Tara!

 

Wall display for the artwork

 Jill Thompson

Diana Sudyka

Jeff Soto

 

Sas Christian

Colin Christian

 

With Martina, Angie, and Melissa

Martina Secondo Russo

 

Angie Mason "When Giving Leaves You Empty"

With Martin Wittfooth

 Martin Wittfooth

 

 With Arabella

 Arabella Proffer

Esao Andrews

With Esao

Mike Shinoda

Isabel Samaras

Mark Ryden

Marion Peck

Camilla d'Errico

Rafael Silveira

Skinner

 

 

Lana Crooks

Jordin Isip

Buff Monster

Dan May

Jermaine Rogers

Audrey Kawasaki

Travis Louie

With Eric White next to his artwork (the one that shows a peek of a woman's face). The title is "Gray Lady"

Jon Schnepp

Daniel Danger

 

 Shawn Barber (top)

Gary Baseman (bottom)

Greg "Craola" Simkins

 

Chet Zar

John Baizley

Steven Manale

Jon Schnepp

 Jim Avignon

Adam Wallacavage

More Progress from "Painting My Own World" and Other Itty Bitty Things

It's a beautiful gloomy day here. Yes, I do love gloomy days more than sunny days. I just feel more energized and motivated when it's gloomy outside, and also the world just looks more beautiful when it's gloomy. I'm kind of weird that way:)
I'm working on my latest painting slowly since I'm also currently dividing my time on doing something completely new (sculpting). The sculpture itself looks like a weird puppet:) It's still really basic and I know I have to work lots on making her looks like a decent puppet. I just wanted to string the whole part before doing more and eventually paint her. Reallyyyy slow.
Some photos from my painting progress, silly puppet, and blooming amaryllis flowers in my room. All the nicer quality photos are by DH:)

The pattern for her top is from my fascination over Indonesian Kebaya. Kebaya is a traditional blouse worn by women. You would pair it with a long batik skirt. My grandma back home wears Kebaya everyday, and it's the traditional kind which will take longer effort to put on.  I didn't wear Kebaya that often, only for special occasion like for my graduation or family wedding. I went for something a bit easier to wear, for example the traditional kind you have to wrap the whole batik fabric as skirt and use safety pin, but I chose basically a long batik skirt with zipper. Kebaya blouse will cover the skirt, so you can't even tell the difference...well, at least I can't:)  Last time I wore it was for my brother's wedding. My mom actually arranged for a dressmaker to make a custom one for me. My mom ordered two Kebayas for me. I brought them with me, but I never have any excuses to wear them:)

Sketchy sketchy, and first attempt at sculpture

I've been wanting to try sculpting something small since last year. I bought clay, basic tools, and watched some videos to get a feel of how to do it. Then there was something that required my attention and emotional energy. I was so occupied and just couldn't manage to start sculpting. I finally started doing it last week. This isn't an attempt to change medium, but more of something to expand my artistic horizon. It's challenging but in a good way. I'm currently starting to create something that hopefully will be ball jointed. I just made the basic structure and I'm working on refining each part. I will eventually paint them when they look right to me:)

This one is the first head. She looks like a mummy:)

I made another head the next day. The base is actually a mirror, a gift from a friend of mine living in Japan

Body parts -_-


Also, some of silly sketches I did around last week

Time to work on those body parts:)