Art Journal of Heidi Alamanda: December 2010

Hello Beautiful Readers,
So sorry for the lack of updates and leaving this blog a bit lonely. I'm still busy preparing my sketchbook for Sketchbook Project due Jan. 15th, and paint in between. I'll post more about it other time. I think I haven't been outside for weeks:)

If you're like me, you'll understand that most of the time you'll be so immersed into your artwork that you don't have time going out for fun exploration. However, every once in a while I make sure (or someone else pushes me) to get out from my studio for art excursion time and other fun things. It keeps my spirit fresh and happy. It's important to cultivate your good spirit and sprinkle it to your artwork:

The opening was actually on Thursday, but we went to view it on Saturday since I couldn't go on Thursday. It was my first experience going to Sloan Fine Art Gallery, and I was really glad I could make it there. Everyone there, from the staff to the owner, Alix Sloan, was so friendly and helpful. You would feel like you just walked into a friend's place who happened to have a very nice art collection. There was a book signing today, so I made sure I bought Marion's book, Animal Love Summer, at the gallery. Marion Peck arrived along with Mark Ryden. I met them briefly last May at Mark's show at Paul Kasmin Gallery and it was nice to meet and talk to them again in a more casual environment. One art magazine named them the “royal couple of the art world,” a title that may make you feel uncertain of how to act around them, but once you talk to them you can tell that they're nice, sweet, humble, and warm people. It was a happy experience for me to talk to those great artists and I got a personalized signed book by Marion Peck..yayyy! We spent quite sometime at the gallery and I was completely mesmerized by each artwork. You can feel how Marion really poured her heart into them. Each portrait seemed to have a different story to tell, and I couldn't help but wonder what their story was. It gave me a sense of nostalgic feeling when I saw each of them. I stared at each of them as if they could actually talk to me, perhaps offer me a cup of tea, and we would sit while they were telling me their life stories. I wanted to know what they were thinking at that moment when somebody captured their image. Each of Marion Peck's artwork was so captivating and I just couldn't help but wonder how others would think when they see our photos in a hundred years. Are they going to wonder the meaning behind our smile? Can they understand a bit of our feeling just by looking into our eyes? Can they see our sadness and longing? That's the feeling I always have whenever I see old photographs. I'm always intrigued to know more of their stories even though I know I will never get that answer. Here are some of the photos from Marion Peck's show and book signing. If you're in the area, you can stop by to experience Marion Peck's beautiful works at Sloan Fine Art.

"Abner"

Zachary

Elma

Good Christian Children

Marge

Jeremiah

Yamada

Good Christian Children

Old Souls 1 through 5

Solve et Coagula

Solve et Coagula - Detail

Next to "Darla". She's one of my favorites.

Vladimir

Gretchen

Lady Elizabeth

Laura

Edna

Charles

Those two votive in the middle are ours

Colette

Hubert

A closer look of Old Soul

Marion Peck is about to sign my book ^_^

Marion is really sweet:)

Mark Ryden

With Marion Peck and Mark Ryden. They're sooo nice

A Closer Look of Darla

Gretchen and I

Beautiful Alix Sloan and I. She's so awesome and friendly.

Also in the project room is "The Strangers", new oil on panel paintings by Brad Woodfin. The gallery is located at 128 Rivington Street on the Lower East side of New York City. Hours are Wednesday-Sunday, 12 PM-6 PM, and by appointment. The exhibition runs from December 16^th, 2010 to February 5^th, 2011 (viewing is by appointment only from Dec 20^th to Jan 4^th for the holidays).

Brad Woodfin "Egyptian Vulture"

Gerenuk

Cattle Egret


Woodcock (top); Curlew (bottom)

The nice thing of visiting a gallery in Lower East Side of NYC is the interesting choices of places to eat and shops around there. DH wrote everything down to make sure we had a fun exploration. Our first stop for lunch is Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop across Sloan Fine Art. Yummy, fresh and filling sandwiches, and so affordable. After the show and book signing, we went to Vanessa's Dumpling for some snacks. That place was packed. DH waited in line to order while I was hunting for seat...good teamwork, I suppose..haha. We got two huge scallion pancakes and a dozen of pork and chive dumpling. There was an Asian Bakery next to the dumpling place. I just couldn't resist the temptation of chubby fluffy bun, so I got some coconut buns and spongy fluffy cake from that store. We continued our adventure by visiting Kee's Chocolate and CeciCela Pattisserie. Ooh all those pastries lining up on the store's window display looking so pretty and tasty. We just had to adopt some of them. We ended our NYC adventure for that day by having dinner at Pho Grand. Filling and tasty dinner for the two of us for $20. I had been craving for beef ball pho for a while and I was so glad DH found this place. All in all, it was a very happy day for us.

Some pictures from our adventure