Opening at Beaners Was Fun For All

Last Thursday evening I had my art opening at Beaners. It was a pretty special day. If you know the layout, the "show" is in the area closest to the sidewalk at the front room. After getting everything hung, I felt pretty good about this space. While it gave me a new appreciation for the sanctity of museum spaces, I also re-experienced some of the gratification I felt when hanging my art at Starbucks in January. The customers in a public space get quite engaged when a new show is being hung as they do not know what is coming next, kind of like the unwrapping of presents at Christmas. Not everything is a diamond, but each is a surprise. I myself always enjoy the inquiry, "Are you the artist?"

The opening itself was from 6:00-9:00 p.m. Friends helped set up the room and more friends came to enjoy the program, which included the last performance of Perfectini, a jazz duo comprised of Rob Linneman (sax) and Darin Bergsven. Rob is moving to Portland soon so this was, in effect, his swan song.

As the band dismantled at 7:30 I briefly took the stage thanked everyone who'd come out. I'd considered doing a few minutes of stand up comedy, but pulled the plug on that one, choosing instead to introduce a short film I'd had assembled for the occasion... of a painting session in my studio space. Keyboardist John Heino (Centerville All Stars) created soundtrack music for some of the pieces I painted "live, unrehearsed, on cue." I had asked for sound bytes in different moods, and he delivered. John says that each piece of music was an improv created while looking at one of my pictures which he had placed in front of him on the piano. It could make for an interesting game trying to guess which image evoked the various tracks. The music, as abstraction from the concrete, was then reflected in new configurations as I painted improvisationally to the music he created.

Another feature of the show was a table full of miscellaneous ink drawings and a number of ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals in a baseball card sized format.) These items were all on sale for a $10 donation to either Art for a Cure or Duluth's Modest Home Makeover project (MHM).

Special thanks to Jason Wussow for making his venue available for the show and opening, to Joelene Steffens of Art Dimensions for framing the giclee reproductions produced at Custom Photo Labs and to the many who offered up a lifetime of encouragement.

Photo credits: Top, top right and left, courtesy Andy Perfetti. Thanks, Andy.