Saturday Night's All Right for Art Shows

Late Saturday afternoon I drove in to town to drop off my framed Dreamtiger for the new Stagecoach Gallery on 3rd Avenue West. They've announced their Decompress party / public opening for next Friday, November 25 from 6:00 p.m. on. This one is BYOB, FWIW.

From there I slipped on over to Lizzard's Gallery on Superior Street half a block from Pizza Luce. Jeffrey probably has the premiere gallery in terms of representation of regional artists. His walls are a jigsaw puzzle of paintings of every conceivable size, shape and color. His contribution to the arts includes framing and presentation materials and expertise. He's always helpful, and friendly. After making a few decisions about matting and framing I killed a half hour and then drove up to Adeline Wright's new digs for her beauty salon where her opening was in progress up on 12th Avenue East and Ninth Street.

Several hair salons in the Twin Ports have art on their walls. Adeline's is no exception, except that in her case the marvelous large paintings are her own. The salon is decorated with class from top to bottom. An accordionist in Norwegian getup filled the space with liveliness. Every detail has been given attention, right down to the bathroom decor, the business cards and Adeline's eyelashes. That's what a beauty salon is all about though, isn't it? Attention to detail.

But I was especially interested in Adeline's new paintings, executed in a flowing style reminiscent of Paris 1920s. The picture top right is just inside the front door. To follow Adeline's on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/adelineinc

From here I scooted down the hill to Ochre Ghost Gallery where Emily Ostos was showing her new work inspired by two months in India where she had travelled to study yoga and Vedanta. Ostos was born in Venezuela and came to the States when she was three. By day she serves customers at Pizza Luce and just happened to deliver my food this past week when I learned of her show. We talked briefly about India (rewarding with many learning experiences) and about her numerous aunts, uncles and cousins in Venezuela.

In the center of the gallery is a large wire elephant, a symbol with Hindu meanings I assume and not a statement about U.S, political affiliations. Many of the works were produced while she was in Northern India at the edge of the Himalayas.

I found this treatment of the relationship between frame and art to be most intriguing. Looking forward to seeing more of Emily's work in the future. I believe this was her third one-person show.