Art-A-Whirl

Installment two, folks.

Mark has recently decided that he likes art. I like art too, of course, but Mark has decided that he is going to be an avid art collector and appreciator (is that a word...?) He wants to view art, buy art, make art. He's a little art-obsessed right now.

It all started a few months ago when, via Mike Doughty's blog, Mark came across Steve Keene. Steve Keene is an artist who uses an interesting technique to create his pieces. He basically hangs a large amount of plywood panels in his studio, and then goes from piece to piece, painting the same thing on each panel. He sells his art online, as well as many other places I'm sure. Mark found this artwork extremely captivating, and immediately decided to purchase a few pieces. We placed his order - for two small pieces and one large piece - and waited patiently for the pieces to come. One thing to note is that you never know which pieces you are going to receive. You place your order, and whatever Steve Keene decides to send, that's what Mark receives. So, finally the package arrives, and what a package it is. Wrapped in brown paper are at least 20 pieces of Steve Keene artwork. Mark was thrilled. I was...well...less than thrilled. But I wanted to support Mark and his newfound interest, so our quest to become art lovers began.

Now, on a side note, I enjoy art as well. I come from a family of artists. Both of my dad's parents are artists, my cousins are artists, my aunt is also an artist. I think that my dad could be considered an artist (he does a lot of landscape design work with his company). I appreciate and am interested in many types of art, whether it is paintings, sculpture, poetry, or music. But, in all honestly, this is Mark's thing. I'm just along for the ride.

And so, to further support and encourage his art appreciation, I suggested that Mark and I attend the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association's Art-W-Whirl this past Sunday. Art-A-Whirl is basically a gathering of artists in the NE area of the city. Many artists open up their studio space for people to visit and view the work. You can see the space, check out the art, and speak with the artists. There is a large silent auction. There are probably well over 500 artists that participate in this festival. And, I want to make special note that this isn't your basic arts and crafts fair. There are no doilies or magnets made out of ceramic. These pieces are truly works of art. These people are literally the "starving artists" who make their living from their passion.

When we arrived, I made a deal with Mark that if we saw and purchased a piece today that we both loved, we would make that piece the basis for all decorating at our new apartment. We spent the entire afternoon just wandering around NE Mpls, viewing the amazing works that the artists had presented for sale, enjoying the day and each other.

One of the first pieces that we saw was by far my favorite piece of the entire day. It was beautiful. Acrylic on canvas, colors were bold and eye-catching - reds and blues and grays. It was huge, too. Probably at least 5' x 5', and that's big in a little apartment! I wanted it so badly, and Mark really liked it too. And then we saw the price. $5200. Uh, yeah. Moving on...

Mark and I did both find pieces that we loved, and they were in our price range. Mark's piece was a small print of a larger piece that the artist had already sold. It is an interesting ensemble of colors representing musicians. It will be perfect in the back room where Mark will have his guitar space set up. The piece that I chose was a watercolor with varied shades of blues and greens. It is titled One's Only Contentment. It is calming and soothing to look at, and will be perfect in the bedroom where I plan to decorate in greens.

We won that last piece that we purchased at the silent auction. Acrylic on canvas, it features a scuba-diver deep in the ocean. Deep blues and black, the colors scream out at you the instant you walk into the room. It's a rather small piece, but it's so loud that we'll probably put it on a wall alone. It'll make more of a splash that way.

After our touring of the art world, we were famished, and so went to Psycho Suzi's in NE Mpls for a bit of lunch. Psycho Suzi's is a great place to go in the summer because they have a huge tiki hut patio on which you can sip some fantastically strong summer drinks. We skipped the drinks, but did indulge in a great sandwich and some spinach dip. It was a nice little ending to our day of crusing the art world. I have a feeling it's a world I'll be visiting quite often...