Guns

by aaron on February 29th, 2008

So I don’t know how old I was in this photo (a couple hours? a couple days?) taken back in 1977, but even as a small boy I was trying to show off my manly physique.

Just watch out for the guns. They’ll get you.

Speaking of guns, I’m going to start going to the gym. I have three months until baby arrives, and I’ve held a baby carrier, and those things are heavy without a baby in them! So I need to get strong and healthy and build the ole’ immune system to prepare for the late nights, etc …

Soon

by aaron on February 28th, 2008

Sorry for the lack of anything new, I’m not just basking in the glow of a great art show :)

It’s been an absolutely insane work week, and things going on every night … went to see the amazing Regina Spektor last night at the Ryman with some friends of ours and it was a fantastic night. Started baby classes Monday and we’re really excited about them.

I will post more soon. In the meantime, relish in the schizophrenic genius that is: garfield minus garfield.

Art Show

by aaron on February 23rd, 2008

Wow. I mean seriously. Last night was absolutely amazing.

The opening of my Crema show was last night, of course, and since it was my first show by myself, I didn’t really know what to expect. And it was in a coffee shop, not in an art gallery. And I have long been under the mindset of “who cares about art in coffee shops, anyway?” But a lot of my art had been in there for a few weeks already, and I’d been getting a pretty good buzz about it, emails and phone calls, etc. We sent out my press release way too late, so I didn’t really get any articles or listings or anything (I think maybe online a couple places, but nothing in print that I’m aware of). And I had flyers sitting on the counter for a week or so. But mostly my advertising was word of mouth. And this blog.

So yesterday afternoon when I went to Whole Foods to buy all the cheese, I told the extremely helpful cheese-man (who had an uncanny resemblance to Leo DiCaprio) that I was expecting, at the most, hopefully 50 people. I figured, if I could actually get 50 people to go out to a coffee shop on a Friday night, just to see my stuff, that would be pretty cool! At least that would mean I wouldn’t be bored at my own opening, right? I’ve been to art openings that seemed more like a funeral, and I really didn’t want that.

So get this.

We’re estimating that between 150-200 people showed up! AT LEAST! It was absolutely and completely mind-blowing. Seriously, from about 7:30 - 9:30 it was wall-to-wall people. So far I’ve counted that I knew around 59 of them. I met a lot of new people. I sold 15 paintings (that’s insane). So far … I’ve actually got 4-5 commissions lined up from last night on top of the 15. And the show will be up through the end of March, so it’s not over.

** I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, how loved and supported Michelle and I feel. Thank you to everyone who came out to say Hi, it absolutely means the world to me. It’s been a crazy 4-5 months for Michelle and I, with lots of good and plenty of bad. And last night was definitely one of the great nights in recent memory. We felt lifted, we felt supported, we felt excited.

Thank you so much to Rachel and Ben for letting me have my show at Crema in the first place.
Thank you Chad for running out and getting more wine after I learned that with a crowd like that, six bottles only last about 90 minutes.
Thank you Michelle for all your help and love and support helping me get ready for the show, even amidst being pregnant and what-not. And when the opportunity to show at Crema came up, for insisting that I do it!
Thank you everyone who braved the cold and were able to find the place in the dark. You truly made this a night to remember.

Only regrets of the evening:
– Being a dork and overlooking some people with the invitations … I am REALLY sorry about that.
– Not taking better / more photos. Did anyone else take any that they could email me?
– Not even THINKING about setting out a guest book for people to sign. I could kick myself for that.

But I have absolutely no complaints. It was wonderful. Sorry if I am gushing, I am just very happy. Now I have a baby shower to go to and then a newborn to go see. It’s a baby day, for sure.

– Aaron

P.S. I am also giddy with excitement to know that our son was able to attend my first ever solo show, via his mommy’s belly :) You know, the baby can hear stuff, right? Last night there were lots of great vibes. I’m sure baby was happy.

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– opening night photos –
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by aaron on February 21st, 2008

Picasso

by aaron on February 19th, 2008

My friend and Nashville art afficionado Andee Rudloff pointed this out to me:

“You know, Picasso had his first solo show at a coffee house. He realized he did not have enough work to fill the place … so he painted all night long before the opening to fill it up.”

Even Picasso had trouble keeping up. I feel honored to be in such great company :)

Coldplay

by aaron on February 19th, 2008

It’s been years since I’ve listened to it, but I just had to mention how amazing of an album A Rush of Blood to the Head is. I feel like so much of it is speaking directly to me.

That’s all. Just wanted to mention it.

Speak to me in a language I can hear.

by aaron on February 19th, 2008

Last night we had dinner with some friends of ours who have a beautiful (and energetic) 3-year-old boy. He sat next to me, playing with his toy cars, and occasionally he would say something to me, and sometimes I understood it, and sometimes I didn’t. I notice that when it comes to other people’s kids, I never quite know what to do, or how to interact with them. Or how to talk with them. Like I don’t know how to relate to a three-year old boy. Some friends I have fall right into it. I guess I just don’t know what to talk about with someone who may or may not understand the words coming out my mouth. I guess for some reason I feel that if it’s my own kid, I have “permission” to talk to them in whatever way makes sense to me. Like maybe the down-to-the-wire race for Superdelegates in the Democratic race to the white house. Or the price of tea in China.

Futureson: I apologize in advance for any crazy-looking, stupid sounding, googly-eyed baby voices I use to get you to laugh. I won’t be able to help it. I’ll make sure to record some of it so that I can later prove how much you actually liked it.

Happy day

by aaron on February 18th, 2008

So the evening before last, I took the dogs out as usual, and I had a vision. It was a very clear and unmistakable vision. It just popped into my head. And yesterday, just as I thought, it came true.

Michelle and I are trying to spend our Sundays working on the nursery. Right now it’s basically a storage unit crammed into our spare bedroom (formerly my painting studio). But one day in the near future, it will be a nursery. Yesterday Michelle was salvaging a bookcase I wanted to throw away, and she gave it a fresh coat of paint and it looks absolutely beautiful. While she was doing that, I was sorting and sifting and throwing stuff away in the future-nursery, and I came across a box of CDs that I’ve actually looked in before. At least I’d looked at the top two layers of CDs.

Yesterday I remembered my vision and decided to see what was underneath the second layer of CD cases.

And this is where my vision came true, and 2 1/2 years of searching came to an end.

There it was, just as I had imagined it, the elusive and beloved second half of our DVD collection.

I’m serious, I was ecstatic. Two-and-a-half years ago after Creative Access closed its doors, and Michelle was out of a job, we decided to sell our house in Sylvan Park and downsize ourselves into a small condo here in Bellevue. In our minds, we were packing up our things (like DVDs) and putting them in storage for a month or two, max. Over two years later, we still had our storage unit. I’ve looked in the unit many times for these DVDs, never finding them because I didn’t properly mark the outside of the box. Then, a couple months ago when we found out my job was being dwindled away, we decided to stop paying $100/month for storage, and moved half the stuff into our future-nursery, and the other half into Michelle’s mom’s basement.

I’d developed a slight obsession in finding these movies, and it was incredibly frustrating to know they were out there somewhere, but we couldn’t have them. They became my whale. And yesterday, I caught it.

You see, Michelle and I love watching movies together, and this particular half of our movie collection had movies that are very meaningful to us. They are certainly some of my favorite movies in the world, and to know I owned them, but couldn’t watch them, it was actually a lot more affecting than I would have thought.

Movies like Punch Drunk Love, Magnolia, American Beauty, Shawshank Redemption, Eternal Sunshine, and I Am Sam. I’ve actually survived this long without seeing any of those movies. Hard to believe.

Never again.

Futureson: Put your toys away after you’re done playing with them, otherwise they could come alive and go on crazy adventures and never come back. And then where would you be?

PR

by aaron on February 15th, 2008

Holy cow. My friend Dez just helped me send out my very first Press Release about my very first solo show opening next Friday night.

I’m very excited. And a little nervous.

I’m just hoping to get a few people to come by so the place isn’t like a ghost town. It’s hard to think of people coming by JUST to see me. I don’t have other artists to fall back on, it’s basically me and the (very cool) coffee shop. Maybe lots of people will show up. That would be awesome. I’m buying the wine and cheese, and I think there will be free coffee. And art. My art. Mostly new art. And don’t think you have to buy something just for looking … but it all IS for sale … and you know, I got the baby on the way and all …

Hey, I’m an artist, not a salesman.

Tell a buddy. Bring a friend.

  

Oh, and by the way …

by aaron on February 15th, 2008

We’re having a boy!!!!

A boy who is either somewhat camera shy or the freaking Karate Kid, because every time the Ultrasound tech would try to see a certain part of his anatomy, his hands would swoosh over to cover up that spot, like Bruce Lee.

Or Chuck Norris.