Of mice and men

What a day - Venus Envy install.

I think I might have mentioned my sketches, John's calculations, how prepared we usually are for this stuff. People make fun of us we are so prepared.

Just fugettaboutit already. Best laid plans.

Flashback to this morning: we had the truck loaded. Not knowing the specifics of the lighting, we had light poles, clip lights, plug in halogens and strips, chains and extension cords for all of these. A ladder. Toolbox. Flat tire. Wait, that wasn't on the list.

John couldn't get the spare loose from under the truck so we headed off to the tire place to see if they would put our spare on for us then keep the damaged tire and hopefully fix it while we were hanging the show. It was ten minutes before noon when we entered the tire place. We were due to start hanging at noon. Did I mention we live in the "burbs." Translation NOWHERE NEAR downtown which is where the show is taking place. I called Rhonda, my buddy and best art partner, who I was supposed to be meeting. Told her what was going on. She was already there (naturally) and ready to start. Ugh.

We finally arrived about 1:30 just as Rhonda was finishing up. This show is typically held in an semi-abandoned or at least "un-used" space, this year it's a downtown MALL that is slated for redevelopment into condos. The stores are mainly out of business so we are hanging art in a variety of locations including storefronts and other settings. We had no idea what to expect; some of the spots we saw the other day were rough. There are 50 artists total. And somehow, Rhonda and I were among a select group given the honor of hanging in an actual gallery setting. An art gallery. Like with real lights that worked. Oh my gosh did that eliminate a lot of problems.

Or not. My proposal was based on 10 linear feet of wall. The space I was given was 16 linear feet. Which meant I had to juggle every single piece (19 of them!) to better fill the space so it didn't look stupid. Actually a good thing since John and I were both so mentally derailed by the flat tire that we had walked out of the house without our diagram and precious measurements!

So, as with many things, it all turned out exactly the way it was supposed to be. I quickly made a new plan. John quickly did some math and figured it out. We hung the work. Or rather he hung the work and I hung out. And it looks terrific. There are some touch ups needed, probably a little leveling before the Preview party on Thursday night plus I have not been furnished with my labels yet. Photos will be forthcoming because, yeah, you guessed it - I forgot my camera.