Last Wednesday, I made a solo 9.5 hour drive to Nashville, TN, to participate in Artclectic, an annual fund-raising 4 day gallery-styled art show and sale sponsored by Whole Foods held at the University School of Nashville. This was a juried show, and I was one out of about 50 artists chosen from approximately 250 applicants. It was such an honor to be there, and even more of an honor to have been awarded an “Honorable Mention” prize, as I told you in a previous post. Three honorable mentions were awarded, as well as Best of Show, First Place – 2D Art, and First Place – 3D art.
Artclectic was perhaps the most hospitable show I’ve ever done, and the other artists were all wonderful. I made some fast friends — some of the funnest, funniest, most fun people I’ve met in a long time! Fun. I had such a great time. Check out more details on their website at www.artclectic.org. I hope to go back next year!
Anyway, after I arrived Wednesday, I took it easy in my motel room, reading and matting prints to sell over the weekend. Thursday morning I tried to drive the wrong way down a one-way street, and then finally found my way into USN for artclectic. It took me a couple hours to get set up, and then I’d wait around until the patron party that evening. The patron party was lots of fun. Food & drinks and more food & drinks. Friday morning, I made myself available to touring school kids to tell them about my artwork. I encountered mostly kindergartners, which is such a great age. They are so honest. And luckily, I don’t really get offended at insults. If that’s any indication of the feedback I received from them! Just kidding — they were all very inquisitive and interested in how I made my work. Friday afternoon, I hit the streets of downtown Nashville with a couple new found friends and we made our way around to the various music joints that have live music and beer flowing all day long. My kind of town!
And of course, we hit up a couple record stores in between.
Friday night was another round of food & drinks and art shopping at Artclectic, so back to work I went, and then afterward, a bunch of us went out for a quick night cap. It was a pleasure for me to be sitting around a table in a pub with several artists from other parts of the country whose work I’ve admired for a long time.
Roll into Saturday’s all day art show that was open to the public. Again, I must commend the volunteers and staff of Artclectic for being so hospitable. I didn’t want to leave! Saturday night finished right with dinner at Monell’s (look it up and then go there and eat all that you want because you will not regret it). It’s a restaurant in an old Victorian styled home where everybody sits around community tables and passes the dishes around just as you would at a family dinner. A big YES. And all the food was phenomenal. After that, new friends took me to their friends home for a late night music session (with a pedal steel guitar!), PBR’s & whiskeys, and ghost stories. It is the south after all.
Here’s a picture from outside Ryman Auditorium. Read it.
Sunday was the last day of Artclectic and I hated to see it come to an end. BUT, one of the highlights of my trip was to come. After we got all packed up, I got to go to a house party in East Nashville — otherwise known as the Red Barn Roundup (there’s a red barn in the driveway), and lo-and-behold, Chuck Mead — a former Kansan (from Lawrence!) — and leading man of BR-549 (look it up, kids), along with his Grassy Knoll Boys, played some live music while we all sat around and ate and drank and enjoyed.
And the music was awesome. And the people were awesome. And the food was awesome. And I didn’t want to leave, but Monday morning would come soon enough, and I had a long drive ahead of me. And here I am, reminiscing about what a great time it was. And I’m surely going back. Coming soon: a list of a bunch of the great artists that I met and befriended and what they are doing…