It's all go on the arts front this week

Monday I unexpectedly gave a gallery walk and talk on the current exhibit of Joy Saville's fabric constructions, My Journey Into Abstraction, at a gallery in the retirement community where the embroiderers hold their meetings.  

Up to the day before we thought, we being the embroiderers' guild, that we had a different presenter up for this, found we didn't after all, and I was asked if I could just you know, step in...good thing I knew her art and was able to say a few things.

Here's Helen H., our president doing the intro to Joy, not to me, because they already know me too well to need any info.

Some of our officers are there in the front of the audience. They are great embroiderers, from way back in their families.

If you're unfamiliar with Joy's work, go here 
to see a video of her opening in New York City last year, she's seen seated there, and many of the same pieces are in the current show for which  I did the gallery walk.  

I had never met her, despite attempts by mentor Maggi Johnson who wanted us to meet, but great surprise, she did stop in briefly before our chat, and I got to meet her finally.  I didn't do a pic, felt she might not want that at this point, a bit frail now.  She now lives in the community where the gallery is, which is how we got lucky with this show.

Then onward to the Plainsboro Artists 2017 Annual Exhibit, which I blogged about a few days ago, see here and we do try to make good food to bring.  Anyone in the show brings something edible, and I thought ah, here's a chance to make shortbread. 

Easy to eat standing up, always welcome.  The cook got to eat the edge bits. leaving the proper squares for the artists' dining pleasure. Not many of them came home.

And it took its place among a wonderful array of exotic offerings. We have a number of cultures in our group, and this mosaic of food is really part of what we're about, come to think of it. This was taken before the table was filled up as people arrived and added their dishes. 

then  some pix of artists and their work

Vimala on left, busy discussing her work, partly visible in the middle, with the painter of the moonlit scene on the left. The gentleman on the right didn't show this time but brought in a lovely painting on cedar to show us. That's what they're examining there.

one of Donna S., the gallery curator who hung the show with great expertise, and whose felted scene is in the show, next to Art Lee, whose big fabric collage is behind them, but I did pic it earlier.

and here's Annette N., a wonderful watercolor painter who has exhibited all over the region, very successfully

This is one opening where a lot of talk is about art, and people make a big point of finding each other to ask about their work, and give feedback.  Openings in general are not my cup of tea, since so often the art is ignored, but this one is a shining exception, great fun with me mates.  And there are spouses I only get to see at this event where they loyally show up, so that's a bonus.

This show is up to late September, so if you're local, stop in to Plainsboro Library -- any hour it's open, the gallery is too.  It's a strong show, well worth your trip.  Your humble blogwriter has a piece in there, too.  Just sayin.