Oh my goodness, where do I even start? Ok, as most of you know I had the opening night for my exhibition "Awaken - art for the lost + found" on Saturday evening in the Montgomery, Surrey Street.... it was AMAZING!!
It was part of a city wide event called Light Night which opened up spaces in the city to the public that would not normally be accessible (normally the Montgomery would be closed at this time for example) and used these spaces as a platform for artists of all kinds. The whole event was organised by Art in the Park. To find out more about what they do follow this link.
The days leading up to it I honestly wasn't sure if I could get everything done in time and there were a few moments that were cutting it fairly close to the bone, for example running out of ink in my home printer and having to rush to a printing shop to get 100 booklets printed about an hour before we were due to leave for the venue! But we got it all done, it all worked out in the end. I think when you just have faith and try to keep it together as much as possible it usually does come all right in the end.
I hung 16 pieces and they all looked really cute up against the spacious white walls I have to admit. The room was really pretty as well, it has a really high ceiling that is covered in intricate wallpaper and painted an Olive green shade. Obviously the wall are painted white and there are 3 enormous windows letting in light. They have 2 dormant fireplaces, one at either side of the room and an old piano sitting at one end looking regal and old timey.
We had tea and coffee and some other light refreshments available and we had some funky music playing too. In fact we played music solely by "Dr. Herringbone Dread" all night. Lots of people really enjoyed that too. You should check him out, I think he is on Grooveshark.
I wore this:
The same dress I wore to my 21st!!
And himself and his brother ( who came up from London for the weekend) were looking smashing in their shirts and slacks.
I met so many interesting people on the night, people from all walks of life. I met a few fellow artists and we exchanged business cards. And then there were loads of people who were just there to enjoy my artwork. This is a dream come true to me. Every time someone made the effort to come up to me and compliment my work my heart just skipped a beat! And when they picked up on the positive messages in particular that made me extra happy because that is what the whole exhibition is centred around.
I had a little table with my exhibition booklets on it and I also had a newsletter sign up sheet set out on the table for people to leave their email information because I am planning on starting an artist newsletter shortly that I will send out monthly. It will contain information about my upcoming events/exhibitions, behind the scenes studio processes and other interesting articles. If you would like to sign up for the newsletter you can email me at ciaramcguireart@gmail.com.
Afterwards we went out for drink and dinner at Nandos with the arts director of the venue and her husband and another artist who was running an art workshop upstairs in the same building. We had a great time but I could only last a few hours, by about 2am I was ready for home + fluffy pjs but we ended up staying up chatting till 4am. Needless to say, I was exhausted all day yesterday but it was good tired. I think I was finally able to relax and unwind and I ended up just crashing. The last few weeks I have been up to my eyeballs in work and trying to met deadlines and spending hours upon hours creating and running around to meetings etc so when yesterday came and it was finally all over I think my body just said "Ok, sleep time!" and did just that. I didn't wake up until 14.30!!! I was shocked when I seen the time.
As a matter of fact, I am still fairly tired today. I spent the day at home because it rained all day, doing a little work but really not a whole lot.
Tomorrow I am off to an art seminar in Leeds about marketing contemporary visual arts for the whole day. So that should be cool. I'm looking forward to it.
I also have some really great news that I don't think I have shared with you all yet have I? I am know the proud renter of my very own studio space!!!! Woohoo! This is a huge deal for me because it means that I will no longer be working from home all the time ( I might do a bit) and I can finally move out of my bedroom where really I have NO SPACE and I can "go to work" everyday. I feel like this will give me a more structured day as well, I won't have as many distractions around the house. So I will be moving in there this week sometime, more than likely on Wednesday. I will be sure to give you the grand tour!
So, first exhibition? Tick! What's next for me, who knows? But I am sure the future holds only good things for me and my art adventure.
You can see my exhibition "Awaken - art for the lost + found" at the Montgomery, Surrey Street, Sheffield until the 28th October. Opening hours Mon to Fri 9-4, Tues 9-6.
I hope you all had a weekend as amazing as I did. Thanks for letting me share, talk soon
Blessings
Ciara
xoxo
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