Art of the Week: For Andy Goldsworthy

Happy winter solstice!  A friend of mine held an artist retreat day today, and we watched Andy Goldsworthy: Rivers & Tides and created ephemeral art in response in the rain.  It was a wonderful experience.

I included some photographs of my work above, in which I arranged yellow gold leaves in a small enclave in the rock of the creek bed running behind her house.  I have a couple of pictures of the piece in process from afar and close up.  I wish I could have spent more time extending the line of leaves even further along the water's edge, to greater mimic the shadow cast on the other side.

My friend's work (below) incorporated yellow green leaves in a slight recess in a rock face along the same creek bed, creating a flow across its surface.  She also created a lovely pattern along the perimeter of the woods out of crusted over tree branches, but I didn't manage to get a photo of that.

Little Black Dress Updates

Little Black Dress will be coming to the Northern Arts Council's 427 Gallery / Pearce Neikirk & Partners, Realtors, LLC in Ferguson, MO in January 2014.  There will be a closing reception on Sat., Feb. 1 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM.  In celebration of the theme, we will revisit the impromptu fashion show and all who wear a "little black dress" will get a prize!

The Northern Arts Council presents:

Little Black Dress
solo exhibit
hours by appointment only
427 Gallery at Pearce Neikirk & Partners, Realtors, LLC
427 S. Florissant
Ferguson, MO 63135
Jan. 8 - Feb. 2, 2014

And don't forget to drop by the show at Sunflower Massage Studio to enter the drawing for a chance to win a $40 gift certificate!  The show runs through Dec. 20.  Ending soon!

Little Black Dress
solo exhibit
hours by appointment only
Sunflower Massage Studio
2104 Bellevue Ave.
Maplewood, MO
Nov. 5 - Dec. 20, 2013

Holiday Shows

So many holiday boutique opportunities for all of your shopping needs...  There are a ton of great art markets happening this year, and I'm participating in a few all over.  Here is a list of all of the holiday shows I am doing this year:

Holiday Boutique
Northern Arts Council
427 Gallery at Pearce Neikirk & Partners, Realtors, LLC
427 S. Florissant
Ferguson, MO
Dec. 2013
Open this Thurs., Dec. 12, 5 - 9 PM during the Carriage Rides.
Open Fridays & Saturdays, 6 - 9 PM through Dec. 21.
Includes selected necklaces.

Simple Treasures 2
Framations
218 North Main St.
St. Charles, MO
Dec. 13, 2013 - Jan. 23, 2014
Reception: Friday, Dec. 13, 6 - 8 PM
Includes my miniature plein air paintings & car vignettes and some jewelry & ornaments.

Alexi Era Gallery Shoppe
1426 Washington Ave.
St. Louis, MO
Boutique includes selected hand-beaded necklaces by myself.

Give a Gift of Art
Columbia Art League
207 S. Ninth St.
Columbia, MO
Nov. - Dec. 2013
Some of my jewelry & the Roadhouse Guitar plein air painting are on display.

Give the Gift of Art
Capital Arts
1203 Missouri Blvd.
Jefferson City, MO
Nov. - Dec. 2013
My finger-knitted scarves & ornaments are in this show.

Little Black Dress is currently still on display at Sunflower Massage in Maplewood, though the show ends soon - December 20!  Stop by and check it out before it ends, and enter the drawing for a $40 gift certificate.

Little Black Dress
solo exhibit
hours by appointment only
Sunflower Massage Studio
2104 Bellevue Ave.
Maplewood, MO
Nov. 5 - Dec. 20, 2013

Also, please feel free to check out my work at my new 2ndStory Space studio as well. Most everything of my work is there, from the more provocative to the plein air, jewelry and more.  I am generally there from noon - 3 PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays by RSVP (call first so I know to let you in).
Jennifer Weigel artist studio
2ndStory Space
2173A S. Big Bend
Maplewood, MO
above Paramount Hair Salon
http://2ndstoryspace.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/2ndstoryspace
http://4sq.com/1ksxcHR
http://www.jenniferweigelcoaching.com/

This Week

I will have several miniature plein air paintings on display at Framations for their holiday show and food drive.  Please drop by and check it out, and bring something to donate to the food pantry to help those in need.

Simple Treasures 2
Framations
218 North Main St.
St. Charles, MO
Dec. 13, 2013 - Jan. 23, 2014
Reception: Friday, Dec. 13, 6 - 8 PM

This Week

Some of my jewelry is on display at the new Alexi Era Gallery Shoppe, so please stop in and do some holiday shopping.  Alexi Era is gearing up for the big Red Letter Holiday Party tomorrow night, so it's the perfect chance to drop by and check it out.  You could even win some cool swag and fun stuff!

Alexi Era Gallery Shoppe
1426 Washington Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63103
Red Letter Holiday Party: Sat., Dec. 7, 7 - 10 PM
Everyone who attends will receive a red letter envelope.  All envelopes contain something fun, and two special envelopes contain $50 & $100 gift cards!

Snow Day

I'm not gonna make it to the studio today...
The snow's not that bad but I don't have any appointments and I have a bunch of stuff to work on on the computer anyway.

Christmas Traditions Opening Weekend

Wow!  The St. Charles Christmas Traditions event was a truly indescribable experience.  I distributed over 1,000 cards over the course of the weekend, participating for a few hours each day until I ran out of cards to give away.  I cannot imagine how many 10s of 1,000s of cards each official performer must run through over the course of the entire event!  Although I would love to continue being involved, I will have to bow out due to my not being able to keep up with the demand in terms of time and monetary costs.  So I will not be participating outside of the opening weekend, except perhaps to enjoy the festival as an ordinary event-goer.

While participating on Saturday, an event coordinator requested I speak to the mounted police to determine who I was and why I was there.  I was informed that they screen the actors before the event and, though I was doing nothing wrong and they couldn't request me to leave, they would like to do a background check and wanted to remind me that it is a family-friendly event.

I have nothing to hide but must admit the interrogation was somewhat disconcerting, since I had engaged in the activity out of pure innocuous fun and it had never even occurred to me that anyone would do so with criminal intent.  (If anything, I would think that most people considering anything of the sort would do so as a means of self-promotion, but since I know my work runs the gamut and contains some adult content I had chosen to be entirely anonymous.)  The most intimidating and challenging thing was being surrounded by a horde of what must have been 50+ children seeking cards while I was talking to the mounted police.  If the event coordinators had wished to avoid causing a scene, they failed in an epic manner since the scene included a mounted officer, myself and a sea of kids.  (Sadly I don't have any photos.)

Regarding my performance - rather than boisterously taking on a character (acting is truly not my forte), I instead participated in a somewhat low-key manner by handing out cards to those who asked and politely greeting people on the street.  I openly told many passersby that I was actually an audience member and performance artist seeking to blur the distinctions between actor and audience.

The responses I got were really interesting.  Many audience-members just looked blankly at me as though they totally didn't understand.  Some were turned off by my participation and gave me the "stink eye" as though I was some sort of pervert or freak trying to hoodwink them by giving out "knockoff" cards.  Others embraced the idea, saying, "Way to go!," You rock!," "You totally fooled me..." and conversing with me further.  (I may have even inspired a few holiday party themes with my reappropriated tree skirt coat - encouraging hosts to invite guests to wear tree skirts instead of ugly sweaters...)

Anyway, as I'd mentioned, it was an interesting an incredible experience.  The holiday spirit is truly contagious even just as an ordinary event-goer, but even more so when performing and engaging with everyone directly.