Friday night was the opening of Brad Nack's exhibit of new animals, new oil paintings, tempuras and signed posters.
The exhibit space was MichaelKate Interiors, where Nack has curated several recent shows of local artists, but this show was all his own work.
I popped round sometime after 10 pm, and after being greeted at the door, found friends and fun times. And it was great seeing Nack's work outside of Roy and the Reindeer paintings he sells around Christmas time.
The Mercury Lounge provided the bar, and a DJ played a range of friendly tunes. The atmosphere felt like being at a big roomy house party, with Nack's artwork juxaposed with elegant domestic scenery.
The exhibit runs from Friday, 19 August, through 2 October. Open 6 days a week, closed Wednesdays.
The Fishbon arts collective is preparing for what appears to be the largest collaborative art project ever brought to the Burning Man festival by Santa Barbarans - the Walkabout Woods.
I stopped by the project site this week and was amazed by the dozens upon dozens of colorfully painted trees. They'd also built a climbable wood pyramid.
Also onsite was the Enclave camp, who are returning as a camp for their third year to Black Rock City. They were building another large multi-storied structure, even including a large trampoline embedded within a level.
Finally, the PyroBar artcar was being outfitted with welded handrails on top, to allow more passengers onto the vehicle.
The site was a flurry of activity and friendliness. The Man burns in 17 days.
Tags: walkabout woods, enclave, fishbon, burning man, art
I'm sorry they left town for Portland, but now they are back, Santa Barbara's very own Moog family, the Volt Per Octaves! Even their daughter kicks in on Harmonium at times.
I first heard them several years ago, also during a First Thursday, when they performed outside Borders with Moogs and theramin. I bought their CD right then and there.
When Sullivan Goss has it's exhibit of Hank Pitcher paintings, it's a busy time for them. Not visible in this photo, but visible in the gallery was an abundance of red dots by the painting descriptions. Most had sold.
And other cool display, the Neon Fish.
Sullivan Goss 7 East Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 www.sullivangoss.com
Tags: neon fish, First Thursday, Sullivan Goss, Hank Pitcher
The Fuzion shop on State Street is a hidden gem in its downstairs area. Aside from the display of impressive glassworks, they often have exhibits of street style art. Tonight was no exception. I didn't gete the names of the artists, but it looked to be 6-10 different artists. I did get a few photos!
And btw, some of these artists will be working down on Mason street painting wood panels this weekend.
I had my first torta from Casa de la Raza's booth at the de la Guerra Mercado two years ago, thanks to the enthusiastic recommendation of Mr. Ted Coe. Cheers, mate!
If you feel so inclided, you can read my blog entry about it from way back when, which depicts the awesome Casa guy grilling up the tri-tip behind the booth with plenty of wood-fired smoke billowing about. And you may also note that the torta has not changed much. My current picture is a little deceptive. It may look like a roll stuffed with lettuce, but that is not all! Inside is a hearty serving of chunky tri-tip. The bread is reminiscent of Tino's sandwiches at the Italian Grocery - firm enough to hold together, but delicately soft enough to give away at each bite.
The torta is $8, the same price for a while, and tonight I got lucky. I stopped by the booth around 6 or 6:30 pm on the Thursday and there was NO QUEUE. Compare this to the 40 minute wait I had two years ago. I'd like to thank Tracey for this, as she said, "the secret is to go early in the week and early in the day to get one before the line gets too long." Wise words, my friend.
Tags: torta, casa de la raza, fiesta, de la guerra, mercado, First Thursday
Whoops, there are some naughty bits showing in this picture. But I think you can handle it. Molnar-Metzenthin's exhibit of nude portraits wasn't listed in August Passport for First Thursday, but as luck would have it, I knew this local gal and had her display marked in my calendar.
This show will be up at Jitters coffeehouse from 4-31 August, so if you missed it during First Thursday, you've got a few weeks to get down there, but Monika will probably not be there to greet you.
Jitters 728 State St. Santa Barbara, California
Tags: monika molnar-metzenthin, nude portraits, jitters, First Thursday
This gallery was an unsuspecting treat! Outside, it looks like a cute little house. Inside it looks like a cute little house. It *is* a house! That's an art gallery. My friends and I marveled at how cute and big even the bathroom (with cute bathtub) was.
And the art was cool, too. This was Mitch Dobrowner's Wide Angle show of amazing landscapes, usually massive storm clouds in open spaces or over small towns from far away. Proceeds of sales from his Storm series will benefit victims of the tornado which struck Joplin earlier this year.
The wall space gallery itself has been open since last September. Where have I been?? I look forward to returning for future shows. And bonus: it's just half a block down from Romanti-Ezer.
A series of chromatic prints by Jonas Jungblut was on display in Gallery 27 of Brooks Institute. Also included near the entrance were some stream-of-consciousness notes about the topic "King Monkey and the Infinite Sunshine."
If you can squint just so, the artist is pictured here, pointing at one of his pictures. How meta!
Brooks Institute 27 E. Cota St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Tags: First Thursday, Brooks Institute, Jonah Jungblut, King Monkey
I was in the area, so I went to add my name to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. So not only was I checking in my marrow as a possible donor to Lexi, but to anyone who may need a bone marrow transplant.
So how was it? Really simple.
First, I reviewed a short checklist of general qualifications. Such as: was I between the ages of 18-60? Was I willing to donate to any bone marrow patient in need? Did I have any back problems, and was I generally not obese?
Second, I filled out a health questionaire that was similar and much shorter than the kind of health forms I see when I donate blood. And I provided contact information, and the contact information of two close family members of friends, in case my contact information changed and then the Registry folks could contact them to figure out where I was.
Third, I was given four swabs to rub inside my mouth on my cheeks for 5-10 seconds to collect cheek cells which would be used to determine my tissue type. Two swabs for each side of my mouth, upper part of my cheek and lower part of my cheek. Stick the swabs in an envelope and seal it.
That's it! If there's a match between now and when I'm 61 years old, then there is a series of additional tests and then the actual donation by either PBSC (peripheral blood stem cells) that looks like doing an apherisis style blood donation, or a marrow donation where a needle is used to withdraw liquid bone marrow from the pelvic bone. But this was just a screening drive. Very easy and it may help someone like Lexi who is just two and a half years old, and that's too darn young to have leukemia and go through chemotherapy.
I'm happy to note that this drive generated about 120 registrants, according to the lady overseeing the donor screening drive. I was in a conference room that held about 10 seats and people were in every chair filling out forms and swabbing their cheeks.
Tags: teddy bear cancer foundation, bone marrow, lexi, leukemia
Some friends have been sewing together some fine threads in preparation of Metalachi this coming Thursday at Velvet Jones.
Heavy metal + Mariachi = Metalachi!! Aw yeeeeee.
So if you want to celebrate Fiesta, but cannot bear to go without your dose of heavy metal, please consider Velvet Jones. It'll also be First Thursday, so that's mega alternative Fiesta goings-on too.
