Four Openings...One Night

Well, we had a good time tonight. We started at the East Bank Gallery. It was hard to make our way through the gallery because we had to stop and touch every piece, which was the point. I will definitely have to go back, because I know I didn't get to see everything. Several pieces really captured our attention, especially the interactive ones.  I will have to go back and take pictures of them, it was way too crowded to get pictures tonight. I particularly enjoyed watching people touch and experience the art.

We managed to find the snack table, of course. We had pretzel thins, which if you haven't tried them, you really should, with dip. There were fruit and veggie trays and some fancy blueberry lemonade and strawberry something (I don't remember what it was), but it looked f.a.n.c.y. Padraic and I found a quiet corner to munch.  Really, I just had to find somewhere that I could set something down. For some reason, every time we go out together, I end up holding literally everything.

Then we made our way to the Emerging Artist Gallery where we saw some beautiful digital art by Peggy Cooper Hendon.  We ran into James Marks and Kathryn Usher there.  James and Padraic ended up making a wire man together while sitting on a bench in the gallery.  This gave me time to really enjoy the art that was on display in the room. I particularly enjoyed "Four Red Flowers on Black" and it's sister piece "Four Red Flowers on White".  These two pieces remind me of my childhood for some reason.

We tried to make our way back through the gallery, saw a couple more pieces we had missed coming through. Still didn't get to see it all. Loretta Casteen was gracious enough to snap a few pictures of me with my pieces. It was a great turnout and we ran into all sorts of people we knew. Why didn't I take selfies? I'll learn.

We grabbed the shuttle just as it was ready to pull off and got a ride across the river to ArtSpace. By the time we got there, we only had half an hour left. The Summer of Glass exhibit took up the first floor and the mezzanine. Pieces range from beautifully bizarre to delicate and intricate. It was breathtaking. Again, I will need to go back because I know I did not get to see everything. My favorite piece is, naturally, the gargoyle on the mezzanine.

Upstairs was As Night Spills Into Day exhibit by Nick Bustamante. Let me tell you, for me, this exhibit was everything. Beautiful images of ravens adorned the walls.  Large charcoal drawings on drafting film hung on one wall while many smaller framed pieces hung on the other wall. Mirrors hung among the portraits. Wallpaper was painted on the wall.  A small house, literally, a house was at one end of the exhibit and emanating from it an eerie music.  Peaking through the window we discovered where it all began. This exhibit was a total experience. I'll definitely be going back to take in more of this one.

We had time to catch more snacks while we waited on the shuttle bus. Snacks consisted of lunch meat, crackers, fruit and for Padraic - THREE cosmic brownies. We caught the last shuttle back to Bossier after ArtSpace shut it's doors.  Casey Jones was kind enough to make sure it was coming back, because we were a little worried at that point.

As a side note:  I gotta tell you the East Bank District really has it going on. Across the street from the gallery, had we had the time, there were food trucks, live music, bouncy houses and who know what else.  It looked like a good time was being had by a great many people. They were packing it up by the time we got back.