Showing posts with label earth house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earth house. Show all posts

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Criaturas


It's been two weeks since the opening of our three woman show at the Earth House. I've been meaning to blog about it ever since, but I never seemed to be able to get around to getting the pictures off my camera card and editing them all. It's hard to do anything computer related for any real length of time when you have a baby, and her crib is right next to the desk! Luckily, Maddy took some very long naps, and I finally got around to uploading them all.

If you missed the opening... well, it's hard to describe how awesome an event it was! More like a party than an art opening, which was fantastic. We really tried to structure it as a family friendly art event, since all three of us have kids. Vanessa has many years of experience dragging her kids to to First Friday art openings, and they always get whiny and bored after awhile. (I get whiny and bored at gallery openings too when they don't provide enough free booze, heh.)

So yeah, we kinda went all out on the kid theme, with cardboard cutout creatures for people to color, a piñata bash with three handmade piñatas by Monfreda, and these adorable monster cupcakes made by the very talented Ellen Nylen. I also hid little ceramic birds around Earth House for the kids to find and keep.

We also had DJ Kyle Long, whose music I'd never heard, but I kept hearing great things about him. Not only was he kind and friendly, but his music was killer! Our event turned into a latino dance party! Furniture was pushed out of the way, and people started salsa dancing in front of the stage. It was great! By the time the night was over, the floor was covered with glitter, candy, and bits of paper. (We stayed to help clean up. Earth House staff assured us they had a very good vacuum cleaner.)

Absolutely the best art event I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of. The place was packed, and lots of people got to see our work. I had several people introduce themselves to tell me how much the like my stuff, which is always awesome. I even had a little girl make me an owl cutout as a present because she liked my stuff so much, and she was so happy to get to keep a bird.

If you missed it, and you want to check out the artwork, here are some pics of the event and the art. There are many more on my facebook page. If you're here in Indy, go see it in person! The show stays up thru the 31st.



Vanessa and I spend an afternoon drawing and cutting out creatures.
Beatriz Schlebecker's breathtaking papel picado banners. You should really see these in person to fully appreciate them.



Friducha!

My favorite little roboninja.
All my new mini jars.
Pigasus!

Vanessa's imaginary friends were everywhere, brightening up the rafters.
My sister-in-law Mariah, taking the killer swing.

Victory!




Mariah with her niece. Maddy got pretty dolled up for the event!

Ellen's killer cupcakes!

My owlet present. It's hanging in my studio now:)










Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Criaturas - First Friday Art Opening at Earth House


We have sent out a press release for our show in January. I keep joking about how I feel like an adult now, but it seriously is a little weird to be doing something so grown up and... I don't know, responsible? Professional, maybe? For some reason, no matter how long I'm at this whole trying-to-make-a-living-at-my-craft business, I always feel a bit like I'm just playing pretend. I'm really just a 12 year old who has no idea whats going on 90% of the time in the adult world. 

Anyway, here it is in all its press release-y glory.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                        
FROM:                                    E
arth House Collective
                                                237 North East Street
                                                Indianapolis, IN 46204

CONTACT:                            Vanessa Monfreda
            (317) 946-9365
            vanessamonfreda@yahoo.com
                                                      
DATE:                                    12/10/2011
Criaturas - First Friday Art Opening

Earth House Collective will be hosting Criaturas, a three woman show by artists Vanessa Monfreda, Lori Leaumont, and Beatriz Vasquez-Schlebecker. Each artist will present work interpreting the theme of "criaturas", or "creatures" in Spanish, using their respective mediums of paper maché, ceramics, and papel picado to create monsters, animals, and grumpy little girls.

Artist Vanessa Monfreda creates colorful paper maché sculptures she calls "my imaginary friends", first inspired by her own children. Hot pink mustachioed pigs, larger-than-life cats, and 3 eyed monsters immediately attract bright eyed kids, something Monfreda aims for in her work. "First Fridays shouldn't just be for adults," says Monfreda. "Kids get bored at art shows. We need more art events that are interactive and fun for them."

The show also features the work of Lori Leaumont and Beatriz Vasquez-Schlebecker. Leaumont makes colorful, hand painted porcelain sculptures, "doll" jars, and tableware that are heavily inspired by children's book illustration and "girlhood". Schlebecker uses a traditional Mexican paper cutting technique to create lacy, intricate images that reflect her bi-cultural upbringing as a first generation Mexican-American originally from South Texas, as well as her training in children's book illustration.

The show takes place on First Friday, January 6th, from 7pm - 11pm, and will feature a piñata bash at 7:30 with a handmade piñata by Monfreda, as well as music provided by DJ Kyle Long, and monster cakes and cupcakes by food stylist Ellen Nylen.

For more information, contact Vanessa Monfreda at vanessamonfreda@yahoo.com.





--
Jonathan McAfee
Program Manager
Earth House Collective
237 N. East St.
Indianapolis, IN 46203
317-636-4060




Mother and Child by Beatriz Vasquez-Schlebecker

Gato by Vanessa Monfreda



My mini dolls.

Hope to see you in January! It's going to be an awesome show!