Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:23 Okay, so welcome to the Frame Center podcast. This is me, Dave, and Scott again. And today we are lucky enough to have a group from the fourth floor Art Association or fourth floor artists over in Rockland. Our joining us, we got Brian, drew, Rob, Jill, and Darlene. This is our biggest group yet. Yes. So bear with us and we'll, you know, hopefully this all works out our
Speaker 2 00:00:45 First time over two people, so this should be interesting. So <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:00:48 Yeah. Two hasn't been a challenge enough. So now we're gonna go, we're jumping right to five. We're, yeah. Yeah. So you guys have a big event coming up next weekend? Yeah. The 29th and 30th.
Speaker 3 00:00:59 Yeah. 29th and 30th. 12 to 5:00 PM We have, uh, it's at the same per factory in Rockland. There's gonna be how many studios? You think? Like 40 or So studios are open. Geez. We're gonna have 10 or 11 of us set up in the gallery. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it's an art fair. It's gonna be live music and food from some, uh, people in the kitchen there. Sweet Dini and, um, mama Bees. And also, uh, Jenny DE's Bees who makes honey. She's gonna have lemonade for sale. I see. We'll be there. Yeah. We're gonna have barrels gonna be there. Can
Speaker 1 00:01:30 The coffee too? Right. Coffee from
Speaker 3 00:01:32 Rest. Restoration. Restoration coffee. So a lot
Speaker 1 00:01:35 Of the,
Speaker 3 00:01:35 This is all kind of, that's kinda new territory for us, but I think we're excited to bring back into
Speaker 1 00:01:40 No, it looks into it. You guys, it looks like you guys have been doing a lot lately. Would you, you had another event at that barrel? Housey?
Speaker 3 00:01:45 Yeah, we did like a small kind of test market there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and it went well hoping to do more stuff like off campus, I guess you could say. Yep. <laugh>. So that was kind of like a Yeah, we're kinda test run, kinda. We're
Speaker 1 00:01:56 We're working on the same type of thing. Yeah. Yeah. We've been kind of getting out and trying to get into people's studios, so yeah. We're looking forward to getting over towards, uh, you know, over to see you guys on the 29th and 30th get mm-hmm. <affirmative> Awesome. Get some pictures rolling around over there. Awesome. But yeah, I mean, it's probably good, you know, you can only get so many people come to you. You gotta get out down the streets.
Speaker 3 00:02:16 Gotta get out there too. So we're trying to see where we can be Yep. That people want to come to us. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:02:22 You've been promoting like crazy on social media as I've seen it all over the place. Every single time I go home and turn to my Facebook, I see what pop pops up. That's good. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:02:28 Well we have our current social media person. She's really good. She's doing, you know, reels and stuff all the time. Yep. Always taking pictures of people's work. And
Speaker 2 00:02:38 That's important. It makes a difference. It really does. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:02:41 Absolutely. Now what, how did you guys get the relationships with restoration and with the
Speaker 3 00:02:45 Barrel? Um, really just asking them. Yeah. Yeah. It's really nothing to it. Just, yeah. <laugh>, I mean, so me and make a note of that Scott asking, just
Speaker 2 00:02:55 Gotta ask, gotta ask
Speaker 3 00:02:57 Me. And another member Jason, who's Jill's husband. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we did this thing in, was it early February we used, called it the Food and Art Night. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it was a gallery show where we had catered food that was made in the kitchen there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and drinks and art on the walls. People came, it was, you know, a one night art show. Yeah. And people came for a few hours and got a meal. And, uh, so I had originally asked them if they would be interested in serving mm-hmm. <affirmative> and it just didn't quite work out, but I was like, what about open studios? And they were all about it. So Yeah. So I was happy to make that connection. And they're really supportive of a lot of community stuff, which is really good. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:03:34 Yeah. I saw the images from that night when you guys had the, uh, the big eat-in that was, that was also quite, that's a fantastic, that's a little jealous of what I saw going around there. I'm like, that's a fantastic movie.
Speaker 3 00:03:43 That was like, yeah. I, I mean Jason was kind of like the one that spearheaded that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, he really had, he was like the mastermind that had a lot of that stuff, but it was, it went off really well. Yep. Um, we had Gary Taft was the main chef involved with that. He's also a member. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Oh, mostly. He mostly, like, he's mostly a guitar guy, but he's also has a history as a barbecue chef. So he really pulled it off
Speaker 2 00:04:05 Man of many talents then.
Speaker 3 00:04:07 And he's the vice president? Yeah, he's the vice president.
Speaker 2 00:04:09 Oh, well that, that helps. That helps. Yeah. So
Speaker 3 00:04:11 Yeah, it was a great night. Yeah. We
Speaker 2 00:04:13 Were talking to Mary Gil Martin about that. Unfortunately she couldn't join tonight, but she was part of that. She was part of that and she was telling us how well it went and you know Yeah. Sold out selling us. Really? Yeah. How fast that sold out too. I was like, yeah. I was still doing the, trying to help put promotions out for it to blast that. And it was like, well I guess nobody's selling tickets, but they could, you know, look at the pictures. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:04:32 I mean, I don't know if you want to talk about it yet, but we are gonna have another one that, oh, Darlene is taking over the art portion. So like for that one, I was kind of, I guess, I don't know the art curator or director, whatever you wanna call it. Like I coordinated getting the artist together, but I'm not gonna do that every time we have different people come in and do it. So, uh, Darlene's doing the next one. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:04:51 That's good. You get gift different mix that way. A different vibe for each one. So each one is their own independent, you know, nice thing you
Speaker 1 00:04:57 Sharing the headaches. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:05:00 You gotta pass around. So work a little bit.
Speaker 1 00:05:04 So nice. Now just a little bit about each one of you guys, you know, cause you're all artists I assume. Uh, Rob, I've seen a couple of your pieces recently. I saw PCOS over at South Shore the other day and the nice nice interactive piece you had. Oh, you saw
Speaker 3 00:05:17 Both of those?
Speaker 1 00:05:17 Cool. Yeah. Yeah. The James one was fun. That's kind of a interesting, uh,
Speaker 3 00:05:21 Yeah. I don't really know how to explain it exactly, but it has like a QR code Yeah. Next to the piece and you scan it and it loads a video on your phone. Yeah. So, but the piece is, I do like mostly kind of illustration cartoon stuff. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it's these cartoon fish that are running and it's called Har Run <laugh>. Uh, and then so you scan the video Yeah. QR code and it plays an animation of them running. Oh, that's awesome. I'm also an animator. That's kind of like my first, like, that's what I do for a living kind of thing. Yeah. And then,
Speaker 2 00:05:51 Um, your segue into the
Speaker 3 00:05:52 Yeah. Yeah. Doing all like more, you know, I don't know what you wanna call it, traditional art, but, Hmm. Art, like not moving. Art <laugh> is, uh,
Speaker 2 00:06:01 Is stationer. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:06:02 Is uh, it kind of still stems from that a lot of the time. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:06:05 Yeah. That was an interesting piece. Yeah. The QR codes are kind of like, I, I see those, you know, they have like a in interesting look to 'em and then like to incorporate that mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, that art.
Speaker 3 00:06:15 Yeah. Which shows a way you could make it so that you could like scan the piece itself. Like a what, like augment copy into the reality kind of thing. But I'm not that advanced yet. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:06:25 You get there.
Speaker 2 00:06:25 Right. Give the tech time. Five years will probably be having an up and running. So you guys have full virtual tours of the fourth floor <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:06:33 Rob
Speaker 4 00:06:33 Also does these really great portraits. Yeah. So you can have him custom make you like family.
Speaker 2 00:06:39 Yeah. I think you were showing me those things the other night or you could
Speaker 4 00:06:42 Test portraits.
Speaker 3 00:06:42 Yeah, there you go. I've been doing, trying to do a lot more of, even tomorrow I'm gonna be at the uh, Rockland Open Air Market. Oh, okay. Art stuff park and gonna set up there. And that's mostly to do people's portraits. Yeah. And it's kind of like a mix between a caricature and a portrait, I guess. Yeah. It's not like super goofy, but it's not realistic
Speaker 2 00:07:01 Either. Not full realism, but Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 00:07:03 It's like my own kind of version of a caricature I guess. Yeah. You could say. But, um, yeah, kind of like what I've been doing at these events. Like when I was a bar hostee, that's what I was mostly there to do outside of promoting. But like what I was selling was the portraits
Speaker 2 00:07:17 Of people that came in and stuff.
Speaker 3 00:07:19 Yeah. Yeah. Kinda like one off things people can buy there. Nice. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:07:22 Nice. I, yeah, I know. I liked, I I was showing those to Scott the other day cause I was thinking that, you know, we could use some portraits of, you know, some people all around the frame center and Yeah. Somewhat animated form. I think that would be fun. Yeah. We'll talk more about that. We'll
Speaker 2 00:07:35 Do a collab <laugh>, we'll do that off. We'll
Speaker 1 00:07:38 Do that. See if we can work, you know, we see if we work on some sort of trade Yeah. The market for some frames. Yeah. Yeah. Nice Portrait of Elizabeth. Sounds good. In exchange bar.
Speaker 4 00:07:47 Little barter.
Speaker 2 00:07:49 Hey, <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:07:50 Um, so you, you're mainly an animator, Donnel, are you still working mainly just with photography? Are you, are you all over the place?
Speaker 5 00:07:57 I'm, I'm a little all over the place, but still doing photography, doing a lot of iPhoneography. Yep. These days cuz that's what
Speaker 2 00:08:04 It's been popular. All you
Speaker 5 00:08:05 Have with you is <laugh> happens to be, you know, when you take your pictures. So, but I, I do drawing and painting work and mixed media work. And at the, our open studios I'll be primarily, um, selling my funky trays where they're collage work
Speaker 2 00:08:23 On. I was gonna say yes, please elaborate on this
Speaker 5 00:08:25 <laugh>. Yeah. And it's a bit of a process. Yeah. So I get trays that are usually secondhand mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but they're not dented or anything. They're secondhand. They get cleaned and sprayed and prepped and painted like a color. And then I create a design on the tray and it's usually, you know, got something to do with nature or floral, but sometimes it's food and wine or coffee or something. Yeah. Yeah. Because I want people to use them mm-hmm. <affirmative> and they're actually poured with a resin. Ah, yes. So it's a two-part resin that takes 24 hours to harden and dry, but it's pretty much impervious to alcohol or water. So they're meant to be used. Yeah. And if I really have it together, I put hangers on the back so people could hang it as art or they can just use it
Speaker 2 00:09:08 And take it down as needed. <laugh>
Speaker 5 00:09:10 And take it. Yeah. Sometimes the, some of them are small, like, so people could put Jill's jewelry on there or something. Right. <laugh> put your jewelry on the tray or your keys or your money or whatever when you come in from the day. Yeah. Or sometimes they're actually serving trays, so they sell well at open studio and they're fun cuz they all have a saying on them. Oh, okay. And they're, sometimes the sayings are a little like sarcastic and sassy and sometimes they're just, you know, about life or nature or whatever. So
Speaker 2 00:09:39 That sums up South Shore, that's
Speaker 5 00:09:40 What I'm doing, <laugh>. Oh. And they make nice gifts too. They do. Yes. Gift bought several of them as gifts. You have a few in your collection.
Speaker 2 00:09:47 We've seen a big uptake in our being sold and given us gifts. Especially like during the last holiday season we did a small art show up here and, you know, all small pieces. So Yeah. When you're giving them as gifts, it's easier to give to people. They don't have to have a, a designated hanging place for some jumbo four by four. Right. Right. Painting. But you said a serving tray dish, a small piece. Very, very popular right now. Yeah. And giving something handmade has, has become and uh, has been unique that nobody else has. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> has become very popular again, which is nice. So.
Speaker 1 00:10:17 And how long have you been over in the, the Rockland Studios?
Speaker 5 00:10:20 Oh, well I've not officially. Oh, not there in the, in the, okay. In the Sandpaper factory. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I've been a member of the fourth floor artist. It's about 2016. Okay. Because before that, they actually didn't allow anybody outside of the right building or the sandpaper factory to be a part of the organization. Okay. You had to have a studio Yeah. There Yeah. In the building. And that's kind of when things shifted. They allowed people that were outside the organization to join and be a part of it. Oh, okay. So I've been a part of it since 2016, but I've been, I was going to the open studios for more than that, you know, way before that. Mm. How many
Speaker 1 00:11:00 Every year? How many spaces are in the building over at the same, I
Speaker 5 00:11:03 Don't know. Do you know this? 70?
Speaker 1 00:11:05 70.
Speaker 2 00:11:05 Oh my god. Yeah. That's quite a few. Well,
Speaker 3 00:11:07 Our, our group I know is around 80 artists, but we don't, we're not all in the same building. The
Speaker 5 00:11:14 Factory in the building. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:11:15 The Sandbar factory itself I think has maybe 70, but it's not all people that are involved with. There's some, some already been Yeah. Artists that just have a, like an office space or a business they run. Yeah. Right.
Speaker 5 00:11:26 They're business
Speaker 3 00:11:28 Factory. The right building. Right Building in Arnold. Shoe works over in Abington are the same way. Like it's kind of a mix between all kinds of different people that do different things.
Speaker 2 00:11:36 Still impressive. Some people just
Speaker 1 00:11:38 Like the rent is, is reasonable and they, yeah. So is there open spaces over there at this point? Or not
Speaker 5 00:11:45 A sand paper factory? Yeah. I, I don't think, I think it's pretty
Speaker 3 00:11:48 Any of, I don't think any of the buildings spaces, it's pretty dang tough. It's
Speaker 2 00:11:53 Hard to get in. Yeah. Not too long. Is there a waiting list or anything for it? Or? There
Speaker 3 00:11:56 Is a waiting list. There's a
Speaker 5 00:11:57 Waiting list. Waiting list. Um, Arnold Sch works has spaces maybe?
Speaker 3 00:12:01 I don't think they do actually. No, I was over there. Wow. Um, they did last year, but I don't think, I think they're full up, but I could be wrong. And I, who wants to, should reach up to Alan Curtis. Yeah. Yeah. I think they're full.
Speaker 6 00:12:11 I called Alan a couple of days ago, was inquiring about space over there and he said it was quite full at this particular point, but I gave him the dimensions that I needed and so he said he could get back to me. Oh, we can blast his name and number across the
Speaker 2 00:12:24 Call down 900. Talk
Speaker 3 00:12:27 About the, uh, the difference in, in types of members. It used to be like, like Darlene said, those people that you first, you couldn't be part, I I wasn't even involved at all at that point. I didn't, I didn't join until 2019. Yeah. So they had been allowing I guest for three years at that point. Yeah. But it used to be that there was like associate members mm-hmm. <affirmative> who were not in the building and there's like full members who were in the buildings, but now it's just one, we're all the same member tier or whatever. And so I don't have a studio there either. Oh, you don't?
Speaker 1 00:12:57 No, no. Mary doesn't have a space there either. No, I
Speaker 2 00:13:00 Don't believe she
Speaker 1 00:13:01 There. Yep.
Speaker 3 00:13:02 So that's like
Speaker 2 00:13:03 Garage.
Speaker 3 00:13:04 We have a lot of more members now that don't have studios there than they used to be, partly cuz they're running out of room in the buildings. <laugh>. Yeah. And there's a lot more artists in the area than there are spaces.
Speaker 1 00:13:13 So, so the be the benefits that come along with being a member would be what? Having the space to show like there's like a general space that they can show their work to.
Speaker 3 00:13:21 Well, so like during Open studios we have space available for people that want to show work mm-hmm. <affirmative> in the gallery usually. And people can set up there. And we also as our member, you, you know, have access to the gallery and any member can use it, whether they're in the building or not. Um, they, you know, have to coordinate that with the gallery coordinators. Yeah. Yeah. I mean those other, just being part of a, a group of artists is like a big benefit for I think a lot of us. Yeah. That's kind of, it's a pretty tight
Speaker 6 00:13:47 Community.
Speaker 2 00:13:47 Yeah. I was gonna say. Yeah. I mean, have that many really
Speaker 5 00:13:49 Nice group of people. Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:13:51 Absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:13:52 To have that many studios filled up all at one time. It's doing something right over there. So
Speaker 1 00:13:56 <laugh>. Now Brian, you said you were trying, you were calling over someone, not you have a space in there as well, or you No, also,
Speaker 6 00:14:03 No, I have a, uh, I have a space open in the right building. Yeah. And so I was outta curiosity was calling a, seeing if there's any space open sandpaper factory, seemingly, because they seem to be doing more mm-hmm. <affirmative> as, as an artist group than there would be at the, uh, at the right building. It seems the right building is moving more towards crafts. Yeah. And that's people doing chair caning and uh, other things like that. Oh yeah. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. So plus I wanna be, uh, closer to a, a group of artists. Yep. You know, because it's all, there's tons of benefits. I mean, there's encouragement. Yep. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:14:35 Collaborative effort,
Speaker 6 00:14:36 You know, talking about future and, you know, networking. Yeah. You know, that whole, that whole thing is is, is is is valuable to any artist group.
Speaker 1 00:14:45 Yeah. And then what, what kind of work do you do?
Speaker 6 00:14:48 I do, uh, abstract landscape work. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and I generally work in series mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And my, uh, work generally has to do with the travels I've been to places I've been to mm-hmm. <affirmative>, so there's a great deal of variety and, and colors in it.
Speaker 4 00:15:02 So very nice work. I I have a Brian AdGate.
Speaker 6 00:15:05 <laugh> <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:15:06 Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:15:08 Eventually, I generally work with, I visit a place, like it started out years ago, I, I'd been, I'd spent some time in India mm-hmm. <affirmative> and I was working with colors and trying to get a feeling of India. And then I, I lived in Australia for five years and that's a lot of colors. And they are these kind of Southwest colors, which are the same as Australia. These very, um, roads and deep blue skies. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yep. You know, is is is really, uh, what I like to do. And then, uh, I just was working in a series of night gardens mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:15:40 <affirmative>. And how and how long have you been over at the Wright building?
Speaker 6 00:15:44 Well, since the fourth floor split in a sense, we all were together, uh, in the Codman building mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which was I think on Plain Street. And, uh, that was the founding of it. Uh,
Speaker 2 00:15:55 How it all started maybe
Speaker 6 00:15:56 About 30 years ago. Oh
Speaker 2 00:15:57 Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:15:58 And, uh, it was called the Fourth Floridas, because that's was only available, it was only one fourth floor.
Speaker 1 00:16:04 I've often worried, wondered about
Speaker 4 00:16:06 This. A lot of people ask <laugh>. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:16:09 And then gradually we took over the whole building <laugh>. So, uh, we were there and we left because the owner was in conflict with his sister and she wanted to sell the building. Yeah. There were co-owners in it. And so the building was sold and now it's condos. Oh. So, so we had to, uh, you know, split. And we found the two buildings, you know, some, some went to the sandpaper factory and some went to the right building, but we graciously, uh, remained together as a group. Yeah. That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 00:16:35 Now what size do you typically work in? Smaller scale, or do you vary depending on what the subject matter is? I work,
Speaker 6 00:16:41 Let's say this size, like maybe eight by 10. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> to start out with some sketches, some ideas or work. Uh, I generally work oil on paper too. Oh, okay. You know, so that's, uh, which is roughly about 20 by 30. I don't know if I l if I think something is gonna work out large, you know. Yeah. I'll go like, uh, 40 by 50 or you know, 48 by 60.
Speaker 2 00:17:00 Oh sure. Yeah. Something when you were talking about Australia with the, uh, <laugh>, the Outback, you don't do anything small in the Outback.
Speaker 6 00:17:06 No, no. Start it with the sketches and then go, you know, this is gonna be, this is gonna be big. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:17:11 Yeah. <laugh> get that to get that feel of grandeur there, but yeah. No, that's awesome. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:17:15 An open space. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:17:17 Oh, that's awesome. And Julie,
Speaker 1 00:17:19 You do, uh, jewelry, you're your showcasing a piece. Uh, yes. Right around there. Now,
Speaker 4 00:17:23 <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:17:24 Oh, we'll get some closeups of that.
Speaker 1 00:17:25 And you have a, uh, you have a space over in, in?
Speaker 4 00:17:28 I do. So I have, let's see, I think I've been with the group since 2017 and I started like Darlene because I was visiting Open Studios. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, just as, you know, enjoying the art. And, you know, I got to know the group a little bit. So I finally got on the waiting list and had a space at the e t Wright building. And that's where I met you. Yes.
Speaker 5 00:17:48 That's, that's where, cause I was doing open studios and you were right
Speaker 4 00:17:50 Here. That's where I met all of you except for you Drew. Yeah. <laugh> <laugh>. And I had this little teeny tiny, it was closet, I called it the jewelry closet. It was teeny <laugh>, which was off the gallery four at the time in the e t Right. Building. And it was a great starter space, you know, and it really helped me to be around all the other creative people. Mm. But then I quickly realized I was running out of space because one thing that happens when you get into these creative locations of all these people is you get outside of your lane and you, you know, I'm not doing just jewelry now. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. I'm like, oh, you know, Darlene's gonna show me how to make this and not, you know, <laugh>. So I ran outta room. Yeah. <laugh>. But then I was trying to find a new studio in the ET right building. And again, nothing was available. So I ended up moving over to the sandpaper factory. And honestly it was a really great decision. I think I was in et wright for either a year and a half or two years. And then I made the jump over to Sandpaper and I just, I got really lucky with my space because it happens to be on the fourth floor. I have beautiful open light. I get wonderful sunsets, which is great when you do glasswork. Oh yeah. And Lori, you need good lighting. Natural
Speaker 2 00:19:11 Light is always better for
Speaker 4 00:19:14 My first little, you know, studio had no Windows <laugh>,
Speaker 5 00:19:18 It really was like a closet. She made it work. Makeshift
Speaker 7 00:19:22 Janet's closet all the
Speaker 4 00:19:24 Time, right? Yeah. Pretty much perfect for a dark room. But yeah, so, so it's worked out really well at Sandpaper Factory. I love my space. I love meeting everybody and you know, there are a lot of people that come and go in the building. So, you know, things do open up from time to time. And I'm always meeting new people in that building. I met somebody two days ago that's been there for four years. <laugh>. Okay. So yeah, it's just, everyone's sort of doing their own thing. And if you're in the fourth floor artist, you know, we all obviously all know each other because of the events that we do and Sure. Certain like that.
Speaker 2 00:19:58 Yeah. Come close group. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:19:59 Yeah. Are there artists over there that don't participate too? Or they're, they're, you know, it's not like a,
Speaker 3 00:20:05 It's not mandatory to be a member to have a studio and Yeah. We don't, yeah. So there's other people that aren't interested in, you know, that and that's, we don't, you know, make a problem of it or anything. Yeah. So they're
Speaker 7 00:20:16 Locked in their studios that have their Windows space. Right.
Speaker 4 00:20:21 Well actually the Sandpaper Factory has another organization that's set up. Yeah. Just as the pandemic was ending mm-hmm. <affirmative> as a way to kind of get people in the building back into, you know, getting artwork out there and kind of coming back out again. So they started the Sandpaper Saturdays group. Oh, okay. Which is not the fourth floor artist, but there is a lot of crossover. So it really is, if you have a studio or a space in the sandpaper factory, you're eligible to be if you're a tenant. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So some of them are fourth floor artists, some are not. And that is a, basically an open house. Yeah. Once a month. So it's the second Saturday, I think of every month.
Speaker 3 00:21:05 Yeah. Second. Yeah. <laugh>. Or two weeks, two weeks after Open Studios would be May 13th is when the next one is,
Speaker 4 00:21:10 Right? Yeah. So after Open Studios May 13th and then June 10th. Yeah. Um, so yeah, basically the second Saturday. And it's a little different than Open Studios. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> because some of the other non-artists are open. So you can kind of see some of the commercial artists or commercial businesses and see what else is going on. Yeah. So it's really a good kind of mix, I would say. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:21:33 <affirmative> sounds like a farmer's market for art. I like it kind of. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. Good metaphor for you, you know? Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:21:39 We like food and art.
Speaker 2 00:21:40 Yeah. Food and outside you go in and in. So
Speaker 1 00:21:42 Is there's actually like a kitchen space? There
Speaker 5 00:21:46 Is, yeah. Yeah. There are
Speaker 4 00:21:47 Two actually. Yeah. Really? Two commercial kitchen. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:21:50 Is is that used by like caterers or like, uh, or No, I mean,
Speaker 4 00:21:55 I think it runs the gamut. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:21:57 Yeah. It's all kinds of people I think that use it. Uh, I don't even know most of them probably, but we have members that use it to bring some of their stuff. But there's tons of people that use it for all kinds of food businesses.
Speaker 1 00:22:07 Okay. So it's kind of like a, we work kind of
Speaker 3 00:22:10 For
Speaker 1 00:22:10 Staff in a sense. Basical, it's a,
Speaker 4 00:22:12 Yeah. They rent by the hour, I think. Oh, okay. There's
Speaker 5 00:22:15 A bakery and there's some good smells coming out of there. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. My
Speaker 4 00:22:19 Husbands in there, so I, yeah. Yeah. And he cooks hot Sauce. So he's doing it late at night when no one's in the building. <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:22:26 What, where is he at now? I'm sorry. That's right on my alley. He's pink
Speaker 4 00:22:30 Barbecue. Oh, okay.
Speaker 3 00:22:31 Well, he'll be at the, oh yeah, the front door at, yeah. He's the greeter for a
Speaker 4 00:22:36 He
Speaker 2 00:22:36 Official break. Oh really? Yeah. He
Speaker 3 00:22:38 Gets like the nice front seat for all that stuff. Yeah. But he's with a crunching pig and it's mostly hot sauces, but also
Speaker 4 00:22:46 Barbecue
Speaker 3 00:22:46 Rugs, barbecue sauce, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 00:22:48 He's gonna, that's really good. He's gonna make up some business cards that are just like ketchup packets that you just came out to. Yeah, you can try. I like free sample
Speaker 5 00:22:55 Idea
Speaker 2 00:22:57 That on
Speaker 5 00:22:58 Same idea.
Speaker 3 00:22:59 The, the other one that I know uses a lot is Mama Be's Tasty Treats. Oh, okay. Her stuff is really good. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and she'll have some stuff for sale there as well.
Speaker 2 00:23:07 Yeah. I'm sure after smelling oil paints, resins and everything else all day. The smell of, you know, bake goods might be a nice, uh, definitely tell
Speaker 3 00:23:14 What
Speaker 2 00:23:14 Your water you smelling. Nothing after. Exactly. It's just all gone <laugh>. Right.
Speaker 1 00:23:19 No. Julie, you said that, um, occasionally there is some turnover over there. I know a guy who, you know, might be interested in getting yourself on a, on a waiting list. What would the, uh, process or
Speaker 2 00:23:30 Yeah. Is there a contact form on website or? Yes,
Speaker 4 00:23:33 Actually, if you were to look at our, um, member directory, which comes out at Open Studios, which we thank Frank Center for sponsoring. Yes. Thank you very much. <laugh>, you can see on the back page is information on how to reach Alan Curtis. Okay. Who is the owner of the Sandpaper Factory and the Arnold Shoe Building. Oh, okay. And you really just have to kind of get your name on the list, let him know what, like Brian said, what you need. Sure. And I think persistence is really the key. Oh, okay. So <laugh>,
Speaker 3 00:24:07 I mean, sometimes just going to the Open Studios or any events, sometimes you like, get lucky. Like I know people like that Right. Place the right time and they kind of like Right.
Speaker 7 00:24:15 Know somebody's
Speaker 3 00:24:16 Going out. Yeah. And they kind of work something out like that. So it does, sometimes
Speaker 4 00:24:19 People share studios spaces.
Speaker 3 00:24:21 Yeah. That's the way people get in with some, if they can share it, and then someone else moves out and then someone has their own spot.
Speaker 2 00:24:27 Or
Speaker 3 00:24:27 Some people like a share for like a long time. It works out. People, you know, cheaper rent and you have a big enough space, so
Speaker 2 00:24:34 It's good. Yeah, I can see that. Yeah. So that way you're not having to share the load all together and you may only need, like you said, a couple tails worth of things to start off with what you're doing. But, you know, having that extra area to work would be nice too.
Speaker 6 00:24:45 I, that's good about the Sand Paper Factory, having talked to Alan is that you don't have to sign a lease the last time, you know, he said, oh, okay. Basically he, you know, you can rent from months to months mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you're not tied in with a, with a lease. Like you ought the right building,
Speaker 2 00:24:57 Which is also nice too, because you don't feel like you're, you know, tied to a commitment. It's the place as popular. <laugh>. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You have no open spaces, so That's right. Well, with how prevalent in art is on the South Shore, I'm not surprised you guys are filled up with how many people we've got coming in on a weekly. I hear at least somebody at the, it is from your group at least once a week in here. So, you know, but
Speaker 3 00:25:19 Drew, you're new over there kind of. Right? I was, I mean, you might have better insight into how that process works.
Speaker 7 00:25:24 So, yeah, it's interesting. I actually, so I'm, I'm newer. I'm about six months into joining the, uh, fourth floor artist and I've moved my studio to the Sandpaper Factory about six months ago. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So the quick story is I started contacting Alan about a year and a half ago now. Yes. At the end of like 21 or so, and said, I'm looking for space, blah, blah, blah. Left him a couple messages, never actually talked to him. And then I called him about six months later and he said, you know, things are just really tight here. We're doing great, lots of artists and stuff. And then just kind of on a whim, you know, he was on my tickler file on my calendar, and I called him like at the end of October of 22. He said, guess what? <laugh>, there's two wow. Things that are coming open. Wow. So would you like to come over and take a look? And I did. I looked at both and I saw the bigger one. And I said, you know, like, where do I sign <laugh>? That's why he said, no, you don't have to sign anything.
Speaker 2 00:26:21 <laugh>
Speaker 7 00:26:22 Gave me your firstborn child. And
Speaker 2 00:26:24 Exactly, yeah.
Speaker 7 00:26:25 But he said, yeah, you know, think about it. There was no like, pressure, you know, he told me very clearly that they probably would go quickly mm-hmm. <affirmative> and he was right. Anyways, so I, you know, I put down a deposit and I moved in. So the other funny story, I think I was telling you Brian about it is that, so I moved in, in the beginning of November and maybe another Darlene. And so I spent the first about three weeks building my work tables, getting here, raising furniture, putting drop cloth, things like that. <laugh>. And then Open Studios came along, and I think one of you told me, or Alan, excuse me, told me like three days before, like, uh, open Studios coming up to make a long story short. So I had my studio open, I had my yard up and everything, and I kept getting people coming in going, wow, your studio is so clean, <laugh>, wait, we're the paintbrushes <laugh>?
Speaker 7 00:27:18 And I said, well, I actually tell you the truth, I haven't even picked up a paintbrush in the studio. So, you know, I hadn't started working there. Enjoy that clean thing, <laugh>. Yeah. Right. As long it's not clean anymore. So no, as a segue to what I do, yeah. My, my, uh, art process and style is very dirty, actually. I, you know, I throw a paint, I flinging paint, it's fun. I brush paint. Uh, although as I was telling someone earlier today, it is definitely, it's a controlled chaos situation. <laugh> and my eye at work, I guess you would characterize as abstract expressionist. Yep. And I paint the jumbo painting, so my kind of my standard size Yeah. Is five feet tall and four feet wide. Nice. Nice. And then I trim it down to just big inside of that. But you don't limit yourself that way.
Speaker 7 00:28:05 So I don't limit myself to that, but I, I, I kind of quote or requote John Mitchell, who was a famous abstract expressionist from the mid-century 20th century. And somebody asked her like, well, why do you paint so big and sometimes have, you know, three canvases of tri cliff right next to each other? She said, well, the, the bigger the canvas, the more you know area there is, the more paint I can put on it mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, and I subscribe to that because I love color. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> a lot of, I use a lot of fuchsia and orange yellow that I custom make. And, um, you know, blues, all sorts of d various tents of blue mm-hmm. <affirmative>, my art is really to back up. It's not a social statement. I'm not trying to, I don't go political. Sometimes I might be a little sarcastic, but abstract.
Speaker 7 00:28:51 It's all about I want my art to have a positive, ill elicit a positive emotion in the viewer. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, for example, I had a client, she worked at Microsoft and she had this, you know, like PIDA Tear and the Hills of California, you know, came down from, from Redmond for this apartment or condo. And, uh, she put my painting in her room, her bedroom. And she said, drew, it's so cool. I wake up every morning, I see the orange and blue. I just love it. Nice. And that was just such kind of a good feeling. I'm kind of tickled by it now that, you know, I could have an impact on her simply, you know, through art. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So anyways, my art, I hope, you know, it doesn't work for everybody, but it's definitely kind of a personal connection Yeah. That people, you know, I hope try to establish with my artwork. And like I said, when it works, it works really well. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:29:42 That's a, can I ask you a question, please? I haven't seen your artwork yet. Do you have the canvas on the floor kind of like, like Jackson, Jackson
Speaker 7 00:29:49 Pollock
Speaker 6 00:29:50 Kind and, and, and I work like that? Or, or do
Speaker 7 00:29:52 You with his wife, who's also a painter going, no, Jackson <laugh>. You not like that,
Speaker 6 00:29:57 Get a cigarette butt out. Exactly. That
Speaker 7 00:29:59 Was part of the painting,
Speaker 6 00:30:00 You know. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:30:01 There's a lot of Jackson Pollock seriously, that have more than, than a hundreds and ass and all sorts of whoo one materials. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Oh,
Speaker 6 00:30:08 You stretch it first, you stretch it first? Or do you, do
Speaker 7 00:30:10 You, so the question is, do I work on the floor and stretch it out or,
Speaker 6 00:30:13 Yeah. I mean, do you work on, on the canvas, on the floor first and then, and then sort of edit it by stretching it? Or do you stretch it first and then, and
Speaker 7 00:30:20 Then work on it? It's an interesting question. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, actually, what I do to tell you the truth is I have built stretcher boards and stretcher bars. Okay. And I stretch the raw canvas. Yep. On that I paint, I usually put the it on the flat on my table. Uhhuh <affirmative> for one of three tables in there. And I paint Today, I was actually doing something with vertical, but most of the time it's horizontal on the table because I, sometimes I make 'em my batches, but I just make a lot over time. Then I take them off the canvas bars or, or uh, board and then I roll 'em or storm away. Mm. Or also I would have no, I wouldn't have some. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:30:57 We're not a space. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:30:58 Yeah. Especially working at that size. So, so anyways, that's one style to, to keep a brief. My other style is what I do. I'm not a professional photographer in, in, in one sense, but I, I've sold a number of photographs and I take photographs of all my artwork, all my mostly acrylic artwork. And then I digitally paint them further. And so I produce images, which then I have printed mm-hmm. <affirmative> and limited editions on Canvas and on fine paper. And, and a lot of times, to be honest, you can't tell what the genesis was, what the original painting was, that I may have also sold to somebody mm-hmm. <affirmative> mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I basically transform it digitally. Yeah. That's great. Finding a section that you like maybe of one area versus the entire, it's not, it's not ai, it's not, it's not like an algorithm.
Speaker 7 00:31:45 Basically through Photoshop and some other programs that I manually with a mouse. Yeah. Kind of click my way through and try to add texture and anyways, move things around. And then it's pretty cool. I can also reproduce those on, you know, cause I take very high resolution photos, scale 'em down. Well I can scale 'em down or I can scale 'em up. Yeah. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, I sold a couple paintings to, uh, family in Singapore, five by seven feet, how to build special crates and all that. Oh yeah. Ship 'em over there. So. Nice.
Speaker 6 00:32:12 Now, who is who, where do you show most of the
Speaker 7 00:32:14 Work? Well, you represented now one of the wonderful things I am represented, but I can also, you know, bring people confidently over to my studio and, you know, walk 'em through, which is a very cool experience. I didn't tell any of you before though, but just recently I had some gallery visits and people were like, wow, I gotta go back to that guy's studio. And I think it was a guy and her, and see glass and everything. I mean, people are like wowed when they walk through mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because we have artwork at the sandpaper factory all over the walls. And sometimes the ceilings too. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but in all seriousness. So people are kind of wowed by that. But anyways, to bring it back to me, so I'm fortunate that people can now see my artwork there. But I do have representation mostly through a company called Sati Art, which is an online gallery. And, um, I've been fortunate and lucky with them that that's worked out pretty well. Hmm.
Speaker 6 00:33:08 That's good. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:33:09 I was gonna ask you if you had good luck with them. I have, yeah. I have. I, cool. Highly recommend, you know, so to
Speaker 6 00:33:15 Them about using them. Yeah. Yeah. You Yeah, I'm with them too. You are? Okay. Yeah. It's broken down into categories. There's a lot of artwork that you, that that's in there. I sold one painting that I actually, I never expected to sell it because a lot of times, yeah. These people, they'll put paintings on there and they'll kind of low ball it to, I find too, to kind of sell it. You know, and I'm, I'm thinking that, that that painting should be worth more than what you're pricing it at, you know? Yeah. But again, it's up to them. But they're, were a really good outfit because basically they called me, they got in touch with me and they said to somebody interested in, in your work, if they made a deposit, wonderful. So send them the painting. If they like it, we'll send you the money. You know, so there's no, okay. There's no gimmickry involved.
Speaker 7 00:33:58 So it's Bitcoin or a currency <laugh>?
Speaker 6 00:34:02 No, this currency <laugh>. Yeah,
Speaker 7 00:34:06 We do.
Speaker 6 00:34:07 Excellent. So it's really, it's really a, it's really good outfit.
Speaker 1 00:34:09 So the company, all they kind of act is like an escrow or, or an assembly. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:34:13 They keep it, yeah. They keep it an escrow. Yeah. You
Speaker 1 00:34:15 Know, so they, they, they're pay. They pay, you know. Right.
Speaker 6 00:34:17 The client pays. You
Speaker 1 00:34:18 Mail out the painting.
Speaker 6 00:34:19 And one of the things, well, if the painting doesn't look like what the fellow wants Oh yeah. Yeah. You know, they, they have to sign off on it. So
Speaker 7 00:34:25 They kind of guarantee the Yeah. The providence. Yeah. If that's the right word. I mean they guarantee the history of the painting. Yep. Are you certified as an artist? Yes. We sign a piece of paper. It goes with, I always put a nice note. Of course. Yeah. To the client. Because the other interesting thing is, most of the times, unless sometimes offers are made, I dunno if you've had that on, on paintings and there's a little bit of good back and forth with the person who's interested in the artwork, and then oftentimes you really don't know until you ship it to them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, who is this mystery buyer or collector. Yes. And that's when Sati will say, okay, you're senia to, you know, Pasadena, California, here's a person's name. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:35:05 That's nice. I mean, cuz sometimes you get, you know, you lose that with, you know, some galleries cuz there's, you know Yeah. This protection aspect. Right. That they don't want you going around them, you know? Cause they need to get their peace.
Speaker 7 00:35:17 We were talking about like exclusive versus exclusive. The, the one more little bit of plug, which is genuine Versace is I think it's fair to say there's trust on both sides of the transaction. Yeah. From the collector, the, the painter, the, the artist. Because we know we're gonna get paid. Yeah, yeah. They know they're gonna get the artwork. Yeah. They know it's legitimate. You know, you're not gonna be paid in Bitcoin. It's, it's all real. So there's a lot of trust that's built in that, you know, like is
Speaker 6 00:35:49 The other thing I'd like to say about Sahi too is they, they don't charge a 50% commission. It's less Ah, yes. You know, it's like, uh, 35% I think is what they,
Speaker 7 00:35:58 They only charge me 10. Oh, they
Speaker 6 00:35:59 Know you
Speaker 7 00:36:00 <laugh>, but Yes. 40% for 35. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:36:05 And they, and they also, there's the ability for someone to make you an offer on something too. Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:36:10 Yes. So interesting. I've, I've never had a bidding war. That would be a nice thing to have <laugh>. Yep. But yeah, it's good. It's good I think in all respects. And one more kind of positive, I just thought too is as an artist, I don't know what your experience is. I'm sure it similar, but it has allowed me to reach an audience. Yes. Yes. That I never would've. I talked about Singapore, I mean Yeah, yeah. I'm not going to Singapore and,
Speaker 1 00:36:37 You
Speaker 6 00:36:37 Know, pedaling out,
Speaker 7 00:36:37 Bringing pallet Exactly. Streets. Yeah. So it's a little different. I've been lucky. I've been able to sell now in 10 or 11 countries. Nice. That's
Speaker 1 00:36:44 That's
Speaker 7 00:36:44 Awesome. You know, and only three of them have, I actually, you know, stepped foot in Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:36:49 You know, aside, separately, aside from you building the pallet, I mean, they help you with the logistics of getting the painting over to same standpoint.
Speaker 7 00:36:56 They handle the logistics. The only part that as an artist you have to do is you have to box it or create it on Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:37:01 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Interesting. So they don't, from a consumer standpoint, I mean, you're just logging on and getting the
Speaker 6 00:37:06 Up ups address to put it on
Speaker 7 00:37:08 The right. So they, they send DHL over to pick it up or FedEx or UPS or whoever. So they arrange the transport pickup of it. You just have to have it created. And so it's, it is important in international sales. Yep. Again, no one gets, you know, shortchanged. And then also in some countries, you know, the, the seller of the gallery has to testify, you know, they're not illegally selling artwork out of the country mm-hmm. <affirmative> because they deal in all countries really. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Saatchi sells, you know, in the Italian market to America and Nigeria and everywhere like that. Mm-hmm. But anyway, so they handle the customs is what I'm trying to say. Yeah. And the tariffs and whatever's like that. And that we never see, you know, so we don't have to worry about that.
Speaker 1 00:37:49 That's And is that all baked into the commission that they take? It
Speaker 7 00:37:53 Is. Yep. So you could say that's part of the value. That's why I'm willing to give up. Yeah. Yeah. So to speak. Right. Yeah. You're, you know, and you know, if I have a piece of our work that's on sale for sale, I at Sachi, you know, I'm not gonna market somebody and say, Hey, you can get it from me directly or whatever. Yep. I have other art Yeah. That people can contact me directly on. Nice. So I think it's a it's a good relationship. It is. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:38:17 It's, they're good. And, and like you say, they're professional and you know, you're not gonna get scammed by them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. You know, it's not like, I remember one time I was, someone called me up, not called me up, emailed me, I'm sorry. And then just, you know, gave me this thing. Oh, my wife looked on the website, saw you're, you know, here's a check and I, for $5,000, keep the change. Send me the painting. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so before I sent the painting to them, I went to the bank and I said, you know, it's, it's strange that he's in Seattle and the, and the check is drawn in Kentucky, <laugh>, <laugh>, and
Speaker 2 00:38:46 Uh, some red flag.
Speaker 6 00:38:47 Red flag right there. Right. I went to the bank and I said, yeah, that's a, that's a stolen check. So, oh man. He never got his painting. But those scams are over. I mean, not, and certainly, you know, completely differently.
Speaker 3 00:38:58 They're all on it. They're all on Instagram now. Yes. Yes. There so many scams on Instagram and probably Facebook, but I see it mostly on Instagram. You get people immediately, I'm gonna pay you all this money for your art. Yeah. And I'm like, okay. Oh God. Yeah. And then, and you're like, okay, how are you gonna pay? I'm like, I can only pay, but it's weird system where I can meet your bank account number.
Speaker 2 00:39:18 I'd love to make this an nft. I'd love to.
Speaker 3 00:39:20 Yeah. There's all the NFT buyers who aren't actually buyers. They're just scam artists.
Speaker 7 00:39:24 I had one where through Instagram, my husband's birthday is coming up. I love your work. Can you send me a list of your portfolio? I want to surprise him. I saw that too. I saw that too, because it's copy paste. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Copy. So did they like your artwork? Did you send it out? No,
Speaker 8 00:39:39 I think it came to our, um, to our
Speaker 7 00:39:42 To the fourth
Speaker 6 00:39:42 Floor. The fourth floor
Speaker 7 00:39:43 Email. Yeah. We got a lot. That's so funny. Any,
Speaker 3 00:39:46 Any art-based Instagram account gets those scammers. Doesn't matter. They don't care what you're
Speaker 2 00:39:52 Yeah. I'm on several of the, uh, several, uh, abstract groups on Facebook and I always get people like, you know, watermark all your stuff. Watermark everything. Just because that's exactly what happens is they, they go and they take your picture that you've put up to show off how it looks and they just use that picture to sell nothing <laugh>. And people get these blank campuses or a cheap poster like print of your, uh, your, your artwork that you get no credit for or get worse off. Your name's still attached to it now it looks like you're sending out Yeah. Crap. Cheap poster pieces of, uh, <laugh> and these fine art pieces of your marketing. So,
Speaker 7 00:40:25 Because I, I would recommend, and I'll say it publicly here to and curious what other people think about it too, but I think time to time, it's a good idea to Google your name mm-hmm. <affirmative> and put in art or artwork after artist and see what it hits. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because I've come across some which were, they seem to be almost like wholesalers by an original Dr. Gaffney print. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> did say original Dr. Gaffney. And you know, it was like kind of foggy and stuff, but, you know, I can't afford, I'm not gonna like go after them, but I just, I kind of wonder like, are they really selling this? Or they just trying to lure right people in. And I don't know if other people have had this, has
Speaker 6 00:41:04 Anyone ever tried licensing? I mean, is that
Speaker 7 00:41:07 Yes, I have. Yeah.
Speaker 6 00:41:08 Yeah. Your experience was good or
Speaker 7 00:41:10 Bad or, uh, it's been very good. Good. Yeah. Very good.
Speaker 5 00:41:15 I pretty much watermark my stuff if I post it. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:41:18 But, but, but again, I think depends on, yeah. You gotta be, you gotta trust people. Yeah. I mean you have to, you have to build trust the frame gallery. We have implicit trust with you guys. Cause we know you're gonna take good care of our work when you frame it and you know, when you put glass on it, we know it's taken care of, but not every wholesaler the company, you know, you can trust. Right. Exactly.
Speaker 2 00:41:40 Well, you've had it happen here. We've had people that order stuff and they don't even open it until they get here cuz they don't wanna ruin it. And then they open it up and it's just, like I said, it's supposed to print. Oh. So they're like, this isn't what I ordered. And I'm like, wow man, sorry, I don't know what to, you know, and uh, like this was supposed to be done on Canvas and it was supposed to be textured and it was supposed to be, and it was just, you know, like, it's just boy a scanned print of it. Oh my god. You know, it's just, it's heartbreaking unfortunately, especially when somebody's excited about getting something done and they've contacted us and made an appointment and set up time. Right. They blocked out an hour to make sure they had enough time to take care of this thing. Right. Sure. They walk in and 30 seconds later they're walking out the door and calling somebody on the phone to find out what's going on. You know,
Speaker 3 00:42:23 As much as like, I think, you know, selling our online is a really great thing that should happen if it's legitimate. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that's what I really like about these local things is that Yeah. Right. Either trust is like almost immediate when you see something in front of you. And
Speaker 2 00:42:37 It's always different seeing something in person too, versus having to see, you know, a dead 2D image of something, you know, scanned and colors are always, sometimes different. Lighting in the room may not be perfect. You know, and seeing it, you know, we were talking about for digital submissions for some art shows and things, you know, you don't get the scale or the proper proportion of like, say something your size versus something, you know, like this size mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you put 'em on a screen together, well they look exactly the same, but, you know, you get a, a different whole feeling of seeing something in a five foot <laugh> size to a 10 inch size. You know,
Speaker 3 00:43:10 And small work too. If you small work, you tend to wanna get closer to it. A screen, you're not gonna put your face up to the screen
Speaker 2 00:43:16 Exactly.
Speaker 3 00:43:16 Like it doesn't work that way. So
Speaker 2 00:43:18 Can be
Speaker 3 00:43:19 Up to the piece up close and personal. It, it helps. And plus,
Speaker 7 00:43:23 You know, in other mediums like jewelry mm-hmm. <affirmative> sculpture and things that are three dimensional. Right. I know, I'm, I'm sure you, you know, you like having the personal contact with a collector or a buyer too. Yes. Yep. Because they can see what you have. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4 00:43:36 <affirmative>. Yeah, absolutely. I think, well for me, my, my work doesn't photograph as well as a photo or mm-hmm. <affirmative> a painting. Yeah. Well because of the 3D dimension.
Speaker 2 00:43:46 Yeah. You have dimensionality too. Also include
Speaker 3 00:43:47 Class is really hard to
Speaker 4 00:43:48 Photograph <laugh>. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and a lot of times the way the light hits Yeah. It's, you know, if it's got some translucent glass or whatever it is. So seeing it and being able to hold it up in different lights. Oh yeah. You know, that makes a big difference. And again, having nice lighting in my studio Right. Really helps. So seeing
Speaker 2 00:44:06 How it looks on the, uh, you know
Speaker 4 00:44:08 Right. And be people being able to try it on. Yeah. Yes. Sure. Have to see if it works for them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I do have a website. I do have an Etsy store, but I really don't focus much on it because I, I really enjoy having that interaction Yeah. With people. Yeah. I agree. In my studio space. Absolutely. And it's, it's just always nice when you have, you know, a repeat person come in. It's always a nice compliment to have someone say, oh, I like your work. And a collective <laugh>. Yeah. Even if they don't purchase something every time. Exactly. Just the fact that they came in to see it. I'm, I'm always floored Yeah. By that. So, you know, it's just, I just like being there physically and Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:44:46 I'd love to add something to that. And Rob, I'm sure you can talk more about this too, if you want. The only open studio I've done so far, <laugh> sandpaper camera. One of the coolest experiences I had that day were two or maybe three sets of children came into the studio and they were like, I was like, go ahead, touch it, it's fine. You know, some paintings actually this hard and it's made with concrete. It might hurt yourself, but No, the rest. But feel free to touch it. But it was the coolest thing to interact with these kids and see their reaction to like, art. And that's, I was like, I could do that. And Oh, I love this color and that. And it was just, I just kind of let them go. Yeah. Like, you know, I wasn't talking to them the way I might an adult who, you know, might have some serious interest. Yeah. I was just like, go just, you know, kind of play. Don't pick anything up. But <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:45:37 It's
Speaker 7 00:45:38 Probably
Speaker 3 00:45:38 My interest too.
Speaker 7 00:45:39 What's
Speaker 3 00:45:40 That? It's probably, my kids were in there at Point <laugh>.
Speaker 7 00:45:42 Those were very well, yeah,
Speaker 3 00:45:45 I think it was. They totally, I think it was a couple years ago when we first started up again after the pandemic. I think they, I heard I wasn't with them cause I was in the same para factory, but over at the Wright building, they got a little nutty over there. <laugh>
Speaker 4 00:45:56 <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:45:57 Kids can only be in a, an art studio. Totally. For so long. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 00:46:01 Start. We do sometimes have a, a kid's art table where
Speaker 3 00:46:05 Yeah, we are gonna have a kid's art table at this event, uh, as well. But, you know, it's not, it's not a lot, but it's gonna have some enough to
Speaker 1 00:46:13 Keep 'em contained. A little distraction.
Speaker 3 00:46:14 Gonna have a, we're gonna have some coloring pages and I think a, um, like a coloring mural type thing. Um, nice. Yeah. Enough to like keep them entertained for a little while. It'd
Speaker 2 00:46:24 Be cool to have one that you could have each kid, like, just contribute a little So group have this like
Speaker 7 00:46:28 Final Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:46:29 Yeah. But I think kids do get a lot out of this kind of stuff too. They, yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 1 00:46:33 So on, on that weekend, the 29th and 30th, you guys expect to at least, uh, interact with a lot of people?
Speaker 3 00:46:39 Yeah. I mean, definitely a lot of interaction,
Speaker 4 00:46:41 Like, yeah. I don't know, say was fantastic to a thousand people. Like last spring was phenomenal. It was, I we had such a great turnout and then this past fall was even better. That's awesome. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I mean, it's free, so that's always good. People can just, that's a big draw and it's, know,
Speaker 3 00:46:59 It's 30 years running now, so people know about it. They like as a, yeah. I, I
Speaker 7 00:47:04 Still get people who surprise you.
Speaker 4 00:47:05 I didn't know this was here. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:47:07 Been rocking it all their lives. And I'm like, surprise. We get it every day. People don't realize the second floor. You mean the stuff upstairs? <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:47:15 Somebody's been here for 10 years shopping. That's who
Speaker 3 00:47:17 I was. I, I went to an open studios in probably 2018 or something and I had knew there was a group in town. I had gone to one, I think maybe when it was back at, at a cotton building like a long time ago. And I kind, I kind of just like didn't really think about it much. And then I came to one of the open studios like Oh wow. And like I grew up in Rockland and I didn't realize how much stuff there was <laugh> and I was like, what You were saying, you bring people to your studio and they, oh, I, I come back here. That's how I felt when the first time I came in. Yeah. I was like so amazed that this is all in, in Rockland. I couldn't
Speaker 4 00:47:50 It the first time and now you're the president of the
Speaker 5 00:47:52 Four artists. I didn't have any years
Speaker 3 00:47:53 Later and now I'm the president of
Speaker 6 00:47:55 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:47:56 And that's kinda the cool thing too, there, there's not like a lot of barriers to entry I don't think in our group. Like as long as I think I
Speaker 5 00:48:01 Remember the first year when you were there, cuz I was in in the gallery. You were gallery. Yeah. Yeah. We were both kind of the new associate members were Yeah. Kind
Speaker 3 00:48:09 Of. Yeah. And I was still kind of feeling out what it was all about at that point, but I felt like it was just very welcoming, so Yeah. Yeah. It's
Speaker 5 00:48:16 What I felt.
Speaker 3 00:48:17 It was not like, you know, if you wanted to like be involved so it's there for you to do what you want to do with the group, I think. Yeah. So
Speaker 6 00:48:25 I remember one story I was in Open Studios in, in, in the Wright building there, which used to be a shoe factory. And these two women came in, one was probably in the seventies and the other was in her nineties. And they both worked when it was a shoe factory. Wow. Wow. And they were just telling the history of the whole place. Wow. This was over here. You know, you know, didn't have anything That's fun. And it was, uh, yeah, it was very interesting to get that, you know, to get the history of what Rockland was, you know, in the 1930s, let's say, you know, when Rockland and Brockton were all the king of the shoe factories. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:48:59 Interesting. Now you said it was Alan
Speaker 7 00:49:01 Owns Alan. Curtis Curtis,
Speaker 1 00:49:02 Alan Curtis. Now what, what's his interest in actually, you know, is he like a, he's a lover of the arts or is Well,
Speaker 7 00:49:09 He's a professional landlord. I mean, he, he runs a real estate company based out of Boston. Yeah. So he manages or owns and manages I believe, several properties.
Speaker 1 00:49:18 It sounds as though he is involved and interested in, you know, in the arts if you wanna take that or is he
Speaker 4 00:49:22 Trying to, he's just, he loves the art. Yeah. He loves the arts. Yeah. And he's, I think he really connects with artists. Yeah. And he wanted to find a place for artists and he couldn't be more supportive. I, oh
Speaker 5 00:49:36 My God, he's have
Speaker 4 00:49:37 A better glamorous
Speaker 5 00:49:38 Super, just nice. Can't
Speaker 3 00:49:40 Do any
Speaker 1 00:49:40 Better without running your own museum. So
Speaker 5 00:49:42 <laugh>. Right. No, he's a great guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:49:46 I think he kinda stays out of the inner workings of, like
Speaker 6 00:49:49 You say, located interested in the arts. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:49:52 But he's very attentive to the building and keeping
Speaker 5 00:49:54 It up
Speaker 7 00:49:54 And maintenance and Yeah. You know, was very open to the signage that, you know, Rob designed and installed mm-hmm. <affirmative> fourth floor artist. Yeah. And the sandpaper factory signed out front and everything. So he certainly, to sound squishy about it, I think we're kind of in concert with him. Our best interests are his best interest. Sure, sure. He wants the building to do well. He wants people, artists to be satisfied and people to come there and he's, you know, so open as far as outside people and visitors coming in. He's, there's no issue with that. That's awesome. So I don't, I don't think we could say enough good things about
Speaker 2 00:50:27 Our experience with him. I mean, that's probably one of the reasons for all the success, just keeping the building going as well as it, it is, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:50:33 And parking pretty easy on that weekend or is there so many
Speaker 2 00:50:36 People? That
Speaker 5 00:50:37 Can
Speaker 7 00:50:37 Be a little tough.
Speaker 5 00:50:38 I would tell people to park down the street and take a little walk. Yeah. Yeah. It might be a little less hectic.
Speaker 3 00:50:44 There is a parking lot, but right across the street is Franklin Street, which runs kind of perpendicular with the building.
Speaker 1 00:50:50 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So on street parking, you might be the way to here. It's a
Speaker 3 00:50:53 Pretty long street and it's, it's all open parking, so people can definitely park.
Speaker 2 00:50:57 We run into that situation here. We have to tell people, it's like, oh, you know, the post office closes at five and, uh, so, you know, it's just over there. But, but
Speaker 7 00:51:06 Ordinarily day to day there's plenty of parking. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 00:51:08 Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:51:08 People are coming and going.
Speaker 2 00:51:10 That's good. Yeah. So, but I think we covered everything unless there's anything else you guys to bring up. I think was, got
Speaker 1 00:51:15 A couple events that are coming up and
Speaker 5 00:51:16 We, we do have an event coming up after Open Studios. Yep. We have another Food and Art night. Ah,
Speaker 2 00:51:22 Yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 5 00:51:23 Yes. June 3rd. Nice. Is Saturday night, June 3rd. That's a good six 30 to 10. We have kind of a tropical themed menu. Ooh, ooh. Um, I don't know if I wanna divulge any part of the menu. I, I was given the secret menu. Ooh. Oh no. Should I sort of let you know? Couple, please. Yeah. Give
Speaker 1 00:51:41 Us a couple teas. All right.
Speaker 5 00:51:42 I'll give you a couple tea. Savory shrimp lettuce wrap with pineapple salsa. Oh, okay. Yeah. Have this little tropical theme going. Definitely hits tropical. I don't know. Okay. But there's somebody cooking. Okay. <laugh>. <laugh>. It's not my husband. It's not. Um, but, but we have mango, coconut cheesecake for dessert. Woo. Nice. So that's just a couple more That's worth coming for a cup, right? Yeah, yeah. Dessert. I know. And there'll be four artists that will be in the gallery that night. I'm one of them. And do we wanna divulge artists or just have it be a big surprise? That's,
Speaker 1 00:52:15 That's entirely up to you. Now is there interaction with the artists or is it like, oh yeah. Hopefully they'll show.
Speaker 5 00:52:22 No, hopefully they'll all be there. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:52:23 <affirmative> and there's like a sit down type of meal. No,
Speaker 5 00:52:25 No, no, no, no. Everyone just stands around small table, their plates. It's at the gallery opening. Yeah. I think
Speaker 3 00:52:31 You could give
Speaker 5 00:52:32 Their names. Want me to give, promote a little Bit's gonna be there. Michelle Pro, Mary Sheenan, Wynn, Susan Page Thompson and myself. Woo-hoo. We will be, it's
Speaker 7 00:52:45 An Oscar cast.
Speaker 5 00:52:46 That's right. Making the gallery look amazing with and all ladies. I know. It happens to be. Yeah. I just turned out that way. It's kind of like whoever got that to me. Yeah. <laugh> was gonna get a spot because I did reach out to people in the ET Right. And the Sandpaper factory. Nice. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:53:04 You'll have to go
Speaker 5 00:53:05 And had other stuff going on. So
Speaker 2 00:53:07 I finalized stuff for us so we can get it up on our calendar and hopefully sell up again for this next Oh my God,
Speaker 5 00:53:12 Ahead of time. Mason's on it. He just got all the info today. Yeah. And yeah, I'm happy to share that info with you guys.
Speaker 2 00:53:19 I correspond with Jill all the time, so I'm sure we'll get <laugh>.
Speaker 5 00:53:22 I think the tickets will be posted on a
Speaker 4 00:53:24 Eventbrite and Yes. Also obviously on the fourth floor artist website. Sure. Yep. And our Facebook page. So
Speaker 5 00:53:31 I think you're $25 again, which is
Speaker 2 00:53:33 Really reasonable. Oh my God, this
Speaker 5 00:53:35 Food was so good.
Speaker 2 00:53:36 Yeah. For what I saw from the last one. Oh my God. It
Speaker 5 00:53:38 Was really good. It was fabulous. It was fabulous. And even the
Speaker 2 00:53:41 Setup you guys had for like, the walls were just full. Yeah. And even like a few displays Yes. Were set. If I saw Mary's for sure, where she, oh my God. All wrapped around
Speaker 3 00:53:50 The, the first one we did, we had the walls were full of stuff. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and we kind of like, so we had four of us and we just had like, everyone gets like their spot, just do what we want.
Speaker 2 00:53:59 You get this wall, you get this wall, you get this.
Speaker 3 00:54:01 And then we had, but then we also had like a table at the front that Jason was selling his sauces, but we also had, um, people could, if they wanted to put art out, uh, like smaller things that you know, aren't gonna be on the wall. Sure. We hadn't had like a mixture of stuff like that. But yeah, it was kind of like, it was kind of like a self like curated thing where everyone kind of has their own kind of area to put together.
Speaker 2 00:54:23 Well that's, that's nice though. That way you can kind of display it the way you want to have it showing off and displayed, you know,
Speaker 3 00:54:29 And that not one person has to do all the Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:54:32 Exactly.
Speaker 3 00:54:33 The undertaking
Speaker 2 00:54:34 Word needs these four different type of arts all together and make it work cohesively. Yeah. No, it's
Speaker 1 00:54:40 Nice. Well, so we get the open studios on the 29th and 30th, then shortly thereafter we have the, what is the name Night? Food and Art Night. Food and Art. It's June 3rd. Okay. June 3rd. Nice. I certainly appreciate you guys coming by and I know thank you very much. Thank you for having us. All things that are, uh, you know, going on up there and I'm looking forward to getting over there on the 29th and 30th. Maybe having my, uh, portrait done now. <laugh> <laugh> sounds good. You know, maybe we'll have a portrait of Scott Elizabeth as well. Yeah, there
Speaker 2 00:55:12 We go. Take
Speaker 5 00:55:12 Home a tray or a photo or some jewelry. Sure. Something
Speaker 1 00:55:16 Like that. We'll come to spend. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 00:55:19 Find a parking space.
Speaker 5 00:55:21 Thank
Speaker 4 00:55:21 You so much for having us. Oh
Speaker 2 00:55:23 No, you really glad you guys, this is a great setup too. We're nice to know we can do a large group like this and have it out so everyone's
Speaker 1 00:55:29 Well behaved. Not no
Speaker 2 00:55:31 <laugh>, anybody that wasn't, we edited out <laugh>. But no, I wanna thank everybody for coming and congratulations on 30 years for the building there. It's a great, great group of people, it sounds like. And hopefully I'll get on that, uh, waiting list and be able to join you guys. So thank you everybody for listening with us today, and we'll see you next time. All
Speaker 1 00:55:50 Right. See ya.
