Last Thursday I was thrilled to be included in the Conception Events Contemporary Art Show at the MI-5 Lounge in Tribeca. Conception Events is a pop up art gallery that features emerging artists. They actually found me on Instagram and said I should consider applying for the show, so I did.
I wasn't sure what to expect from the event, other than there would be about 25 artists, each with a 4ft by 5ft space to show as many pieces as you'd like within that constraint.
I'd done a little bit of stalking of my fellow artists ahead of time and I thought some of their work was great, and others just weren't my taste. I was excited for the opportunity to show my work in person to friends, family and strangers, but I was also nervous that maybe my art wouldn't fit in with the rest of the vibe.
I chose 5 new paintings to show that were all based on memories of Caribbean vacations we used to take as an extended family growing up. We tended to steer clear of resorts and instead stayed at small hotels or rented condos. We've visited larger islands like Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Aruba, but we also vacationed at less touristy islands (or at least that seemed remote in the late 80s early 90s) like Carriacou, Little Cayman, Grand Turk, Nevis and Dominica...I can't say what these places are like now, maybe they're swarming with tourists. But back then, they always seemed pretty quiet.
We would spend our days playing in the ocean, hiking, exploring the local markets, SCUBA diving and building ball rolls in the sand...not sure if anyone else knows what a ball roll is or if our cousins just made that up....but essentially it's like a sandcastle but where you create a path for a racquetball ball to roll down and around and over bridges and through tunnels all made of sand.
As evening closed in, we'd read, play cards, shower and eat dinner, hopefully followed by a Snickers or Mars bar bought at a roadside stand.
With these paintings, I'm working to evoke the feelings of tranquility, peacefulness and joy I felt on those family vacations, where we didn't have any cares, except maybe finishing the winter reading list assigned by school.
I showed three small acrylics on board, each 8x10 inches:
7 Mile Beach Grand Cayman
Soft Sunset Grenada
Lush Waters Carriacou
I showed one medium-sized acrylic on canvas, 22x28 inches:
Afternoon Rain Montego Bay
And lastly, one large 36x48 acrylic on canvas:
Dominica Rainforest
The show ended up being tiring but fun. I was so grateful to the TWENTY friends and family that showed up to support me. That was incredible! THANK YOU!