Artomatic, Fluffy Flowers and Felines

This is the Artomatic 2012 building. Click here for more info on how Artomatic came about. On Saturday morning I went down early to pick my wall for the art show. I met a friend, Molly, as we waited and also chatted with some people I met while on my first volunteer shift last week. I have to attend 3 volunteer shifts as part of my contract to have a wall showing my art. The event is none profit and run by volunteers yet has become a massive attraction since it started. It always takes place in an empty building, either brand new or a tear down as in this year.

I was wanting a wall on the 9th floor as this had a lot of open space where 3D structures and a stage would be so I wouldn't be lost in a maze of corridors and rooms as some of the floors consisted of. I also wanted an outlet so I could plug in lights if I wanted. Thirdly the Washington Post Peeps would be on this floor so that would be a draw. I had it planned pretty well and had even sort of picked a wall out when I volunteered. Once our group was given the red light I went straight up to the floor and managed to walk straight back to my wall. I quickly found a manager to claim it and felt very smug at having completed so quickly what could have been a headache of a job. Molly was torn between 2 spaces for her 3D work and ended up on floor 10. I met a lady who I'd done conservation work with at Bull Run. She was on my floor and Mark, a guy I worked my first Artomatic shift with has 2 walls in my room.

Here's the room with my wall marked with the red sticker. The blue tape partitions off the areas available.

This is the area outside the room where a stage will be built, presumably with some of those doors we lugged around last week.

Registering my wall.
As soon as I got home that afternoon I sat down and made a list of what I planned to do with my wall. The weekend was spent organizing photos and sketching up ideas. I'm keeping quiet for now about what I envisage my wall to represent or exhibit as I feel I may have bitten off far more than I can chew with my list. We only have until May 13th to finish installations and the show starts on May 18th. I'm not sure if I can accomplish all I want or if I actually have room. But I felt happy at the end of Sunday having definitely got my large ball rolling.
As the sun went down on Sunday I went for a stroll with Kota and my camera to grab a few photos. I'd been noticing how pretty the dandelion seeds were when caught in the light and it was lovely to relax for a while.

On Thursday evening I went back down to Artomatic to paint my wall. I had to park a couple of blocks away and had to carry a chair and a pot of paint through the city streets filled with office workers migrating homewards. I was glad to be on the phone with Mum while I walked as I felt very self conscious but hey, it's an artist's prerogative to be a little 'out there', right?

I got cracking on my wall right away and then painted my chair too. I've left a rough texture on the wall and plan to add a little glitter too but that's all I'm saying. I met 2 new friends, Terry who was painting her wall the same color as her house and John who was just starting a mural that was going to take 90 hours to complete. And he had his own wall to get ready.
I felt good as I left that my project was under way, it was real now I had done some work. I'm excited to start bringing this all together. Lucent Moments will be brief until installation is complete as all my time has to go on the wall, so bear with me.
Last but definitely not least, an update on the puddy tats. Rosie had her all clear at the vets and is settling in nicely. We still have some arguments but the growling isn't quite as frequent or anxious as initially. There are moments that I've witnessed which make it seem that she has always been pals with Kota. They've touched noses a few times and share the couch when I'm sitting on it. We've still got a long way to go but at least it doesn't seem as daunting as it did when she first came to Meadow House. And now that she's been checked out and I've parted with a sizable chunk of cash in doing that, I guess it's time to say, "Welcome to your new home, Rosie."