Wednesday, July 30, 2014

A break from the action at Gallery Meraki






 We have a break in the action setting up Gallery Meraki for a few weeks while we wait for supplies we have ordered to arrive.  In the meantime I headed down to Florida to spend time with Mom and Dad.  I have had some time to run around with my camera while I'm here.  My favorite is me and Mom at Daytona Beach.  

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Sunday, July 20, 2014

More progress at the gallery...

 In two short weeks we went from this

to this!

Things you can't see are air conditioning, refrigerator, the cabinets have been painted and a hanging system installed.  What's next you ask.  Purple base molding should arrive this week, we order trade show panels to allow us to have more display space n the middle of the space and we will need to purchase and install spot lights.  The big opening / launch party will be September 27th from 7-9.  This place will look amazing when it is all decked out in our photography!  So why push so hard for two weeks if we are not opening until late september?  Well back when this all started we knew late july was going to be busy for all of us and agreed to get as far ahead as possible before we had our break.  Some time in mid august we will finish the install and start hanging our photos.  I can't wait to be able to show you all the finished space… Hopefully in person.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Monday, July 14, 2014

Today at Gallery Meraki...


 Exterior walls primed today!  Will we paint white? Gray Purple?  It will have 6"purple base molding where the wall meets the floor for a little funk!
 The relaxation zone at the gallery is starting to feel like home!

 Who wouldn't want to work here?
This great antique table was a gift from our neighbor across the hall!  What will we do with that????  I have some ideas.

Great progress today at the gallery.  Things are coming together!

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Gallery Meraki - Update


Here are my partners in Gallery Meraki Julie Scholz and Mike Malandra.  We made a shopping run to IKEA yesterday and got the furniture for the 'chill zone' in the gallery.  We even got it all assembled and in place without injury.  Next week I will post an update of what the space is looking like and what we will be doing next before our launch in September.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Turning Lemons into Lemonade

The new gallery hit its first snag this week.  Even though we got permission to use the name GARNER24 three weeks ago.  The person who OK'd it did not realize he needed approval above him.  Since we are in Garner Arts they felt the name was too close.  After about 10 minutes of mumbling and cursing I contacted my partners in the gallery (Julie and Mike)  they were great.  they said "OK we'll come up with something else".  While they thought about that I made a list of money spent involving the name like the sign for the door and the website etc.  We worked out a fair deal with our landlord so that we did not lose anything but a little time.  Julie came up with the idea of using the greek word Meraki.

It was PERFECT and really fit the approach the three of us bring to our photography and painting!  So we were able to work as a group come up with a solution and turn a lemon into lemonade!  We are working on logo designs now for Gallery Meraki and I already secured the website address.  All is good!

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Sunday, July 06, 2014

More Progress at GARNER24 Gallery




More progress made on the new studio / gallery today!  I got the office painted and cleaned up.  Next step in there is the chalkboard paint we bought for over the desk.  In the gallery itself I spent a couple of hours doing touch up work.  The space is really coming together.  Now I am getting quotes for portable partition walls to make more hanging space and a hanging system so we don't have to put holes in our nice new wall.

I can't wait until we are ready to open and have our launch party.  We will do that in September when folks are back from summer vacations.  That gives us a chance to take our time and get everything right before we open the gallery.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Saturday, July 05, 2014

GARNER24 Gallery

I mentioned in an earlier post that I took an 800 sq ft studio / gallery space with two of my favorite photographer's Michael Malandra and Julie Scholz.  Here are some photos of the space as it progresses from tired and old to a vibrant gallery space.  We (along with our amazing spouses Wendy, Susan and Durant) made great strides in the first full two days of work we have been able to put into the place.  So far we have internet / AC /  Carpets have been cleaned / we did some demo work and painted the interior.  The gallery (We are calling it GARNER24 (Garner Arts Center building 24) is in the old Garner Dye works where fabrics were made since the mid 1850's.  Later this week I will share some photos around the old factory complex.  It has really fueled my artistic inspiration.  Next up for the gallery.  We will paint the office gray and white with a big space of blackboard paint for ideas and notes.  We will paint the windowsills gloss black and start to figure out what to do with the exterior space in the hallway.  Should be another busy week.

Keep Makin' Art


Here is the space as we first saw it.  A little tired and old perhaps, but tons of potential


We opted to paint the walls a nice clean gray that will really show off our photography.


Here is the start of day 2 of work.  Notice the stairs are gone.  That opened up about 80 sq feet we can use for a 'chill zone' with a couch etc.  Also the kitchen cabinets went from oak to the same white we painted the long brick wall to help make them less noticeable.


Mid day things are shaping up.  Mike is moving so fast he showed up in the picture three times!


End of day 2.  Three tired but happy artists (Julie, Mike and Carl) have a nice  fresh gallery.  It is almost ready to hang a show.  That will happen later this summer.