Hot Shops Art Gallery

Hello Friends,
There were so many activities happening in Omaha this weekend, it was hard to pick one - the Cinco de Mayo celebration, the opening day at the Farmer's Market, and the open house at the Hot Shops art gallery.  So I guess oversleeping on Saturday morning was a good thing, as it helped narrow my choices down....  Actually, I'd been planning to visit the Hot Shops open house since I first heard about it a month ago.  It was a great experience - but if you missed it, don't worry.   The gallery is open 7 days a week, and artist receptions are held on a regular basis.  So you'll have other opportunities to explore the work of artists like these...

Gerard Pefung's narrow room on the second floor would have been easy to miss, but a fellow tourist pulled me inside to see one of the most unique exhibits in the gallery.  Pefung is an "aerosol artist."  That's right - he says it with spray paint.  And what an amazing statement he makes.  The painting beside him in this photo is one of two that he did of Michael Jackson.  Both pieces were commissioned shortly after Jackson's death by a man whose girlfriend was in deep mourning for the singer.  (That's love, I guess - to buy your sweetheart a painting of another guy.  Hmmm....)  Anyway, you should definitely visit the gallery and see these before the boyfriend picks them up.  The second painting is of Jackson as a child.  Pefung captured an expression of youthful joy and exuberance beautifully in the young Jackson's eyes - a stark contrast to the wild, pained expression seen here in Jackson as an adult. 

Pefung also showed us selected pieces from his upcoming show, which will feature elephants as its theme.  When asked why he picked elephants, Pefung explained that we all want to be elephants.  Elephants are wise.  They have strong family ties - even mourning for the loss of a loved one.  And no one - not even the king of the jungle - messes with an elephant.  We were lucky enough to get a glimpse inside of Pefung's sketchbook and see how he starts with very realistic drawings and slowly makes them more and more abstract.  The full show will debut at the Nomad lounge.  You can see more photos of Pefung's work on Flickr or send him a message on Facebook to get more information.

 

After admiring Dar Vandevoort's work at the Artists Co-Op Gallery, my sister and I were excited to meet her at the Hot Shops open house.  The painting behind her is of her niece.  You have to see it in person to really appreciate how the use of puzzle pieces - Dar's trademark technique - adds depth and texture to the little girl's braids.  As my sister pointed out, the expression on her face and the detail of her eyelashes are equally impressive. 

The paintings that we both loved at the other show were on display at Hot Shops as well - the one above, and a second painting that appears to be a companion piece.  I had thought about the painting above as the sky, and the second one as the ocean - but Dar explained that the second one is also the sky.  Her husband is a pilot, so they spend a lot of time in the air.  The other painting shows what it looks like when they're over the clouds and getting ready to descend.  Both tissue paper and puzzle pieces add texture to the purple backdrop with swirls of light.  Thinking of it as both ocean and sky makes me love it even more.  (And coincidentally, these would go great with the color scheme in my house - just in case anyone is in a generous mood.  My birthday is coming up in a few months....)

You can't have "hot shops" without a little heat.  During the open house, we got to see glass blowers and blacksmiths work their fiery magic.  Wouldn't this be amazing as decoration for a party?  So beautiful.

Another one of my favorite displays was in the aptly-named Hallway Gallery.  Photographer Joseph Vavak showed selections from his "ninety-three" collection.  He's a kindred spirit, I think - a kind of "Homestate Tourist."  He's been traveling to each of Nebraska's 93 counties to photograph whatever interesting and unique things he finds there.  In his blog, Vavak describes himself as "a photographer from Omaha, Nebraska that has a somewhat puzzling obsession with the mundane and the everyday."  As a writer, I loved the way so many of his photos carry the spark of a story.  The camera man admitted to being more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it, but he graciously posed in front of one my favorite pieces - a shot from a museum in Ainsworth that tells the life story of one of its past residents.

Whew!  I'd meant for this to be a short blog, but I can't sign off without telling you about one more artist - Jacqueline Bequette.  Bequette's paintings also feature rich texture, created by painting her canvas with glue and randomly dropping handfuls of paper scraps over it.  She lets the scraps fall where they may and uses them to add line and texture to her work.   Her inspiration came from this portrait she did of her daughter.  The scraps used here were actually from paper that her daughter journaled on, and her words became incorporated into the portrait.

I'm not an artist myself, but I love seeing the talent and creativity of people here in my hometown and hearing their stories about what inspires them.  Thanks to the artists at Hot Shops for sharing your talents and stories with me.  It was great to meet you.