On November 3 (which happened to be a day before my birthday.) I partnered up with Threadcount™ Shirts, for my first ever artshow, to usher in a fresh take on the ‘Art Gallery’ experience. The owners (Jason and Chris Salas) had a vision to utilize their shop as space for a monthly artist spotlight event series titled "Canvas To Cotton". Their goal for the event was to feature a new artist each month and yours truly was the first artist to get the call.
The funny thing is, when I got the call, I was a bit skeptical. I was on the fence because Threadcount Shirts offers direct-to-garment, digital printing, with the capability to print one-off custom tshirts. Most of my previous experiences with printers who offer these types of "quick-print" services have been: low quality garments, shady service and bad printing. But my experience with Jason and Chris, was completely opposite!
We set up an initial meeting at their shop located in Richmond, VA which left me thoroughly impressed. I got such a great vibe from them and the way they'd presented their space that we sealed the deal that day with a hand shake and good faith (which is rare these days.). After we wrapped, I left and got right to work on the concept of the show and how I wanted to display my work.
The Concept
The concept of my show was to introduce myself as an artist, establish my name and to share my current works to the Richmond, VA community. The name Junious was my grandfathers name and serves as my middle name. I am pushing the name to the forefront to pay homage to him and to honor his legacy.
Show Preparation
There was a tremendous amount of work and effort that went into the preparation leading up to and during the show. Everything that was on display was created specifically for the show. The exception being the collectible figurines. In all, I had over 40 pieces of work on-hand at the show! And because I work as both senior level designer and freelance designer, I had to work many late nights to get work done and show ready. Everything from producing the art, converting artwork to digital files for printing, framing, selecting the best pieces to show, old school street promotion, you name it. I did it. Surprisingly, everything went really smooth. There weren't many "OH CRAP!" moments. I'm hopeful that this is the case for every show I do... Key word, "hopeful".
Showtime!
It was really hard to contain my excitment on the day of the show. Here I am staring down my very first artshow with my birthday the next day, showing my work during a First Friday on Broad Street, having the Return of The Mac food truck providing the "yummies", Inlight exhibit happening, great weather (for the most part). I mean, the weekend couldn't have gone any better right? Wrong! My lovely wife, Mom, Stepdad, Chris and Jason all where in secret cohorts to surprise me by flying my Mom and Stepdad in to hang out with me for my birthday! To add to all of the above, my Canvas To Cotton art show was a thrilling experience! I was shocked and humbled at the amount of people that came out to support my vision. I currently have work on display Threadcount Shirts shop. Head over and take a look. Or order here.
Special Thanks
For all of the work and effort I put out individually, there are a few people I have to thank for helping me pull off this experience. The first person I'd like to thank is my wife for the continued love and understanding of the commitment it takes to be able put together an art show. I'd also like to thank my good friend Keith Ramsey of Ramsey Artworks, for taking time out of his schedule to help me with framing, building, storing and transporting my larger works. Thanks to Nicholas Thomas for shooting the show and providing a great recap of the night. Also, thanks to all of you who came to see my first show. There aren't enough words to express my gratitude. If you came and I didn't get a chance to chat with you, my appologies. Comment below and I'll respond specifically to you. As always, Thanks for the love and support. The best is yet to come!
