Installation shots

Here's what the Gail Cahalan Gallery looks like now, hopefully it will be full of people tomorrow night!

Cold and Thankful

My studio looks like it was hit by Fall, but it felt more like Winter last weekend as I went on a painting marathon to finish the last, large (46x58) painting for my show. Temps were unusually low, just edging 30 and gale force winds were blowing, and I didn't have time to do my usual insulating of the garage door. So even after cranking the propane stove for hours, I could barely get the inside temp up to 50. It was comfortable enough though, as long as I wore long johns, 2 pairs of sweatpants, a tank top, t-shirt, a sweatshirt and fleece jacket, 2 pairs of socks and a hat. Whew, that's a lot of clothes.

But the big painting is done, and I deliver it tomorrow, when the gallery will hang the last of my paintings in time for my reception on Saturday. The 40 page catalog will be done as soon as I photograph the big painting and upload the final version. It will be available to order online, and I'll post a link soon. If you'd like me to email you the link, send me your email.

I'm looking forward to tying up the final loose ends of this 3 and a half year project... some serious recharging is in order.

Openings and beyond

The first opening (I suspect that's redundant. Should I call my next opening a Re-Opening?) of my show St. Hugh's Bones was last Saturday, and it went very well. Despite a torrential rain and street flooding the gallery was filled with friends and family. It was actually appropriate to have the storm drains backing up, as the subject of the photographs also being exhibited in the gallery, the Combined Sewer Overflow tunnel, is now open and a big celebration party was also being held that night at another location. All the water that would usually cause the system to back up into the bay during a heavy rain was now diverted into the tunnel until the treatment plant could catch up.

Hopefully the weather will be better for my (re)opening on the 29th, when I will have delivered the remaining paintings from the St. Hugh's Bones series. Until then I am still working on the final big painting. This morning I stopped in my studio before heading to work and couldn't resist taking off my gloves and painting out an errant cloud, trying to keep paint off my coat. Hopefully I'll wrap it up this weekend.

The gallery is also opening this Thursday for Gallery Night Providence.





As I mull over what direction I am going to head in after the machine series I'm getting inspiration from two fabulous painters, Sue McNally and Gregory Amenoff. I had seen the work of Amenoff for many years and always have felt the pull of it. I recently have been exploring his website. Very cool stuff.

I discovered McNally's work last year when I went to a one-night exhibit at Castle Hill in Newport. Her work is large and the room was packed, but I squirmed my way through the crowd many times to see the work. I missed her show this year because I was so frantic about getting mine delivered on time, but I'll have to be satisfied with visiting her excellent website.

Why I married him...

Here's a video I took last night of my husband's band at the Blackstone. That's John playing lead guitar. They didn't go on until midnight, but it was worth the wait.

Barack the Art and the Ninth Plan

I went to Peter Goldberg's opening last night to see his photos of the huge sewer tunnel which was drilled under Providence, and to get a peak at my paintings. Everything looked really good, Peter's photos were very elegant and have a timeless quality to them.

My paintings were hung and lit very nicely, and I only had to switch two labels. Considering how odd some of my title are, that's pretty good. It was mostly a photo crowd, of course, so the crowd was decidedly on that side of the gallery, but it's great to get "exposure" to that group as well. My opening is Saturday, it'll be a fun party...

Tonight I'm off to the Blackstone to see my husband's band Plan 9 . If you like great guitar work in a wall of pyschedelic sound, head on over to Pawtucket. They go on about 10.

I'm still feeling real good about election night, every once in awhile I stop and realize...hey, Obama won! and it cheers me up. And to add to his talents, I find he is a pretty decent cartoonist as well! Who knew? This is from the Pioneer Local in Chicago.

I get this show on the road!

I packed up my paintings this morning and loaded them in the old truck in the dawn's early light. I was glad that they all fit in one trip. When they're all the same size there isn't as much worry about where the corners fall, so I could stack them pretty high.

When I got to work I found out, to my joy, that tomorrow is a holiday (Veteran's Day)! I've been too busy even to anticipate it, but I sure can use the time. I'm trying to finish my show catalog which unfortunately may not be ready for my first opening, but hopefully shortly after, and in time for the second "one-person-show" opening on the 29th. I'm using a site called Blurb to make it and am hoping to order a bunch, and then put it in their bookstore so that it can be ordered online.

It does feel good, if a bit strange, to look out my office window and see my truck in the parking lot loaded with paintings, and know that most of my work of the last 4 years is ready to deliver.

Election elation

Whew! What a great day for our country. I knew I'd be happy, but I didn't know how happy till I was in the Liberty Elm Diner with a great group waiting for the election results. We stayed to see Obama get a healthy lead and then headed over to the official RI Democratic Party party in the ballroom on the 17th floor of the Biltmore Hotel where I took great pleasure in seeing McCain's concession speech. I have to admit it was a very good speech, he showed more class in that one speech than I had seen in the last months of campaigning. Had Palin been allowed to speak, I suspect her tone would have been quite different.


After that it just a matter of trying to crowd into the tiny elevators to get back to the car and drive to my sister's house in time to watch Obama's speech and pop open that long awaited bottle of champagne. A great night. A great speech.

And what made it even better the next day was to see the reaction from around the world. The sight of other countries waving the American flag and cheering made me feel very proud. It was a sight I didn't think I'd see again.

I know that this doesn't mean the world really loves us and all our problems are over, but at least now I feel there is some HOPE!

It's in the mail

The invites to my show are labeled and ready to be sent out, after I buy a bunch of stamps and sit in the RISD library to sort and stamp. I'm also sending out my press releases, awfully late, but better late than never. If you're not on my list, send me your address at EMAIL and I'll send you an invite.

When those are in the mail I'll have a few less things to think of... just finishing my frames, getting my email invite ready, finishing my big painting, finishing my catalog, all in about a week. But that won't prevent me from going downtown Tuesday night for the election result festivities. The show will get done somehow, lets just HOPE the right thing is done for this country.