the next step

my wall on 2nd floor NW corner room. 

view of the front court yard and entrance to Artomatic 2012 from my room on the 2nd floor

Window walls of the room

This past week after the site selection at Artomatic 2012 we are working to prepare our gallery spaces. I am using a wall in a room that was a bland office white and I quickly decided I wanted a cooler neutral to back my display. Last weekend I went to the paint store and selected a number of grays then mid week I took the samples and a few of my framed sketches to the room and tried them out. I narrowed it down to a light and dark gray. Dolphin or pebble gray. In the end I decided to go with the lighter gray to keep from making the wall too dark and gloomy behind my flowers.

two samples against the carpet and moulding along the floor

samples and the some of the art against the wall 

Soon as I made up my mind I went right back to the paint shop and got a gallon of pebble gray flat paint, roller set and drop cloth and threw them in the trunk of the car. Mission accomplished. I also found I need to get more frames to fill that wall up with sketches. Friday I had a hard time getting motivated to get up and out of the house to go paint the wall. Eventually I made it over there about 3:45 PM and discovered that parking in the local garage was free after 4:00 PM so my slow start on the painting project went to my advantage. It was busy but not crowded in the building and loading dock. Much to my surprise my roommate was there painting her walls. I had some company for the first half of the job before she had to leave for a meeting on the other side of DC.

I taped all the edges and fixtures with blue tape, laid the drop cloth,  brushed the edges and began rolling the wall. 

It went quickly and the wall seemed to drink in the paint as if it was recently painted. We have been told this building was department of defense or maybe it was US Army who just moved out and the building owners plan to demolish the whole building after our show. Seems wasteful to me but maybe it needs remodeling for a new client or maybe they are going to build taller office or apartment buildings in this area.
Anyway it sure suits our needs this month as it is with a little tweaking.

first coat done and roommate had to go to a meeting before she got her blue wall finished

same view with the over head lights turned off

finished wall ready for installation of my sketches as soon as I get the art ready to hang 

Next step is to choose which of my sketch prints I am going to show and in what arrangement on the wall. I want to invite friends and fans to come to the evening opening May 18th. It should be a blast to visit even a few floors of this huge art museum of contemporary Washington area artists displays. All the artists will be there that night to kick off the beginning. Metro is just around the corner so no worries about parking and if you can't come the first night it will be open Wed. through Sunday day and night and is always FREE!