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Thursday, January 05, 2012

Global Paint Party


Artist: Carole Freeman


My kids and I attended the FACE THE WORLD Global Paint Party at Edward Day Gallery on Thursday, January 5, 2012 (5 pm - 9 pm) and it was an amazing art experience.



FRIEND ME PROJECTS is a global initiative to celebrate friendship, connection, and common humanity. Upon entering the gallery we were warmly greeted by one of the founders of FRIEND ME PROJECTS, Michael Bain, who welcomed us to the event and invited us to take a closer look at the "friend me" solo exhibition by Carole Freeman on view.

Artist Managers: Mr. Michael Bain & Mr. Jake Gold

It is so rare one is able to enter a gallery environment and be allowed to participate in the theme and spirit of the show. The amount of interactive events adaptable to kids is even rarer - so I was truly grateful to be allowed the chance to experience AND even create art in a close community involving my family. 


My kids were able to create portraits of each other using similar materials Freeman employs herself. Above Ground Art Supplies generously donated all the materials for the evening. Looking back on this great evening, I offer three main revelations from memory:

First, I thought how generous and down to earth Freeman is to allow others to explore her own approach to portraiture. Interviewing artists for years, I have found most painters vague at best when asked to reveal their techniques; yet Carole freely distributed everything required to create similar work to the more advanced paintings she had on display in the gallery.


Directly related to my first point, I immediately rediscovered a great respect for painting - specifically in Carole's work - when attempting to help my kids render the likeness of themselves in paint.  I think critics should paint more often as a reminder of the difficulty of the medium verses the speed of opinion. This active experience made me appreciate professional work on new levels beyond mastery of technique - I began to understand the time investment hidden under the luscious surface of each work.

Finally, I began to sink in the luxury and fun of painting on a slippery yet forgiving mylar surface and for more than a second I wanted to be Eric Fischl and master this glassine-like surface with seeming ease. Sorta like wanting to be Bobby Orr as a kid again.

Photos with subtitles Courtesy of: Bill King, 2012

Thanks so much Carole and Michael for this wonderful experience. My kids and I had the best time and we look forward to the live auction and virtual postings. I hope we are able to contribute to The Stephen Lewis Foundation Arts Fund through our art and your awesome event. 
All paintings will be posted on the FRIEND ME PROJECTS website: 


www.friendmeprojects.com