Me at the MIA!

I rarely show a photo of myself.  But my husband snapped quite a few on this night.  I waded through the cringe worthy files and found two I liked.  Whew.  And Black and White made the top one even better.  This is me dressed up.  It is just my normal clothes except with jewelry.  

Oh, and my favorite shoes.  See at the bottom?  These beautiful pillars can be found at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  Or the MIA for short.  And do you know what else you can find there?  

My art!!!!  Well, at least for one night.  But hey.  That is better than nothing.  A print of my award winning Cat on a Blue Stairway was juried into Art Perchance this year.  It is a fun night where 10 bucks might win you a piece of art to take home.  First you try your hand at the MIA's version of carnival games.  And for every win you get a ticket.

 Then you can drop your tickets into your bucket of choice.  The best part is that the games are relatively easy to win.  And even if you don't win you get a boobie prize.  A glow necklace, Salvador Dali mustache, Sheriff's badge, and other must haves!  

And for the first time my bucket was full!  The last two years it was a much lesser measurement.  But I suppose it is all how you look at it.  Glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty.  My pail really was full by the end of the night.  But they snatched them away before I could get a final shot. 

So here's my shoes.  Aren't they cool?

Take a chance on the MIA.

I was going to say take a chance on me. But both corny versions fit my coverage of the Minneapolis Institute of Art's Art Perchancehttp://www.artsmia.org/art-perchance-2011/ event. Here is the MIA in all its Neon glory.

My friend and fellow CBIG and SCBWI member Shawn Mccann http://studiomccann.blogspot.com/ donated this cool cactus (or cacti) piece. Shawn was elusive to my paparazzi tendencies. So I didn't get his photo. But it was fun seeing him there!

I had to get a photo of this little sprite. Amy http://spritecreations.com/ did a great job of promoting her jewelry. Me...not so much.

But here I am standing by my framed print of Blue Staircase. I'm already wearing some swag. A glow necklace. More on that later.

The gallery.

Let the games begin.

I never did win at this one. But my husband got a ringer every time. Annoying!

Here he is. And there's a new sheriff in town. (swag)

This was a really fun game based on a Salvador Dali piece. (I think) You had to fish the lobster from its perch on a telephone to rest right side up on a dinner plate. I visited the Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg Florida several years ago. The surreal paintings are like the weirdest and most supernatural dream you'll ever have.

There was some trailer trash band playing. O.K. they were named Trailer Trash. Hee, Hee.

Here's my loot, swag, winnings...junk. To tell the truth my husband won most of it. I have a funny story about the fuzzy rainbow wrist band. My husband had to make a trip back to the car. And on his way he saw a squirrel running with one of the bands in his mouth. Someone is going to have a colorful nest this Winter! Oh, and I was a VIP...

1)Very icky person

2)Vagabond in Provence

3)Vampire in Providence (watch out Christina)

4)Very into Pressure

5)Vealy into puns

6)Verging into Purgatory..............

Give art a chance!

I donated a painting for the 7th annual Art Perchance held at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. They call it an evening of art and artfully clever carnival games. And it really was alot of fun. I tried to capture the evening in photos. And where else would I start but with my painting. I did a larger version of one of the Black Shells I donated to the ripplesketches blog. Black Oil Shell is a statement piece of personal responsibility. We really do hold the future in our hands.

My new business cards.

I had to bring my own lunch pal. I'm kidding. They actually had some fancy snacks for the artists. I guess I was so busy eating I forgot to take some savory photos of the food. My favorite was the watermelon/salty cheese number.

I think I photographed most of the charming extras. I think their job was to try to get people to play the carnival games. And to just look cool.

If I wasn't an artist before, I officially am now!

I even put on some fancy shoes for the evening. A band played all night. But these shoes were only made for walking.

I met Nancy. She designed all the carnival games. (all the games were free by the way) And she was wearing a hilarious poodle skirt.
I also met Brian and Gerry. They might not ever know I remembered their names. Unless they check out my blog that is.

I won my very own glow stick playing this game.

I thought this would be the perfect photo to end this post. This is where my painting was. Now it's location is a mystery.

Bring on the gallery shows!

I have good news! I won the award of excellence for my painting, "Cat on a Blue Stairway" at Burnsville's Art Fete. So I thought I would devote a blog post to all the gallery shows I've been involved in lately. And the ones that I will be doing soon. My first show of 2010, "Minnesota Made" just came to an end February 28 at the University of St. Thomas. It was a show I participated in with my fellow CBIGer's. I submitted, "Red Wings Over Red Wing" I've posted that piece on my blog before. Last Thursday, "Art Fete" opened at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. The top photos are from that show. I also posted a photo of my friend Amy Vasterling's piece http://amycernyvasterling.blogspot.com/ Her work always has the cool factor of a real thinking artist. And she already sold her piece! The opening of Art Fete was a food and wine event. And the 85 artists and guests were hungry! It runs through May 1st. The last 2 photos are from the Minneapolis Institute of Art's, "Foot in the Door" show. Over 4,000 Minnesota artists participated in an overwhelming display. It runs February 18- June 13. I submitted, "Scared Dog" And the caption reads,"WOW. I've never seen so much dog-gone art!" To see more illustrated dogs please visit my website at http://www.sharonrwagner.com/ I have a show coming up April 9- June 20 at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis. The theme will be, "Imagination, Exploration and Creativity" And I might be participating in a photography show at the Minneapolis Photo Center. http://www.mplsphotocenter.com/ If I'm not selected as an exhibitor my photos can be viewed online. I'll let you know!