Getting Ready For North On 71

It's almost here.  North On 71 is about to open.  Let's take a look back and see what all was involved in making the show a reality.

There are a lot of moving pieces required to pull off an art show under the best of circumstances with plenty of lead time.  North On 71 has been brought to fruition in under 120 days.  That kind of turn around is only possible with everyone involved moving in the same direction and a ton of hard work.

Right out of the gate Brant Weiland and Tia Calkins took ownership of painting and organizing the pedestals for the show.  It is an easy sentence to say, but just those two tasks took these two many, many hours over the course of several days to complete.  Painting.  Drying.  Sanding.  Painting. Drying.  Sanding.  Stacking.  Organizing.......

......really, I mean organizing......

........and painting........

......and organizing.........

And that was just here at our home base.  We also made several trips down to the venue to build walls,  hang sheet rock, mud, sand, and paint.

Veronica Watkins making sure the new temporary walls are up to snuff.

Bobby Tso and Melody Monroe assembled, organized, and touched up the pedestals (also no small task).

David Harris getting in on the mudding and sanding action too.

The walls are starting to take shape.

Brad Watkins taking a quick break from mudding the walls.

Mr. Mac McClanahan, the gracious owner of the exhibition space (The Art Statuary Building), and a fellow artists/potter/ceramicist using his forklift skills to move a BIG table out of the way.

Mac has been extremely helpful, generous, and good-natured about this whole process.  A thousand 'thank yous' don't begin to do the job of conveying our gratitude to him.

A panoramic shot of the space as it starts to take shape.

.....mmmmmmm, more mudding.......

With the space nearly ready, it is time to start placing work.

The work is almost set.  We hope to see you at North On 71!

North On 71: Artist Profile -Melody Monroe

North On 71 is pleased to showcase the ceramic works of Melody Monroe.

Although her primary focus is ceramics, Melody has demonstrated a knack for a wide array of media and approaches.  Here is a shot of Sumiyo, Melody, and Abby in front of their collaborative installation for the BBOC Project in the Fall of 2015.

.....and although covered in clay, one of Melody's bolder experiments was to make an Easter Island head figure with a mixed media armature and a 'skin' of un-fired clay on top.

By the time it was completed, it stood over five feet tall -this was no small accomplishment.

A close up of some of the surface texture on her sculpture.

Melody Monroe's studio work exhibits a high level of craftsmanship and a great deal of whimsy.

Melody Monroe's cool and crisp ceramics -yet another reason to come see North On 71 during NCECA 2016!