By now, you know that one of our favorite shows to curate and hang is our little salute to the bleu, blanc and rouge. July 14 always rolls around quickly, and we all look forward to hanging the gallery with new works from our talented and lovely French artists (This year, we had invited some of our American artists to participate, too, so we had a gallery-full of truly extraordinary work.)
As with any show, and despite all our determined preparations, it always comes down to the last wire, and this one was no exception. In the nick of time, we received, catalogued, framed, and hung last minute arrivals by Ewa Rzeznik (see our blog from last week that tackles that little adventure: Hop to it, Huffingtons). With an hour to go, we were still frantically re-tagging a few pieces, re-hanging a couple of groupings, and answering the phone, which was merrily ringing off the hook. But, we all had the pre-party adrenaline going, so it was fun and excitingly hectic.
(On a serious note: we have to say we always feel like proud parents when the gallery is hung with a new exhibit. It takes all of us to make a show come together, and we usually have all hands on deck (in jeans and flats) in the frantic days leading up to the opening. We think long and hard about our hanging strategy and when we get that feeling that each painting is making another sing, we are all satisfied and feel as if the job has been done to the best of our ability. The French have a great term for this that Ann taught us and it’s perfect: l’un fait l’autre chanter – “one makes the other sing.” Isn’t that lovely? It’s our little credo here at the gallery. And yes, we all have the jitters right before the door opens.)
Just before the doors officially opened, we were still scurrying around taking care of last-minute details:
- Linda tidied and fluffed the gallery and gave us the perfect touch of summer style with her effortless addition of just-picked daisies from our little garden.
- A last-minute catering snafu was also gracefully and graciously handled by Linda (who credits her years as a flight attendant for her cool-under-pressure attitude – she had us giggling at the last minute with stories from 32,000 feet)
- We welcomed Jacques the Accordionist (okay, he’s really Don, but Jacques is perfect for this blog and he does have a nice French air about him) and got him situated for a night of rousing French tunes.
- our always calm, cool and collected bartender, Demaris, uncorked wine and got ready for the masses (if only she knew at that point how crazy the night would become…)
- we slipped on our cute espadrilles that Ann brought us from Provence.
Finally, at 5:45 (a few minutes ahead of schedule), we opened our little blue door and, voila, we had a party going.
And, sacre bleu, what a party it was! By 6:00, we already had a gallery-full of friends, art-lovers and Francophiles and it just kept getting busier and busier as the evening wore on. (If our guests seem to be “gently glowing,” it’s because our little air-conditioner has a hard time keeping up when temps outside are in the 90s and the gallery is chock-a-block with bodies.)
But no-one seemed to mind and the fete took on a fun life of its own. It was fun chatting about the art and we were so happy to welcome a few of our artists: Nancy Franke was there along with Doug Foltz and adorable Melissa Payne Baker. And, Lorraine Christie, whose alluring paintings of Parisian-inspired street scenes always have fans swooning, popped by too.
Click here to see a glimpse of what all the fun was about!
At the end of the night – with every bottle of wine consumed; every crumb of food happily devoured; Edith Piaf love songs running through our heads; and some little jewels of paintings headed to their new maisons – we were exhausted but happy that our tribute to all things French had truly been un bon fete.
A bientot! We're already looking forward to Bastille Day 2011!
Tata!
HH
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