Parking Can Be Fun...On A Friday Night

Last night had all the makings of a good Friday Night Gallery Showathon. There were openings scattered all over town. I worked up until time to go out and hit the scene with Melvis, but we never quite made it in anywhere. Memphis is hot during the summer. I don't mean just hot. It's damn near intolerable. We Memphians take advantage of cool days, and last night was one of the most comfortable evenings in sometime. The temperature dropped near 20 degrees over the course of the last two days. Melvis and I just kept on driving until we got to the river. We were trying to find parking in a very unfriendly parking environment, and we finally just decided to find a parking garage and cut the free parking losses. 

The "Parking Can Be Fun" parking garage is famous here. The building has been here forever, and we have all had good and bad times there. We proceeded to the top, as there were no spots left below. When we finally parked we came to a few realizations. 1: This was one of the best views to watch the sunset we had ever stumbled upon. 2: We were glad the cooler was packed with adult beverages. 3: We had cameras. 4: We weren't going anywhere, and 5: this was going to be our entertainment for the night. We had a nice time just utilizing our little $5.00 parking spot just enjoying the views of our little city. I love Memphis, and yes, parking truly can be fun.

the sunset from our spot at the Parking Can Be Fun parking garage

bird condo (yes I was fascinated by this thing and its inhabitants all evening)

ooooooh, mysterious alley

half of the "M" and a beautiful sky above

yes, one more of the bird condo, trust me this will make it into a drawing

So, I would love to tell you that this was the end of the night, however that is not so. For our sakes we will just leave the rest of the night to those that were there to experience it. Love your city and enjoy those beautiful days and nights. Summer, please don't be so mean this year.

Enjoy,

Spillmanville has fun just sitting still and doin' some lookin'

Ivybetty

Here's a nice piece on Spillmanville from the Ivybetty site. Thanks again for the Kind words.

http://ivybetty.com/spillmanville/

Enjoy,

Spillmanville likes reading about art.

Spillmanville In The News Today

Woke up, and got the paper early today. Thanks to Fredric Koeppel for the words of support.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/24/pop-obsessive/

Enjoy,

Spillmanville loves free publicity

Waves, waves, and more blue...

Here's a look at what we've been working on lately. The waves all have a basic under color now, so the fun of popping this thing off is finally beginning. Highlights and dark shadows are on the way.

"Float On" (in progress)

Stay tuned...we are embarking on a new journey, and the time is now.

Enjoy,

Spillmanville likes staring into the clouds.

Please bare with us. We are under construction...

Enjoy,
Spillmanville is knee deep in it.

Changes...

Dear Spillmanvillians and friends of Spillmanville,
     We here at Spillmanville Inc. are very excited about the future, and are currently reconfiguring the look, purpose, and direction of this blog. We will be adding change and a new approach on this piece of web communication, so do not fear, we are not gone. We look forward to spending more time with you and sharing our efforts and daily thoughts. Spillmanville is for dreamers!
Float on and Enjoy!
Spillmanville feels the love

And Then The Scary Fish Went Away

So, yes it has been a minute since I last wrote, but do not think that we have gone away. It has been busy, busy, and busy around here. Between cooking 6 days a week in a restaurant that is beginning to boom and trying to juggle my many art projects, I have been stretched thin over the past weeks. None the less, The beat goes on and the work is getting made. 

My last post was written when I had finished the sketch for the new painting that I am currently working on. Originally the painting had this ugly giant catfish in it, but due to events of late, it seems that the narrative has changed. When I started this idea, I was thinking of the future and the act of looking your fear and obstacles of diversion in the face and confronting it. I was thinking about looking at my dream and going through the struggle trying to get there. Now, it would seem that I'm not so concerned about the the things that would get in my way, because it appears that the moves I've made in my life over the course of the last several months were indeed the obstacles that I was thinking of.

I guess leaving a career in teaching to go work 6 days a week at Three Angels Diner was one step. Getting over losing a large salary for shit pay was another one. Dealing with the idea of going with a new gallery was the last one. So here's what has occurred since these decisions were made. One, we have been getting rave reviews at the restaurant. The patrons usually end their meal acting surprised when they realize that the chef is the same person that paints the paintings in the dining room, so the attention has been nice. The money, well the pay still sucks, but now I've sold 3 paintings since December. That makes up for the lost salary, so we are not worried about that as much. I now have the confidence that I do not necessarily need the attention of other commercial galleries as much as I thought I did. It would now seem that the diner has become my gallery, and I am confident that I will move more paintings in the future. I get at least 100 eyes to look at my work daily, and I've sold more work in the past 3 months than my previous gallery did in the last 2 years. There seems to be a buzz around the whole idea of art and food at the moment. Hell, we were taped for a Canadian television show last week. I watched the camera man take multiple shots of my work, and then he taped us cooking. I love the exposure that comes from simply doing what you do and doing it well.
Of course I still have fears about the future and about my career, but things seem achievable finally. Hence the loss of the scary fish in the painting. This painting is gonna be a blast to paint. Now my only concerns for this idea and image are really strong shades of blue. The working title of the painting is "Float On", yes after the Modest Mouse song. I think it makes more sense now. I like the idea of just floating along and letting the waters take me where they may. We'll all float on okay.
Enjoy,
Spillmanville needed to write a bit over this here morning coffee and sunshine.