We had First Friday at the Banana Factory last Friday since New Years was a Friday this year and though the crowds were smaller since the change in date I had a much better time then in the past. I think that’s thanks to being very busy framing works for my two upcoming shows. I think I didn’t even start getting ready for the evening until about an hour before the night began at 6 pm. I was much less concerned about having a nice spread prepared for the crowds, and since my mind was somewhere else the normal annoyances of the evening didn’t bother me as much. Those annoyances being folks dropping by the studio simply to eat my food and drink my hooch.
The issues that came out of this First Friday included folks liking the Temple of Doom drawings, and the new Puppet Pal Friends drawings as well. Both series were prominently featured this time around. I also had a few framed works that were displayed sort of as a preview for the two shows I’m in later this month. I’m consulting the notes I take on First Friday issues and I see quite a few comments on whiskey this time around. Deb Slahta and Erin Anderson, both studio mates of mine here at the Banana Factory, and myself all have a whiskey happy hour before the crowds arrive. One visitor observed my finger or two of whiskey on one of my tables and it lead to about a 20 minute conversation on different whiskeys and scotchs.
Towards the end of the evening Kate Hughes from the Bethlehem House Gallery arrived to my space to hand out cards for my upcoming show at the and also to choose supplemental works for that show, works to be stored in case they need pieces to hang when others sale. This rounded out the evening and I left the banana thinking that the night was a success and relaxing for a change. Here are a few images from the evening. Until next time….
Anthony Smith Jr. 