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Pierce Ball Gallery hosted the Second Annual Artsy Girls Show – A Common Thread with an opening on Saturday that drew a steady stream of patrons plus a slew of Artsy Girls. I’m sitting on a bench in this jewel of a gallery space along with Naiad Einsel, illustrator, Meredith Gray, fashion stylist, and Laurie Klein, photographer.
We’re seated below gouache illustrations from Marisabina Russo’s children’s book Always Remember Me and a collage by Leslie Mueller.
The exhibit features original art in a variety of media from a couple of dozen of our members, including yours truly. Liz mounted my decorated eggs and jewelry in a way I wished I had back in the day.
I was touched to see a photograph from our youngest Artsy Girls member, Nicole, who has been an apprentice with Laurie Klein for several years. Below is an image of Nicole visiting the exhibit with her family.
Liz Ball curated the show, hosted it, created all of the press around it and also exhibited her extraordinary photographs. The Artsy Girls owe her a debt of gratitude for putting us on the map in such an elegant manner.
The Artsy Girls met last night at the home of Cynthia Steckel, aka Cynthia Victor, author extraordinaire. In addition to the joy of being in each others’ company and hearing what great feats these creative women are up to (book contracts, new showrooms opening abroad, major acknowledgments from a toy company, etc.), we had a secret mission to honor Liz Ball.
Liz, the owner of Pierce Ball Gallery, has been hosting the first annual Artsy Girls Show–A Common Thread since early October. The show features a wide range of media from painting, photography to sculpture and quilts. There’ll be a special opening this Sunday, December 13 from 1 – 5pm. Liz announced last night that several mothers have called asking if it was appropriate to bring their daughters who were aspiring artists. The answer was a resounding, “YES!”
We Artsy Girls wanted to do something to thank Liz for her generosity of spirit, not to mention the time and talent that went into assembling, curating and hanging this exhibit. Liz’s company, TFI Envision, was serving as a drop center for the St. Luke’s LifeWorks 20th Annual Holiday Gift Collection. Unbeknownst to Liz, we decided to each bring a toy for a child, fill up a couple of vans and deliver the gifts to the cause.
After telling Liz our plan, we walked her outside to see what had been collected. There wasn’t a gift certificate in the world that would have meant as much as seeing all the presents being donated in Liz’s honor. Thank you, Liz, from all the Artsy Girls and all the boys and girls blessed by your caring spirit.
My friend June’s question to the waitress embarrassed me when she asked it many years ago. We were having lunch at an Italian trattoria in Fairfield, CT and deciding whether or not to have their capuccino. “How much did your capuccino maker cost?” June asked. She was once the owner of a high-end catering and event planning business in NYC. She knew food and equipment.
“$5000,” the waitress replied when she returned after being asked that impertinent question.
“I’ll have a regular coffee,” June said. Then, knowingly, she leaned over and told me that that was too cheap a device to get really good cappuccino.
More recently, at the Artsy Girls exhibit opening on October 2, Liz Ball, the owner of the Pierce Ball Gallery, had on hand beautiful reprints of the write-up in the Norwalk Hour about our show. The quality of the reproduction was spectacular. I would be proud to send copies to my clients and prospects. Several of us were grilling Liz about them. We wanted to be able to download the pdf and make our own–just like these.
“Is this laser paper?”
“Are you using special inks?”
“How did you get Maggie’s image in color?”
We had temporarily lost sight of the fact that Liz is also the CEO of a top-notch branding and corporate communications company, TFI Envision in Norwalk. She had digitally inserted a color image over the space where Maggie’s illustration was placed in the paper. She, of course, used the best quality paper. “Perhaps,” she added, “it was the $30,000 printer we used.”
Sometimes having the best tool does make the critical difference. Knowing when to make that investment is equally important.
My good friend Cookie sent me an article clipped from the NYTimes. It was from the obituary column–the ones written by family and friends to honor the deceased, not one of the separate articles written by the Times as a tribute to the luminary.
Her note said, “On Saturday evening as Whitney [her husband] and I were on the train to the city, he was reading The Times and came across this. He tore it out and gave it to me to read. ‘What does this remind you of?’ he asked. ‘Artsy Girls!’ And then Whitney said I should send it to you.”
After reading it I had goosebumps and a full heart. The tribute was from The Wednesday Ten and said:
It was over 50 years ago that Bill got the idea of bringing together a group of young men who had come to New York to build their careers. The “rules” were simple: we would meet once a month; …we would tell one another about our work and our lives; we would teach one another about the world as we saw it and the opportunities it presented. From that humble beginning sprang a group who continued to meet together…right up to today. It bred lifelong friendships, much learning of the ways of the world and produced a host of successful people.
Cookie (aka Marisabina Russo- pictured left with two of her illustrations at the exhibit) and I had spent the better part of last Friday afternoon at Liz Ball’s Pierce Ball Gallery on the first day of A Common Thread, the exhibit featuring work from 26 of the 50+ Artsy Girls. I formed this group nine and a half years ago with less of a lofty intention than William Safire’s. I just wanted my creative friends to all meet one another and to bask in the glow of their reflected achievements. But over the years as we have continued to gather and now exhibit, the impact of this talented collection of women is inspiring. To be mentioned in the same breath as William Safire is humbling.
Our show attracted terrific press. There was a beautifully written article in The Hour the day before the exhibit started. Then, while several of us Artsy Girls (pictured above) were at the exhibit, the Norwalk Citizen was delivered with our show as the headline news on the front page! It was like receiving a rave review for a Broadway opening–the ‘cast’ assembled to celebrate the moment of recognition.
I told everyone there that I was having an out of body experience. I was so filled up by the excitement of the moment that my mind was rushing way ahead. “I’m already casting the movie,” I told them. I want Natalie Portman to play the younger version of me. Sigourney Weaver can fill the role of the mature Jane. Any other suggestions?!
Liz Ball, an extraordinary women in many ways, is among other things the owner of the Pierce Ball Gallery. We sat down together last spring to talk about the idea of exhibiting the work of the Artsy Girls, of which Liz is a member, in this beautiful space.
Working with Liz is a pleasure. We selected a date, held a meeting of the Artsy Girls to get as many of these creative forces on board, and ta-dah! The show is slated to open the weekend of October 2-4.
As I looked at the gallery of creations on the Pierce Ball website (click link above), I marveled at the talent of this group and that I personally know and cherish each of the artists. I feel like the mother hen clucking over the work of her progeny.
Please come! I plan to be there on opening day, October 2 and hope to greet you then.
