whether you are a packrat, or just like to collect comic books... we all have things we treasure. for my first solo show in North Carolilna, at the Wootini Gallery (wootini.com) I took the simple idea of pondering what things I will miss after im dead (if in fact, I miss anything in the grave.)

i printed up some small editions of prints on water color, as well as a series on a masonite like board thats totally recyclable. the green element was a bit gimmicky, so i didnt promote it, but i love the idea that if you buy a piece of mine, and get sick of it, you can recycle it. here we see some of the pieces on my dining room table getting ready for their 10 hour drive to Carrboro.

with a history as a product illustrator, I thought it was a lot of fun to incorporate that technique into my "art". here we see the boards getting ready to be wrapped up.

so we arrived at wootini early afternoon on thursday, and after checking into our hotel we went back and set up the work. here you can see the super awesome Casey Robertson a.ka. SnakeHawk. He works at the store/gallery and seems to be in charge of booking the shows. He is also a great artist, though I cant seem to find a link online to his work...

in a rare change of pace from my recent shows, Casey actually helped me hang the work. He totally knew what he was doing, which made the whole process a breeze.

after setting up, our good friend ginny (gin-gin.com) took us out for drinks. there is this weird thing in NC where bars that serve liqour are considered "social clubs" and you need to be a member to get in. luckily ginny knew what was up and we had a great time. after drinks, we headed to a great spot for dinner called Lantern (http://triangle.citysearch.com/profile/11649661/chapel_hill_nc/lantern.html) in chapel hill. i asked the waiter what was up with the whole fish and he said it was his favorite thing on the menu. as i rarely turn down the suggestion of a waiter or waitress, i went for it, even though ive never eaten a fish with it's head on and was a bit terrified.

let me just say i ate the fuck out of that whole fish, and will from now on get it when i see it on a menu.

on our way back to the hotel, we swung by a gas station for some beer. i proceeded to buy some of the best and some of the worst beer ever made. Yuengling is one of my favorite brews, and impossible to get in Ohio even though it's made in Pennsylvania. For some reason you can get it in gas stations in North Carolina.. I also picked up a tall boy of Budweiser & Clamato. I guess you can get it here in Ohio, though ive never seen it before.. its some of the worst shit ive ever put in my mouth.. yet I couldnt stop drinking it.

the next day around noon we swung by wootini to get Casey and go get some lunch. we settled on BBQ, as it's been a long time since ive had any NC BBQ, and i needed a reminder of how awesome it is.

after getting a little lost, we ended up at Allen & Son. The atmosphere alone at this place let me know it was going to be good.

and holy smokes was it ever good. look at those massive hush puppies!!!

aftter the huge lunch, we laid low at the hotel for a few hours and got ready for the opening.

got to the gallery around 6:30 and i put up a vinyl cling to seal the deal.

the gallery had this amazing mirror on the ceiling, and i thought it made for a good photo.

during the opening i had a very weird experience. i was standing talking to jemma, and it hit me this group of older gents were talking about my work, without realising i was there. they HATED my work.. and though I couldnt understand everything they said, it was such a weird thrill standing right next to them while they made fun of me. i stood there for a good 20 minutes listening to them, and my emotions were a rollercoaster ride of fight or flight. in a bizarre way, it was really good for me to hear complete strangers trash-talking my work.

i ended up in line for beer behind one of the shit talkers. he was clearly there for the free beer. i had a long conversation with him about self medication, george bush and the rock and roll hall of fame. i never let him know i heard him making fun of me earlier, and also never let him know i was the artist. that tiny bit of empowerment i allowed myself calmed my nerves quite a bit.

the ladies open some toys. (this ended up being way more of a boob shot than i intended)

after the show casey took us to a bar called resevoir where he had awesomely painted a bunch of beer themed murals. like the bar we went to the night before.. this place was also treated as a club.

we had a great time that night.. and got to meet a lot of the locals. seems like the people in carrboro / chapel hill are as real as it gets, and super nice. its rare ive felt so welcome into a new town, and id like to thank wootini for the opportunity to not only show in NC but also get a slice of it. id also like to thank Casey for showing us the town, and Mike for hiring Casey.