Open Up.

Hi, Jennifer the Intern here, checking in to share some thoughts on this past weekend...
 It is good to be open.  Open concept, open-ended, open for business, open to possibility.  The best part of "open" is the process, the opening, if you will.  There is a dual, hopeful anticipation of both the opener and the open-ee, as the mental or physical boundaries are pried away and "new" is revealed.  As artists, we participate on both sides, often simultaneously.  We stir our creative soup to see what will present itself to us, then prepare it to share with someone else who shares with us again.  In the best openings, there is thrill of the find, thrill of the risk, and lots of wine with good bread and cheese.
Saturday night was the opening of Gillian Batcher's work at Robin Gray's newly transplanted Organic Metal Gallery, 578 College Street.  The space is elegant and comfortable and... well... organic?  It's obviously not the T2, mercury-looking, crazy, living metal biosphere one might hope for when thinking of "organic metal", but the insurance would be through the roof on something like that, so it's okay.  Wood has been beautifully introduced into the space, including the nice, large cases for featured work and sweet, natural touches added with great craftsmanship.
The work that was opened Saturday night added playful, fresh colour to the space and a great opportunity to show Gillian's enthusiasm for enameling.  The party was fun and the best way to get the metal-heads off the bench, around jewellery, onto good conversations, and into a little booze.  Cynthia was a perfect goldsmith host :)  Afterwards, the Jewel Envy crew went out to dinner on College Street, which is never a bad thing, and ended the night happy and half-asleep.