All the behind the scenes work for my Implied Horizons art show has come together (see my post from the other day), and yesterday was installation day!
Our team did a great job, and I’m thrilled with how the show looks! I took several photos yesterday while we were at Five Seasons, working on the installation. Scroll down now to see them and get a sneak peek of the show—and some more behind the scenes views of how an art show comes together.
And remember: Implied Horizons: Watercolors By Anne Nordhaus-Bike opens this Friday, Nov. 3, with an artist reception from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Five Seasons Family Sports Club, 1300 Techny Rd. in Northbrook, IL. The show runs through Saturday, Dec. 2, and is free and open to the public.
Getting Ready To Go To Five Seasons
Once again, my husband and business partner, Bill, joined me for yesterday’s adventures. While I got the supplies ready and prepared breakfast, he packed all my paintings in his car, along with all the tools and supplies I had assembled for the installation.
After breakfast, we set out for the one hour journey northward to the Five Seasons Family Sports Club in Northbrook.
Arriving At Five Seasons, Unpacking
Here is Bill at the entrance to Five Seasons, right after we arrived. As he unloaded the car, I began unwrapping the paintings and placing them in the order I’d chosen for the show.
Our friend, Bonita, who had volunteered to help with the installation, joined us for the entire day.
The three of us made a great team and had plenty of fun while tackling the many hours of work it took to complete installation.
Laying Out The Show
As Bill brought the paintings in and leaned them against the exhibit area walls, I checked each against my master set of printouts to make sure we had them arranged in the correct order. As paintings came in, I began placing them along the walls in order to get an initial layout.
Then we all began unwrapping the paintings, saving the brown paper packaging for the end of the exhibit. I’d done an initial arrangement based on the exbibit wall space available, but once we had the paintings unwrapped and placed horizontally, we needed to adjust the layout a bit to get the spacing I wanted.
It took a bit of measuring and shuffling the paintings around, but eventually we had a layout that worked and that would fill the wall spaces perfectly.
Hanging The Show
Now it was to start hanging. If you’ve ever hung even one painting in your home, you know how involved it can be to get the placement right and make sure the painting sits level on the wall. Now multiply that by 21—and imagine that you need to make sure all the paintings have a pleasing, consistent amount of space between them, with enough room for a label at lower right. And imagine, too, that the horizontal center of every painting needs to be at the same vertical distance from the floor.
That’s why it was so great to have all three of us there. Bill measured the paintings’ widths and the spaces between them to make sure they were correct. I measured the vertical distance from the floor and marked the center point on the wall. Then Bill would hold the painting with the back toward me so I could measure the distance from the center of the hanging wire, when taut, to the top of the frame. Then Bonita did the math to make sure we placed the hook in the right place to get painting aligned properly on the wall. Then I nailed in the hanging hook and Bill placed the painting on the hook.
And we did all that 21 times! It all took several hours, but we got into a rhythm after the first painting and had a great time accomplishing so much together.
Once all the paintings were up, Bill and Bonita rested a bit while I used a level to make sure every painting was straight.
Placing The Labels
Then it was time to place the labels.
Bonita applied removable adhesive tabs on the backs, and Bill placed each exactly one inch to the right of its matching painting, level at the bottom with the bottom of the painting.
Hanging The Title And Other Placards
Next, we unwrapped the title placards and the artist statement and bio posters and decided how we wanted to hang them. We chose to put one painting on the entry wall to welcome visitors and lead them into the show, with the title above it and the other placard below. And then we put the artist statement and bio to the left of the first painting within the exhibition space proper.
Installation Finished!
By the end, we were all tired and ready for a—very late!— lunch. But we took the time to stop and take photos and to admire all that we had accomplished together.
And I was just astonished to see how the show had come together and how wonderful it looked. It’s one thing to dream, and paint, and plan an art show, but it’s simply incredible to see your dreams come true when the framed paintings finally hang on the walls and bring so much pleasure to others.
Before we left to eat, we invited the team at Five Seasons to come see our handiwork. And we were thrilled to see how thrilled they were and to hear many positive comments from club members as they passed by during our installation process.
So then we were ready for lunch. We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Five Seasons dining room. Besides giving us time to refresh ourselves, taking time for lunch was an opportunity to savor a job very well done.
And then, nearly six hours after we had arrived, it was time to head home. I’m so thankful for Bonita and Bill and all their help.
Join Me: Friday, Nov. 3, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Come see the results of all our work this Friday!
The reception for Implied Horizons: Watercolors By Anne Nordhaus-Bike is on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
The show will be on display through Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017.
Artist Talk: Sunday, Nov. 12, 2 p.m.
I’m also giving an artist talk on Sunday, November 12, at 2 p.m. Like the exhibit, this special event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.
Club Location And Hours
Five Seasons Family Sports Club is located at 1300 Techny Rd. in Northbrook, IL.
Implied Horizons is open during regular club hours, which are Monday through Friday, 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 847-897-5030 or visit the Five Seasons website.
See You Nov. 3!
See you this Friday!
Best wishes,
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