The Artist Krista Brown

The Artist Krista Brown, originally uploaded by Robbi Baba.

Last weekend, which just happened to be Halloween and Dio de los Muertos, Krista had her first open studio of the year.
I wasn't much involved with setting up for the show, and to be honest here, I was a bit grumpy about the whole thing. Krista seemed to be working non-stop for weeks getting ready. She'd come home alternately tearing her hair out with frustration, or all smiles. Crazy making. But when I finally went over and saw the place I was moved.
Her open studios have always been really cool. It's not just paintings on the wall, she has the place packed with little altars and displays of curios.
Well, this time it all reached some sort of critical mass threshold. There was so much intensely interesting grooviness packed into that little space it felt like it was glowing somehow. A beacon of beauty and wonderment.
And I'm happy to report that it was far and away her most successful open studio to date.
For one thing, there were people visiting the entire time and the studio was actually crowded for much of Sunday. Our wonderful Tumbleweed play group showed up en masse and that was a rush! But even after they left, we had a full house all day.
Even though we'd done the lamest job ever at advertising, we were just about "at capacity" most of the time.
Krista sold at least six or seven paintings, which is a new record. In fact she sold some of just about everything on offer, including her groovy "energy elixirs", a Bali sarong, stickers, cards, prints and even a magnet or two (my contribution). It was a wild success.
But best of all, the fantastic energy and 'never a dull moment' feel of the event was tremendously affirming.
I know that I'm terribly biased, but I honestly feel that Krista is one of the great living painters--and her career is still very young! To see her get such a walloping dose of well deserved appreciation made my heart glad.