Come to Open Studios and you could win 2 free Early Bird tickets to BBB!

Planning on going to the Boston Bizaare Bizarre? How about getting a pair of Early Bird tickets? Early Birds get to come into the BBB at 11AM, that is a whole hour before the rest of the world, with just 100 other shoppers.  Early Birds get first crack at the tables without the crowds! Normally they sell them for $10 a piece, but they are all sold out, and this is your chance to get tickets for free!

The very last set of Early Bird tickets can be won this Saturday at our WSAC Open Studios - mere hours before the BBB! You could avoid the BBB line, and get first dibs on your favorite crafts by spending the day in the art-centric neighborhood of Union Square Somerville!

Follow the WSAC on facebook or addWSACSomerville on twitter to find out how to win the very last 2 Early Bird tickets!  When open studios winds down in the evening, Gretchen Graham's photography show "My Blue Heaven" will be ramping up for the opening reception downstairs in Gallery 321.

A nod to J.S. Sargeant and Isabella Stuart Gardner

After a visit to the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, I was struck by a painting that drew a few parallels to my themes. Immediately I was drawn to the appearance of fabric behind Mrs. Gardner. It turns out she chose this tapestry to be hung behind her. This is one of the wonderful things about Isabella, especially for her time, she always made the choices.

Our timing was good because there was a talk about the piece as I was there that afternoon. It turns out this painting was very controversial for its time, because of her attire. Although it has lost its shock factor on us, for the period, it was unnatural for woman to show their arms, in addition they were appalled by her plunging neckline, not to mention that is no place for pearls. Again, this was Isabella's choice to dress this way. She liked her arms, her chest and her waist and didn't care what others thought. After the painting debuted and the critics were shocked, Mr. Gardner refused to have the painting shown to anyone during his lifetime, and it wasn't.

In conclusion, this got me thinking that I would love to do a bit of an ode to Sargent and Isabella. I have a friend in mind that I think would fit her personality and daring approach. In my modern day take I will have to do a little more to get that shock of course. I've also decided it would be fun to give my subject the same choice of fabric as a backdrop. I will take her to the fabric store and let her pick what she will be surrounded by in her painting. Mine will also be real fabric, since that is how I roll. I am hoping to get it to a place where those who knew the painting got it, but it didn't hit you over the head. We will see how this goes!

- Danielle