January First Friday Art Walk at Workshop in Richmond

For the December First Friday Art Walk in Richmond's Arts District, I just wandered around, and wound up at Workshop,located a 420 W. Broad Street here in Richmond.  You'd think one of the bong shops would have snapped up that address, but they haven't.  Those places are a bit farther west, close to both VCU campus and lots of munchies, which makes sense.

Meanwhile, Workshop is a really cool idea brought about by the non-profit, Engage, as a place to bring creative people together, primarily young, college age people who need a place to pursue and work on a wide variety of creative pursuits.  Last month, I wandered in there late, met the two main guys making it happen, Sean and Justice, and showed them my big Sumatran Tiger drawing.  They were stoked on it, and also were totally down to help me get my artwork shown and hopefully sold, after hearing of my current situation.  I took them a few of the prints of my small drawings before Christmas, and they've been sitting up on the wall since.

Yesterday, I realized I lost my big sketch pad while I was rushing around to ship out some of my BMX zine packs.  I was sure I left it at the post office, but they didn't have it yesterday when I went back to check.  Anyhow, I never did find it yesterday, which bummed me out, because my big tiger drawing was in it.  Because of all of that, I wandered into Workshop a little after 7:00 last night, a while after things started.  I didn't contact any of the local people I know here, because I wasn't sure what would be going on.  Last month, it was just Sean and Justice hanging out when I showed up. 

Last night, for the RVA's First Friday Art Walk, the place was hoppin'.  There was a DJ with music blastin'.  On the tables by the entrance there were about six people with art, T-shirts, hats, and other fashion items to check out and buy.  So I talked to Justice, let him know I was there, and took up a spot at the table.  I put out my four, different, 8 1/2" X 11" prints, a couple of my zines, and some homemade stickers to hand out. 

There was a pretty good turnout of people there, and a bunch who roamed through in the course of the night.  What's funny to me, is that I'm a middle aged, old, fat, ugly, homeless, white guy, who does some cool and unique stuff with Sharpie markers these days.  Somehow, I keep winding up hanging out with highly creative young, primarily ,creative people.  Back in Winston-Salem, I was hanging with L.B. the Poet, Reece Johnson, and several other great poets.  Here I stumbled into the Workshop group, and it's a cool fit.  Lots of people were checking out my work and asking about it, as I worked on a doodle drawing.  I sold some prints, met a bunch of cool new people, and had a great time.  I also had J.B. from Against Fake Love give me a new stocking cap, which I've been wearing a lot today.

All in all, it was a great night, and I wandered back to my "place" stoked on the night's happenings.  So a big thanks to Sean and Justice for helping me out, and giving me a place to show people what I do. 

Even better, I went to the local dollar store today to get some junk food I didn't need, and there, where I drop my bags when I go in there every time, was my trash bag covered sketch pads, just where I left them Thursday.  So I didn't lose my big tiger drawing, or the big David Bowie drawing I'm doing for a friend right now, which is 3/4 done.

Next month for First Friday, I'll have more stuff to show off, and I'll let all my BMX friends here, and other RVA locals I know, that it's going on.  There's great artsy stuff to check out, and it's a cool vibe, so you all need to come by and check it out.  #sharpiescribblestyle