Monday, September 17, 2012

RECAP of my first solo gallery!

9.14.2012 THIS.IS.HAETAE gallery opening night / Halmoni Art Party/Art Market

I was ridiculously nervous and excited on the night of Halmoni Vintage's Art Party. According to my best friend, Tiffany, I was shaking for a good majority of the night. I didn't know what to expect and I wasn't sure if people would enjoy my artwork (a lot of people have told me that my artwork gives off a negative vibe...). In the end, everything fell into place- I had such a wonderful night! My artwork will remain in the store until October 10th!


When Tiffany and I got to Halmoni, we bumped into Bob (Boboso) & Yumico (DJ Coco). We helped them set up and soon more and more people showed up at the Art Party! Everything felt so surreal and too-good-to-be-true. Halmoni is such an adorable shop. Natasha is one of the nicest and coolest shop owners ever. My best friend was at my side supporting me. My friend was DJ-ing at my first gallery. My date looked lovely as ever! A lot of my friends showed up! DAVE YOUNG KIM stopped by! Strangers have talked to me about my artwork & bought a few things. I raised $70 that night. Everything went so well and I can't thank everyone enough!


k... let me try to organize my thoughts a little more... haha

Natasha is such an amazing shop owner! She has been very kind and helpful with me and my gallery! I feel very fortunate to have my first gallery held at her shop. My unnie! ♥ Please support and visit her ADORABLE shop!

DJ Coco was AWESOME. She played some Katamari Damacy music, the Sailor Moon theme song (Japanese version), some Nujabes, JUDY AND MARY, and Korea Girl! IT WAS PERFECT. There was some dancing and I think everyone enjoyed the fun music atmosphere. :) huhu I did! I ♥ DJ COCO!


The vendors at the Art Party/Art Market had a lot of cool things to sell! I plan on e-mailing them soon- they were all so nice!


Lyia and Johnathen were the first (of my friends) to come. Then Tuan, Yinka, Albert, Kyle, Katherine, Jackie, Henry, and my church friends! Katherine was my LOVELY date. She looked GORGEOUS. I also received many kisses on the cheek from Katherine, Lyia, ...and Johnathen. Johnathen wore red lipstick JUST so he could kiss me on the cheek. My cheeks were covered in red! bwahahaha... I love you guys so much. Dave Young Kim came too! I haven't seen him since that one Asian American conference I attended a few years ago. We've been keeping in touch through e-mails so it was really awesome seeing him. He's such a great artist! I felt real honored that he came by to see my work!

NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY KISSES?!
back: Johnathen, Katherine, Tiffany, Dave Young Kim, DJ COCO, & Bob - I'm kissing Johnathen's adorable mini spray can
I sold two paintings that night! ("Holding On" & "Mute My Heartbeat") I was really touched when the people who bought them told me they could relate to them. :) A couple of people liked my zine, "Han", as well!

I cried a lot at the event... Just seeing my friends and complete strangers buying my artwork was so overwhelming for me. I dreamed of having my own gallery, but I was always too scared to do it and... I finally did it. If it weren't for Tiffany encouraging me to try out Halmoni's gallery, I wouldn't have done it. ever. Thank you, Tiffany, for being such a supportive friend. If you weren't there that night, I probably would have lost all composure or something... haha. Lots of love!

close-up on some of my paintings - my bad... the bottom left painting was upside-down! luckily, i fixed it in the middle of the event haha...
Goch the Whale!
My regret... I didn't take enough pictures. I was just so nervous, excited, and couldn't focus... REGRET. O well... I HAVE AMAZING MEMORIES.

I posted a Facebook status about the event and DAVID CHOE liked my status (if you haven't noticed, I'm a huge fan of his work). I almost died. I don't deny my fangirlism.

Tiffany and Yumico are so sweet! They gave me congratulations gifts! Tiffany gave me a "mini Kracka", a Sailor Moon folder, a cute whale folder, and an awesome robot sticker! Yumico gave me David Choe's Munko shirt from Anno Domini! (I'm a huge Sailor Moon & David Choe fan... I also love robots.) Thank you thank you THANK YOU!


I think that's about most of what happened... I can't remember anything else at the moment... Me and my bad memory...

I'm gonna say this for the 1000000th time...
I'm ridiculously thankful and grateful for everyone who came and supported me. I can't thank you all enough and I love you guys so much. If I could, I'd give all of you drawings/paintings/stickers (& alcohol) hahaha.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

What did I learn from this amazing experience?
- I am blessed with amazing friends!

- There are people out there who like my artwork.
- There are more people out there I need to meet. / I need to see the world.
- I need to stop being so nervous & calm down.
- I need to stop limiting myself and give myself bigger goals.

I've been asked if I will do another gallery any time soon... I don't think I will at the moment... If I do, I'd like to do bigger pieces next time (which will take more time)... So we'll see. :)

I shall make another post about my gallery pieces soon!

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