My art show, for those that missed the opening reception, is still up at Lighthouse (400 North 43rd Street), and will continue to be so until the end of this month.

The show, by the way, is the single most successful artistic venture I've ever undertaken. The City? Sold. Monocle? Sold. Bat Smax? Sold.  Plus a halfdozen prints of digital stuff, a number which is climbing steadily.  The cheerleader seen at right seems especially popular. 

My grateful thanks to evillinn, who matted her ass off to get me ready for this show.  And to Wolf, the owner of Lighthouse, who is apparently some sort of magical art-dealing leprechaun, and is declining to charge me a gallery fee.

Also, a more soppy and generalized thanks to everyone who's ever gone to the trouble of telling me I was cool, or giving me a critique, or spitting in my face and setting one of my paintings on fire.  Please submit the name by which you would like to be addresses in my Oscar speech, in the comments below.

Something that struck me about hanging this show is the intense blow to one's self-esteem that is taken when working for roleplaying games.  You spent 20 hours on it?  We'll give you $60 for it (if you're lucky), six months after you completed it, and nobody will ever, ever see it except this tiny, dice-rolling niche market.  Good doing business with you.

After years of valuing my own art at almost nil, based on the bounties being paid for it by people to whom it was supposedly useful, I had entered a bizarre and destructive mindset.  I regarded my own work as something competent, perhaps, but lacking any widespread appeal.

So this show has been a revelation of sorts.  The people who bought Monocle were a family of four, with two young children.  Dudes in baseball caps, older gentlemen with dignified wives, young Seattle professional types, all of them have been enjoying this show and actually buying my stuff.  That's mind-boggling to me.  And awesome.

Tags: art, art show, coffee, lighthouse roasters, opening, prints