Karen's Show at Shain Gallery

Karen with our friends Jeff & Leslie Cohen

Karen and I drove up to Charlotte last week to attend the opening night reception of her solo show at Shain Gallery. Our plan for the week was to bring all the paintings up with us, drop them off at the gallery on Tuesday, then continue on to Wilmington where we were to spend the next three days with our friends Jeff and Leslie Cohen. And, that's what we did. 

After we dropped off the paintings and visited with Sybil Godwin, the gallery director, and Gaby Shain, the owner, we walked across the street to the Mellow Mushroom for a Mega Veggie pizza. When we returned to the gallery a collector, who wouldn't be able to attend the opening on Friday, was there to buy her favorite painting. Which she did. Revitalized, and with a sale under her belt, we drove up to Wilmington with (appropriately) Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides playing on the stereo. 

Karen at Wrightsville Beach

We arrived early evening which gave us time to get reacquainted and drive out to the beach. The weather was absolutely perfect and our day was capped off with a spectacular sunset. A trip to the Cohens isn't complete without a meal at Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn their favorite restaurant, so that was our next stop. The rest of the night was spent talking, talking and talking. 

View of the Cape Fear River from our seats at the George Restaurant

In our time together we did a lot of beaching, rode bicycles through a wonderful park near their neighborhood, visited the Aquarium, walked the length of the Riverwalk, spent time with Jeff's parents at their beach cottage, and ate lots of good food. Lunch at the George on the Riverwalk was terrific. It was a great visit.

Karen and a fan

Friday morning we headed back to Charlotte just behind the Cohens who were coming to attend Karen's show. The gallery had done a great job of hanging the paintings, and there were also more red dots.

We talked a while longer then Karen and I went to the hotel to drop off our luggage. We returned to the gallery a short while later to find that the Cohens, who are both artists, were now going to show their work at Shain too. Very exciting news. We've all shared galleries in the past, and now the Cohens and Hollingsworths would be back together once again. 

Shain Gallery September 18, 2015

As it turned out the usual after show dinner at Nolen Kitchen wasn't going to happen this night because of other commitments, but Sybil and Gaby picked up the tab for Karen, me and their two new artists, for a pre-show dinner there. Very generous and very delicious. After we ate Karen and I returned to the hotel to get ready. Primping took a little longer than expected so we were a few minutes late, and when we arrived the space was already beginning to fill. There were also a couple of more red dots visible on the walls.

Awaiting their red dots

Karen was very much in demand that evening. I don't think I saw her once, the entire night, where she wasn't engaged with a fan or collector, discussing her work. I, the lone member of the paparazzi, spent my time chronicling the event. When the doors closed she had sold five paintings, with another on hold and two possible comebacks. Not a bad night.

Pooped, we drove back to the Duke Mansion, a really, really nice place to stay the night. We got up early the next morning and walked around Myers Park before breakfast. The "other half" lives very nice. 

With breakfast over and the car loaded up we hit play on the Prince of Tides and drove back to reality. All in all, a pretty flawless trip. 

Our Lodging for the night