Brad's BFA Show..

All of the hard work that Bradley has put into his art work has finally paid off and it is time for his BFA show! The opening was on Friday the 11th of May at the senior studios. This week we had a couple different visitors to see his show and his graduation. My bro-in-law Adam, whom I would just consider my bro (married my sis when I was 5), flew in. He teaches at Snow College in Utah and has been a huge influence on Brad. We were very excited to have him come out.

 

This was in Brad's studio space. This is the 3 of us (me rocking the Snow hoodie)

Brad's family also come out to see the show and his graduation. His father, mother, and little sis Jennifer drove up. (That is one long drive and something that I don't recommend on doing!) We were excited to have them out. They didn't really make any final commitments until about a week or so before the show if they were going to be here or not. Glad they made it.

Bradley and me went to the BFA show last year so we kind of had an idea what the crowds were going to be like but everyone else was unprepared with the amount of traffic that moved in that building. Adam hadn't ever seen a show like that, guess it is the big city living! I love the art scene that is out here. So many opportunities that I never thought was possible. I can't even imagine what California, Chicago, or New York is like.

Adam was great at getting photos of the night! The photo below is a shot with some of our friends that came to support Brad and other random people there soaking up the art :)

Before the show had opened we were able to get some photos of Bradley standing by his prints. The art that Brad does is called western wood cuts and in a short explanation to what this is is he takes sheets of wood and carves out the image. The pieces of wood that he leaves on the block prints black when he puts the ink on it. The white areas is where the wood is gone. He inks up the block and lays giant pieces of Japanese paper on it and hand rubs for a couple hours to get the image on the paper. Below are photos of his show..

 

I was able to get a photo of Brad and his favorite teacher from Cornish and the print lab tech. Both of these ladies have been a huge help to Brad and have helped push him to where his is today.

 

You will notice the the right of all of his prints are books that are hand-made that include the 2 page essay he wrote for the prints. They were a big hit and people stopped to read what each one of them said.

There are just a couple other random pictures from this night that I would like to post..

It was a fun night. Brad talked to a lot of people and  passed out his postcards and business cards. Two days after graduation he got a call from a lady at the Seattle Art Museum. She is the curator for them and asked him to be part of a show in July! You never know who you are talking to :) Life is good.