Elizabeth Alley was sitting with her show on its final Saturday at Shapeshifter Art School and invited folks to drop by. I had wanted to sketch it a bit more, so I took my dip pen and biggest sketchbook and did a couple of loose, fun sketches. Drawing other people's work helps me really pay attention to it and remember it later. I love this show so much. I love how the arctic has just captured Elizabeth -- Levisham moor did that to me years ago. It's magic when a landscape takes you by the scruff of the neck and demands your attention. My favorite piece is her life sized silhouette of herself with the arctic in rectangle right at her heart. I love how she's busted out of her longtime traditional painter mindset (still something very real for me) and made these playful, large, casual installations, layering paper pieces , assembling a wall of glacier paintings, and crocheting "plushy glaciers" that hang from the ceiling. Her enormous ship (see a previous blog post) is also in line with this playfulness. It all works. When I try to switch to 3-d or installations, it looks like a 4th grade project, but I guess I should keep trying. Anyway, I wanted to just drink it in and hang out with some great art, and I ended up hanging out equally with some great friends. Cool people kept showing up and dropping in, and it was a delightful day. I'm grateful for this brand new art space in town.