Matt Suess – Dramatic Landscape Photography

The 10 week Arizona Fine Art Expo officially opened one week ago. Because of our busy schedules of trying to get the finishing touches of the tent set up as well as creating and hanging our own studio space within the Expo Christine and I are now just catching up on our blog.

The final days of set-up included the preparation of the artist’s display walls. This included protecting the carpet, spackling, and painting. We were lucky to have our experienced wall painters Kevin and Michelle Russell come in to work for a couple days in order to complete the task properly and with very little mess (except on them).

With only a couple of days till all the artists come in, the little details proved to be time consuming. Spot painting, sign hanging and parking stakes were added. The carpet was cleaned, the cafe was set up and the grounds were cleaned up as well. Sponsor Pathways Nursery completed the outdoor garden area by adding additional plants, a water fountain, bridges, and larger Koi fish to our beautiful pond.

On January 11, 12, & 13th, the artists began to arrive to begin setting up their individual galleries. With three days to complete the task, the atmosphere and comradery was one of optimism and excitement. Old friends reconnected and new friendships began to develop. Thunderbird Artists CEO Judi Combs did a wonderful job arranging the flowers throughout the Expo while artists busily prepared their studios. Approximately 100 artists will spend the next three months together creating and selling their artwork.

Opening day of the Arizona Fine Art Expo was on January 14th. With 9 weeks to go, make sure you stop by to see some of the best artists around. The Expo is open every day from 10am to 6pm just 5 miles north of the 101 along Scottsdale Rd at the intersection of JoMax. Hope to see you there.

Wrap-up video one:

Wrap-up video two:

Wrap-up video three:

Following a few half days of work, the crew returned to continue setting up the 2010 Arizona Fine Art Expo. Only 16 days remain until the start of our 10 week art show in Scottsdale, AZ.

The day began with the continued installation of the outer tent walls, while Jerry continued cleaning off the carpet and spackeling the artist display panels.

Shane, Andrew and I have had just about enough with the tent walls, as they are a royal pain in the @&$$@ to install, and we had to redo half of them after they were initially put on incorrectly. There are over 30 exterior tent walls, and each wall has 2 individual panels. None of us are looking forward to the 30 interior walls that also need to be installed after the artist panels get painted!!

Artist Christine Hauber, back from her Holiday visit with family in Colorado, provides us again with her daily video update here.

Today completed the 17th day of setup for the upcoming 2010 Arizona Fine Art Expo. Most of the artist’s studio walls are up, leveled, and positioned properly. Work is now being done to add the trim.

Artist Christine Hauber provides her daily video update here.

Due to the Holidays we will not have another update until probably Tuesday.

Happy Holidays from Matt & Christine and the rest of the work crew here at the Expo!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

And then the rains came…

Setup was moving smoothly today while we all kept an open eye to the sky. Danny and I kept checking the live radar on my iPhone, preparing for the rains that would hit north Scottsdale.

And did it rain! We had just finished bringing all of the wood artist’s panels and other materials inside under the protection of the Expo tents when the clouds opened up with heavy rain and even some hail. Shane and I hurried to protect wood panels near open tent walls as the rain continued. Thanks to my iPhone we were able to properly prepare for today’s storm and nothing was damaged.

Christine Hauber today talks to Expo Sponsor, Cordina Frost with Pathways Nursery & Arizona Bridge Company – the group responsible for the beautiful landscaping in the Sculpture Garden during her daily web update

The Arizona Fine Art Expo runs for 10 weeks in North Scottsdale at the corner of JoMax and Scottsdale Road, 5 miles north of the 101 starting January 14, 2010.

Monday, December 21, 2009

It’s beginning to look a lot like… Expo!! Following today’s hard work by those of us setting up the 2010 Arizona Fine Art Expo, the grounds of the Expo are starting to take shape.

Over half of the artist’s booths are in place, and many of the tent walls were installed today.

A few participating artists have started showing up to check on the progress and everyone is extremely excited about our January 14th opening.

Christine Hauber provides us with her daily video update here

Friday, December 18, 2009

Excitement is in the air for the 2010 Arizona Fine Art Expo which opens January 14, 2010. Those of us working to setup this wonderful 10 week art show have just begun setting up the display panels for the amazing artists that will be exhibiting here in Scottsdale in just a few weeks.

By sundown Friday evening we completed over 20% of the work to be done setting up the individual artists’ display walls. Once the panels have been erected, leveled and nailed down, a fresh coat of paint will be applied to complete the presentation.

In today’s daily video journal, artist Christine Hauber “talks” with fellow artist and huge member of the setup crew and Expo, Danny Long. While not one for much words, the fact we got him on video is impressive enough. See the video here

Day 11 of setup for the 2010 Arizona Fine Art Expo is now complete. Speaker wiring has been completed, more than 2/3rd of the carpet has been installed, and most of the artists panels are on site.

Christine and I spent the afternoon measuring out the locations of the artist booths. Over 100 of the finest artists will be displaying their artwork for 10 weeks at the show starting January 14, 2010. We measured out and marked the locations of 2/3rds of the booths and will finish up tomorrow.

Christine Hauber provides us with her daily video update here

Today we split the crew up. Half went to the warehouse to load the carpet and walls on trucks while the rest of us stayed to work on speaker wiring and grading the floor to prepare for the carpet installation scheduled for Thursday.

We also took a quick timeout to celebrate Larry’s 60th birthday – Happy Birthday Larry.

Christine Hauber gives us her daily video update here

Setup for the 2010 Arizona Fine Art Expo continued today on it’s 9th day. We didn’t do any updates the last few days as work continued with a limited crew.

Today saw the completion of the roofs for the three tents. The final 7 canvas roofs were installed, and all roofs were evened out and secured.

Tomorrow we will be installing speaker wires, leveling the floor, and preparing for the carpet installation.

Christine Hauber today talks to crew chief Thadeus in her video diary here

It’s Friday!!! The first full week of setup for the Arizona Fine Art Expo has come to an end.

Muscles are sore, injuries are light, feet are tired, but spirits are high as we have completed the framework for all three tents. We are completely on track for the opening of the 2010 Arizona Fine Art Expo.

Much to our surprise, donuts were graciously provided to us at the start of our work day by promoter Judy Long. Not to be outdone, Judy’s husband Dennis bought us a round of drinks following a fun & productive workday. (Thank you to both – from all of the crew!!!)

Speaking of fun: after 5 days, many blisters, and countless hours together, our work crew has officially come up with nicknames for each of us. Lorin aka “Mr. Fingers”; Rich aka “San Diego”; Brent aka “Big Dawg”; Andrew aka “Jorsie”; Shane aka “Super Shane”; Mike aka “Chipmunk” and/or “Mighty Mike”; Danny aka “Uno”; Thadeus aka “Thabulous”; Christine aka “RV Chick”; and myself aka “Matty Muscles”.

Christine Hauber gives us her daily video update here