365 Day 188

another moving day for Greeny

Today was a bittersweet day. With the closing of the most wonderful coffeehouse in the world -- Solid Grounds -- "Greeny", my first Art-o-mat machine was on the move again. We had a fabulous run at Teresa Madden's shop and Northville will not be the same without our beloved hangout. However, Teresa has a lot of offers and opportunities and is very excited about the future. She will also be a participant/volunteer at all kinds of things in town.














So we made the move...one block south and one block west...to the Northville Art House.


















Joan Potter Thomas and Carla Morabito were on hand to welcome Greeny to his new(est) home. Another perfect fit!








Because I do not have my own storefront or business location, my machine(s) are considered Community Machines. They are subcontracted to locations and the length of stays varies.






I look forward to activities at the Northville Art House and the possibility of having "how to make your prototype" sort of sessions in the classroom area downstairs. That is actually where we first thought we'd have to put Greeny because he takes up valuable floor space and has certain requirments. But Joan and Carla found the greatest spot for him in the Art House Gift Shop!

We signed the paperwork, Joan and Carla chose the art for the first fill up of the machine and they had a quick walk-through of how to operate the machine. Because the Art House is a non-profit organization, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each artpack sold in that machine will be donated to the Art House.

We are all very excited and happy for the placement of the Art-o-mat in the gift shop at the Northville Art House and look forward to our new partnership!

More photos from the move:








here comes Greeny















t style="font-style: italic;">will the machine fit through the door???

















Josh is SO great at moving the machines now...no problem -
just turn the machine sideways!















ooh -- a place to securely lean the front panel while I work on the machine!




















all set up and ready to plug in!















LOL -- Carla's desk...many samples of Art-o-mat artpacks were opened...looks like xmas/birthday time!

















Carla in the mirror of the Art-o-mat machine
with her new Tooky finger puppet.










Joan and Carla and their Carrie Price paintings















The Northville Art House is located at 215 W. Cady Street in Northville, MI, 48167. Regular hours of operation are Wednesday through Saturday, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. First Friday of the month 1:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Phone: (248) 344-0497 for more information.

365 Day 3 (a day late)

On Monday we moved one of my Art-o-mat machines from the gallery where it had been a part of the group show I participated in to it's new location -- LIFT in Royal Oak.

The day went absolutely smoothly and perfectly. The air was crisp and there was no snow or rain. The roads were dry, very light traffic. For January in Michigan that was pretty amazing. Josh and Jon moved the machine and Kent was there at the store to welcome us and guide us in. Juana did the her usual bang up job of "randomizing" the artpacks for me.








I think that LIFT is a perfect fit for an Art-o-mat machine. LIFT features many blind box toys from Kid Robot (and others) and Art-o-mat is like a blind box art machine. You know who the artist is but you don't know exactly what piece you will get.

LIFT also carries a wide selection of urban vinyl, plush, and designer toys, t-shirts and pop surreal and lowbrow art from local artists.

There are a number of local artists who alter toys for shows at LIFT. Here is a sampling of the toys from the latest show -- Natural Resources 3 -- at LIFT. Juana Moore and Jason Driscoll/Kill Taupe are Arto-artists already. I am hoping to get more local artists involved in the Art-o-mat project.

We will have a Grand Opening on January 13 (my birthday) from 7 - 10 at the store. I am SO excited and look forward to another giddy Arto-party with new friends and prizes and lots and lots of FUN!


This is a photo of Kent Alverson (owner of LIFT) and his first Art-o-mat purchase. He got a "Lil' Woodies" Lucky Coin by Laurelle Moon Conte.

Now...a note about me and moving machines around. I get very tense and wound up days before a move. I worry about every little thing that could possibly go wrong. I stress about traffic mishaps, weather conditions, whether or not we will get a spot to park by the door we are going in, whether the machine will maneuver through doorways, through the store...you name it, I worry about it. Then, when it's all over and the machine is in place and filled with art and the lights are on and ready to vend, I start to relax. It is like clenching your fist and then slowly opening it. When I got home I had to make a quick stop at the grocery store, make my version of black bean chili, have a quick cup of it and then sit in my recliner and let stuff melt away. And that is exactly what happened and why I didn't post this entry yesterday. I sat down to watch tv at 8:30 and then it was suddenly 3 a.m. LOL