"Lend Us Your Everything"

This is a photo from October 2009 of a store I visited called Avalanche Looms, located near the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin. But not nowhere enough, Avalanche, WI happens to be just around the corner from the Long Arm Farm where my best friend Micaela O'Herlihy lives (fun fact: Micaela was the director of photography for Handmade Nation). While visiting, Micaela insisted we go there, knowing I would love it. She was right.



In the above photo on the back wall you can see two paintings. Those two paintings are by artist Sofia Arnold. Turns out, Sofia's mother Susan Johnson owns Avalanche Looms and within the month Sofia was about to have her first solo show in Milwaukee at the reputable Tory Folliard Gallery. I went to her show, bought a painting & emailed Sofia to tell her we visited her mom's shop, and explained the story.

This photo is the perfect example of why I choose to document everything I do, because who would guess that exactly 12 months later I would be the lucky one with Sofia's fanciful dark, dreamy, beautiful imagery gracing the walls of my gallery in the shape of a mural for 3 months.

This world is so very very small. As the story continues.....



This past week in cooperation with Tory Folliard Gallery Sofia Arnold spent three days painting the walls of Sky High Gallery. "Lend Us Your Everything" will be open to the public on October 15th and sets the tone for the pop-up boutique that will will be open for a short 3 months through December 31st. Then the pop-up shop and and the mural will just be a memory. If you are interested, which you should be, a full catalog of Sofia's work is available through Tory Folliard Gallery on a regular basis, I suggest checking it out.




It's difficult to communicate in these photos the scale that Sofia is painting. Some elements of this mural are the size of a dime.







Full photo set of Sofia's progress here.

P.S. Keep an eye out for the limited edition "Lend Us Your Everything" companion zine offered through Sky High Gallery during the duration of the pop-up boutique.