Domesticates + Grant Gilliland
Portraits of animals and their two-legged friends, by Grant Gilliland
In June of 2009, I had my first solo exhibition at the legendary art boutique Fabric8. Fabric8 is a fusion of an art gallery, a specialty-item store, a music resource for local DJs, and a modern pop art venue that draws in the kind of varied and unique people that you’d expect to find in San Francisco’s Mission District.
I stopped in to Fabric8 to say hello and met the owner Olivia. After expressing sincere interest in showing my work, she gave me a small 8×8 inch canvas to take home and paint up. After displaying my first 8×8 painting, which sold a mere week later, the relationship between myself and the wonderful world of Fabric8 began to take place. I would bring in the occasional canvas or a painting on a found object, and would imagine in my head there was a slowly forming group of “Grant Gilliland exclusive buyers” in San Francisco. Which, by the way, gave me chills of excitement whenever I thought about it.
My relationship with Fabric8 continued into 2008, where I became part of a regular group of local artists who performed “live art” demonstrations during the monthly art openings and parties that the store would host. The experience was a bit daunting at first, made slightly less so only by the free refreshments they often provided. But regardless, my confidence in my own voice grew with each and every event I painted for. After a few more months had passed, and my work on display was beginning to circulate a bit, Olivia and I talked about a solo show, and set a date for the opening.
I began working towards a cohesive group of images, centered around pets and their owners. This gave me the opportunity to create complimentary pairs of characters that were human and non-human (and even ones that looked like a combo of both). By early June, the deadline was fast approaching and the week of the show proved to be one of all-night sessions of edge painting, color tweaking, line fixing, and gross detail adding that tested my creative and physical endurance quite a bit. Once finished, I found the hanging and exhibiting of my work to be an absolute joy, as was being able to meet people who were fans of my work and actually had a piece (or two!) hanging in their homes. Being able to meet and chat with the real-life personalities who enjoy what I do was incredibly fulfilling and very inspiring. Seeing my paintings hanging in a gallery setting for an extended period of time gave me perspective about what strengths and weaknesses I have in presenting and communicating my intention as an artist. Although my solo show’s timeline has run it’s course, and is no longer on display, I still recommend visiting Fabric8 in person or online.
