I love this idea for a party – Artjam. A spirited gathering of any and all creative ventures, from live music performances and readings to people knitting winter scarves. One prerequisite is having some creative friends. And everyone does. Most people are creative in some way, even if they haven’t shared anything before… or if we are liberal in defining creativity. (Drink mixing? Nail painting? Sure, why not.)
My friend Annie invited me to her “Artjam”, a term which I believe she coined. I attended this past weekend. Here’s the invitation:
At first I was like, hmmm… what the heck am I going to bring to this? My ukulele was the most obvious choice, though deep down I know I’m not really as good at that thing as I think I am, and the thought of actually performing kind of terrified me. Annie suggested I do a reading of Sirens. I ended up reading a brief excerpt from Book 2, Lost World. Being at the mic made me more nervous than I expected, but it was fun. And people clapped. So that made me feel good.
The overall vibe of the party was awesome. It took place at this guy Matt’s house, which is half under construction (appropriate to add here that he is the one constructing)–exposed wallboard and plywood on all surfaces with sparkly christmas lights everywhere. It was the perfect venue. There were canvases taped to the wall with art supplies such as oil pastels. Its amazing how refreshing it is to be at a party that is not just centered around food and drink – not that there’s anything wrong with that. Its just fun to be surrounded by all the creative spirit. And you get to see a new side of people.
Annie is a musician. She plays violin in a band called Calamity Row. The whole band was there with a stage set up for their use as well as any other open mic performances or readings. The band is very talented and I love their bluegrassy sound. They just recorded their first album:
Other creative ventures that took place:
- Korean street food cooked onsite
- A scarf being knitted
- A journal writing session
- Lots of pictures being painted
- Live music performances in addition to Calamity Row… Kim killed it with a song she wrote called Superhuman. I captured a very brief clip of it here:
Annie and her friends plan to throw an Artjam about once a month. I better think of my next performance…
T.L. Zalecki 