Alimo Studio Notes #44 [ Low-Energy Week + New Collector in Japan]
A painting just landed with a collector in Japan, thoughts on low-energy weeks, and what happens after the show closes
Hey friends, Happy Friday!
This week was V interesting. Personally, I’ve been moving slower than usual (more on that in a sec), but one of my paintings just completed a wild journey. From my Brooklyn studio to Greenroom Gallery in Hawaii, and now to its forever home with a new collector out in Japan.
There’s something poetic and radical about that. While I’ve been stuck dealing with a long headache all week, one of my pieces traveled halfway around the world. Honestly, unreal! If I told my kid self I’d be selling in Japan, I wouldn’t believe me.
The Story Behind This Sale
The painting sold through Greenroom Gallery, which means someone in Japan either visited the gallery during their time in Hawaii, or discovered the work through the gallery’s outreach. Either way, they connected with this piece enough to bring it home with them (or have it shipped halfway around the world). So rad!
I always wonder about the collectors who choose my work. Why this painting? What spoke to them? Was it the color palette? The subject matter? A memory it triggered? I love thinking about these things, especially when I can’t be there to pick their brain and share my personality.
This is what happens after a show closes, the work continues to find its people. The opening weekend in December was incredible (shoutout to everyone who came through), but the real magic is when pieces gradually find their forever homes over the following weeks, months, or years. All I can say is patience is your friend :)
While some collectors are anonymous, others I have great relationships with. I enjoy both spectrums of my art practice and am incredibly grateful for you all.
The Reality of This Week
While that painting was finding its home, I’ve been having one of those weeks where everything feels harder than it should. A struggle bus if you will. I’ve had a headache all week, and I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on. I’ll be okay, just weird.
So instead, I pivoted to the unglamorous work:
Worked on proposals for some potential projects (nothing new here)
Deep dive research for an upcoming t-shirt design. Mood boards, references, thinking through the messaging)
Meeting with a non-profit about some future collaboration ideas (super preliminary but exciting to explore)
Resting
General admin and trying not to beat myself up for not being in the studio painting
Fun thing about being a professional artist is it’s not all crazy creative. Some weeks are simply hard, and you’re just managing. Handling the business side. Planting seeds for future work, and resting when your body tells you to. This was that week. Maybe it’s adjusting to the cold NYC ice, concrete jungle, or just simply time zone stuff. I donno.
I kept calling this week “unproductive” in my head, but that’s not really true. I was working, just on the less visible stuff (which I think is why it feels unproductive to me). The proposals, the research, the meetings, etc. This is the bread and butter that make future painting sessions possible. They’re the foundation.
What’s rad is that the timing of the Japan sale was a good reminder. That painting sold because of all the foundation work that came before it, reaching out to galleries, building relationships, installing the show, promoting it, following ups. The actual painting was done months ago. The sale happened because of all the other work.
So maybe this week wasn’t about creating new paintings. It was about doing the groundwork for what comes next 🤔
All I know is I want this headache to go away so I can get painting again. Ugh.
Still Available: Works from Everydays
Since we’re talking about the Hawaii show, I wanted to highlight a few paintings from the Everydays series that are still available and looking for their homes. These pieces were created specifically for that show, inspired by everyday moments on the island, the rhythm of surf culture, and the people who make that place special.
If any of these speak to you, reach out via info@greenroomhawaii.com. I’m always stoked to connect collectors with the right piece. Who knows, maybe one of these will end up in Tokyo, or Sydney, or wherever you’re reading this from :)
Kai Horizon / 18x24” in. on canvas / acrylic gouache
Morning Trim / 16x20” in. on canvas / acrylic gouache
Golden Curls / 18x24” in. on canvas / acrylic gouache
Aloha Line / 16x20” in. on canvas / acrylic gouache
The Long Game
I’ve been thinking about the difference between how social media moves and how art moves. On Instagram, something is “new” for about 24 seconds if you’re lucky (I wanted to say 24 hours but no chance on social media, lol), before you doom scroll past. But art? Art is patient. It waits for the right person. A painting I finished in July can find its collector in February. Or next year. Or five years from now.
I think that’s why weeks like this one, where I’m not producing new work but handling the slower, administrative side of things, are just as important as the weeks where I’m heads-down painting. It’s all part of the same long game. It’s showing up.
What I’m Looking Forward To
Once this headache situation resolves and I’m back at 100%, I’m excited to:
Get back into the painting flow with fresh energy
Apply all this t-shirt research to something tangible (need to finish by next week)
Start exploring new ideas that have been brewing for the May show while I’ve been in this slower mode
But for now, resting and celebrating my work is out in Japan. That part is so dang cool.
Have a rad long weekend friends and stay healthy!