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First Friday Meet the Artists Show with west elm at Ponce City Market

A few days ago I had the amazing opportunity to show my work along side three other incredibly talented local artists at the west elm at Ponce City Market. Celebrating their first ever "Meet the Artists" First Friday exhibit, the weekend long show began with an opening Friday night- complete with colorful sodas, jars of cookies, and even organic cotton candy from the ever amazing Cult Carts. 

meet the artists exhibit | First Friday's with west elm ponce city market | atlanta contemporary watercolor artist courtney khail

Not only was I blown away by the turn out (seriously, you guys rock and we all appreciate the support) but I couldn't get over just how great the other artists were (personality-wise- I already knew their work was great!) Aside from a few planning emails, I don't believe any of us had ever spoken before the show, but within minutes of arriving, we all just meshed together. Maybe it was because the show took place at west elm- and therefore we were surrounded by comfy couches and beautifully styled vignettes, but the whole opening kind of just felt like a really laid back party at a friends house. A friend with a killer art collection of course. We all just kind of lounged around- laughing, drinking, and eating cotton candy. I almost forgot it was "work."

meet the artists exhibit | First Friday's with west elm ponce city market | atlanta contemporary watercolor artist courtney khail

The featured artists

(Emily of Ink and Indigo, Michelle of Michelle Armas, Brynn of Brynn Casey Art, and myself)

meet the artists exhibit | First Friday's with west elm ponce city market | atlanta contemporary watercolor artist courtney khail

Mandy (the owner of Cult Carts) doing her thing.

I met her at an event a few months before, but didn't get to really talk to each other until the opening. So happy we finally got the chance because she is an absolute blast! If you want your party to be amazing, hire her. (And if you're weird and don't like cotton candy, she has other carts like a champagne one and a waffle one.)

meet the artists exhibit | First Friday's with west elm ponce city market | atlanta contemporary watercolor artist courtney khail

west elm hooking everyone up with snacks

Speaking of west elm, every single person I met was spectacular and went above and beyond to help make the show a success. Such fantastic hosts! (A very special thanks to Ashley and Adriana for making this whole thing a reality.)

meet the artists exhibit | First Friday's with west elm ponce city market | atlanta contemporary watercolor artist courtney khail
meet the artists exhibit | First Friday's with west elm ponce city market | atlanta contemporary watercolor artist courtney khail

Shots from the show

meet the artists exhibit | First Friday's with west elm ponce city market | atlanta contemporary watercolor artist courtney khail

me and the hubs celebrating with Cuban food after the show.

He isn't a huge photo person so I may have been trying to be sly about this one by taking a photo of our reflection in the window. As you can tell, he caught on. Now to be fair- and for the sake of full disclosure- I may or may not be "that person" when it comes to photos. When I get in the "capture the moment" mood it's hard to get me to stop. So it's probably not that he's opposed to taking photos as much as he's not into taking a bajillion photos. (Tomato tahmato.) 

So there you have it! If you couldn't make it, I'm bummed we didn't get to meet (but there is always next time.) If you did make it though, thanks so much for spending your Friday night with us. I hope you had a great time!