There was a time when I'd pick up a 12 pack and head to the Good/Bad Art Collective for a show. Those Saturday nights in Denton, Tex. were some of the best times. Always plenty of beer. Always.

Alcohol and art are not obviously connected but the two often show up at the same place at the same time. Art openings tend to offer free wine and beer and make their money on the sale of art.

Curating a bar is more common now and some bars double as galleries. Sketch, an artist from LA, curates a monthly show at Verdugo Bar in nearby Glendale. He very nicely offered his thoughts on bars with art shows versus conventional gallery shows.

You have shows once a month?
Yes. With the success of the first art show at the Verdugo Bar back in November, the owners of the bar asked me if we wanted to have a monthly art show. So i said yes. So now we have an art show the last Thursday of every month. There is more art shows on the way at different bars though. Hopefully in August we will have four art shows in a month, each week a different venue.

Did you find them or did they find you?
Well both actually. I tend to venture up and check out different bars and talk to the owners and pith them my idea of an art show. Recently, I've had some bar owners contact me on my space to see if I was interested in doing art shows at their bar. One of them was Bar One up in Noho.

Are the other artists in the shows friends or are they artists you've sought out or artists who sought you?
The first art show that we had at the Verdugo, were pretty much all my friends and classmates from CSUN. Once the second show came I wanted to have something new, so i brought all new artists. I would love to have the same artists everything but that's impossible.

I want to give everybody a chance. I remember when I was trying so hard to get into art galleries and got denied because they did not like my stuff. So, that's how the art shows came about. So, I am just trying to give everybody that chance that they have been waiting for and let people actually see their artwork. I've had a lot of artists that the Verdugo Bar Art Show was their very first art show they have ever been in.

Is it more fun to show at a place like Verdugo than at an established gallery?
Well, I think it is a lot more fun at any bar because we have music playing by the resident DJs and because there is a wide selection of good beer to choose from. I also think that the art shows at the bars you always have more people interacting with you than at the gallery.

At the gallery most of the time you're only there for the reception and that's about it. By having Art shows at different bars and even farmers markets I have, you get to meet the people that buy your paintings and tell them the story behind the painting.

Between the bar and the gallery. i think it is a lot easier to sell my art work at the bar than at the galley. At the bar, you get to price your work and keep one hundred percent of the profit. As for the galleries, they jack up the price on your paintings and make them harder to sell.

Has there ever been a problem with people, possibly drunk, messing with the artwork?
No, not at all. We like drunk people. Maybe cause they buy all our stuff, haha. But, yeah, I am always keeping an eye out for other people's work, just making sure nobody touches anything or knock stuff over.

Have you had the bacon-wrapped hotdogs out front?
Yes and they are delicious. But i still miss that taco stand that used to be out front in the corner. They made the best tacos and quesadillas. They would even make the tortillas in front of you. good ol' days.

You can see Sketch's work on his Website.