Don't Forget this Saturday!
DownTown Art Market
19th and Buddy Holly Ave.
Lubbock, TX
9 am to 3 pm

b Street Studios
presents
New Jewelry Designs

by
Barbra J. Beller

Unique Knits
cold weather season wear

hand-knit scarves
by
Paula Beller

Another Weekend, Another Sale

Come see me this Saturday

November 20, 2010

at

The Science Spectrum

2579 South Loop 289

Lubbock, Texas

10 am to 4 pm

The Jewelry Lady

featuring

Hand-crafted Artisan

Vintage/Costume

and

New

Jewelry

specializing

in sterling silver

Chilly Weekend

Don't Forget this Saturday
DownTown Art Market
19th and Buddy Holly Ave.
Lubbock, TX
9 am to 3 pm

b Street Studios
presents
New Designs
by
Barbra J. Beller

Unique Knits
first of the cold weather season
hand-knit scarves
by
Paula Beller

introducing
New Jewelry
by
Kathryn Millis Flanagan

Recovery and Plans

The advertising for art shows never ends.

The past weekend was FFAT. I had a blast. The pictures are of new stuff that was displayed for the first time. I was really happy with what I got produced in time for this event. We had really good traffic through the Clay Studio. I still have not unloaded the car, but my mind has already moved on to the next event.

This coming weekend is DownTown Art Market. But it is also the Moonlight Madness Sale Friday night. The Lubbock Arts Alliance is also hosting this years Local Color Artist Studio Tour Saturday and Sunday. I will be participating in the DAM on Saturday. Kathryn will be joining me this weekend. Unique Knits is still undecided. But the weather will be chilly on Saturday...hint, hint.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Don't Forget!

This Friday, November 5, 2010

Helen DeVitt Jones Clay Studio

red brick building behind LHUCA

at

511 Ave. K, Lubbock, TX

Kathryn Millis Flanagan

and

Barbra J. Beller

presenting

new jewelry creations

in

brass

copper

sterling silver

reclaimed goods

Ready for the Weekend?

So I have been chained to my desk creating new jewelry for FFAT. It is this Friday!! My partner in crime and I have been emailing this week to keep each other up-to-date on the progress that is being made. Through words of encouragement and emergency supply runs, we will put on a great show.

Now comes the time I need to create an ad to send to all our peeps to generate the appropriate buzz for our unveiling. In the process I have been looking at some "old" vacation pictures. My mother and I had the privilege to go to Denmark and France several years ago. The time and experience is always with us.

But there is one pic I just have to share. We went into the little pastry shop and just glued ourselves to the glass case. We wanted one of everything. But we refrained and decided on three treats. The man behind the counter wrapped our goods with a flare we knew we would never see in the United States. So I snapped a picture of the outside of the box and then a picture of what was inside.

Somehow that picture is just not going to work for my flyer but I hope it was so worth sharing with you all. Maybe another time I will tell more about our time in that little pastry shop. It involves a handsome Frenchman, a local woman, two foreigners, and a little dog.

Don't forget! FFAT - November 5, 2010, 511 Ave. K, Helen Jones Clay Studio, red brick building behind LHUCA. We will be there from 6 pm to 9 pm. There will be wine served.

Odd and Ends

So I can't let another week go by without a message put out into cyberspace. The ASN Business Expo was great last weekend. Thanks to all of you who made an appearance. We had more traffic than ever. Look for The Jewelry Lady at the next event scheduled at the Science Spectrum on November 18. So mark your calendars now.

My art buddy Kathryn Flanagan and I will be showing at November's First Friday Art Trail on November 5, 2010 from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Helen DeVitt Jones Clay Studio located at 511 Ave. K. It is the red brick building behind the Underwood Center for the Arts. Here is the website for the FFAT if you are unfamiliar with what's going on here in the art community of Lubbock. Check out all the locations presenting art on the trail. http://ffat.org/Home.html

In getting ready for this show, we are both working feverishly on producing some cool new jewelry. In times past Kathryn and I have spent many hours in the studio and on the road making art and selling art. But in the past year or so we have not spent any time together in the studio, so I am excited to see what the lady has been doing on her own. In my personal preparations, besides digging through my piles of art supplies, I have been reminiscing about our past together.

One year with another artist, we drove to Graham, Texas. On the long drive home, we passed this amazing sight of a caught catfish on a truck. We stopped the van and all got out to take some pictures. Then, of course as artists, we had to analyse how it was created and with what knowledge and skill.

In going through my pictures, I ran across one of this totally amazing wooden box Kathryn created while we were students at South Plains College in Levelland, Tx. She made the top metal landscape in our Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design class. Together with her woodworking skills, mounted the metal landscape in ebony and finished it off with a box to fit.

Now I can't leave out my own work. In our Metals class, we were given a lot of free time to create whatever we wanted with the skills we were shown. When we got to etching, I just went crazy. I cleaned up a few pieces of etched metal and made some two-tone necklace pendants. The top picture is an example of that work. I still have a whole pile of metal etched with who knows what on them. In getting ready for this newest show, I keep thinking about them. I will have to mediate for awhile to remember in which pile of stuff in the studio they are in. So maybe by the next show, I will have created some new jewelry with the mystery pieces still in hiding.

This Saturday is Grape Day at Llano Estacado Winery so you know where I will be sampling this year's product. http://www.llanowine.com/Events.aspx

Free Weekend Fun

So I am preparing for the second showing of The Jewelry Lady. Sale is Saturday, October 23, 2010 at the Science Spectrum. We will be set up from 10 am to 4 pm.

Displaying last month at the Arts and Crafts Business Expo were also Miche Bags, Pampered Chef, MaryKay, and Scentsy Candle representatives. I had the privilege of being next to the Peanut Brittle table. Nobody can resist handmade peanut brittle. There was also two ladies selling beautiful pearl necklaces. My mother purchased a hand-crafted vest. There is definitely going to be something for everyone. I am looking forward to the carved rock man.

The Jewelry Lady will have a varied array of jewelry. I have new sterling silver, vintage/estate sterling silver and costume jewelry. I love anything that sparkles especially if it can be worn on the fingers. I will also include several different local artists' hand-crafted work, as well. Phyllis does beautiful wire wrapped stones that have been cut and polished by her father. LeAnn is a potter who makes the best beads. I have procured several pieces including clay beads and etched/patinaed metal. There may even be a few of my own pieces of brass and copper.

So stop by and come play for awhile. Conversation is free, playing is free, admission is free.

Calm, Quiet Morning

So, I have neglected my blogging and my faithful followers. To you, I am sorry. But maybe some things I say today will help explain the lag.

This morning I got some amazing pictures because we had a hot-air balloon glide right over the house. The pilot forced the balloon up to get past our trees and aimed to land in the empty field next door. But the balloon bounced and landed in the neighbor's yard. The view from here made it look like it landed in their trees. But not so. All the neighbors came out to watch. I took pictures after it landed. I was so excited I just had to share with all my peeps.

BUT I can't log into my account. Round and round I went with user name, password, new account, need to switch over.....So I made it this time. But there is no telling what will happen the next time I want to post. Lesson to me. Brain needs repetition.

But I digress. Back to the balloon. Look at the amazing shots and just imagine the absolute calm, still morning with a balloon sailing past. Just another sign fall is here.

Is it Fall Already?!

It's DownTown Art Market Time!

I took a break from displaying at our local artist market for the summer hoping to spend the time creating all new masterpieces. Greats plans, right. Well, I am a good planner, just not a good finisher. But don't worry, I will have earrings galore!

So instead of working with the bottles of beads stacked to the ceiling on my current "work space", I spent the summer with my mother cleaning out kitchen cabinets, reminiscing with each item pulled from the dark corners. We were successful in our endeavor of getting the stuff out of the kitchen. Now Phase II: painting...new floor...new cabinets...maybe new tile......

Needless to say Phase I is complete but Phase II is still in the works. On to the garage. Yeah, I can now open my car door without incident. Onward and upward...

We have now moved onto our shared studio space. Of course our 700+ foot studio has been the dumping ground for more than a year. So the time has come to dig in and put all to rights. With each item touched, projects jump to mind...but there is no space to follow through at this moment. Why is there so much to do and not enough time to do?

Maybe getting back in the grove and spending the weekend with my fellow artists will inspire mountains to be moved in the studio.

Party!

So welcome to my coming out party. This is my maiden voyage into public socializing via the internet. I have decided to join the ranks of millions of other in the 21st century....I am now the proud owner of a cell phone with a camera and a blog. Yea, me! For a person who would rather hold up the wall than circulate the room, this is a red letter day.

I hope to keep a running commentary in this blog on my life as a starving artist. But I'm sure some of my other favorite things will make there way here...like food, friends - furry and bi-ped, and fun. I love to read others' comments and I never fail to have my own opinion, so I hope all will take the time to share back with me.

So my first share is a picture from Chicago. Please notice the extreme care this plate of food was presented to me and my friend Kathryn. We were in the Windy City for the Southern Graphics Council Conference for Printmakers last March. We decided we could not leave Chicago without sampling food from Rick Bayless's restaurant Frontera Grill. We planted ourselves in the bar and just let the atmosphere over take us. We had drinks, we had food, we received great service, we had an unforgettable time.

Just a note to my good friend and fellow DAMarketeer LeAnn Weih, this one's for you. Thanks for the push and encouragement!