Summer Savings

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All soap is buy one, get one free.  Choose from Beautiful Soap, Heron Shores and Soap Werks.

The scents are scintillating: Woodland Pear, White Tea/Ginger, Lilac, Lavender, Sea Moss, Oatmeal/Milk/Honey, Lemon Verbena, Cucumber Melon, and my favorite, Better Than a Kiss.

Offer expires on August 30, 2010

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New in the Gallery-July

 These whimsical clocks are the work of a talented local artist, Alice Hall.  They have fantastic "attitude" and are set off by their embellished copper pendulums.  I'm really enjoying the addition of these girls in the gallery.

Deborah Zwetsch is an award-winning working Florida artist who has a BA in Art Therapy, and a four-year certificate from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Deborah began painting on silk six years ago because of the luminous quality color takes upon the silk surface. Her work on silk reflects the innate color sense that she draws from nature. She has won numerous awards at crafts exhibits for her hand-painted one-of-a-kind scarves and clothing.  

We are so pleased to have a nice selection of Deborah's scarves.  Read local Arizona Republic article by Jaimee Rose on scarves on a 115 degree summer day in Arizona.  It sheds new light on purchasing this fashion accessory.

 Local artist Viola Burke creates these life-affirming shadow box collages.  Based on past scriptural studies, she borrows words from the scriptures, then adds many more of her own to complete the main text of each work, "I am . . . .".  Not discernible in these photos is the dimensionality of each collage and the beadwork, which she calls the "icing on the cake."

New in the Gallery--Sassy Ladies

It seems that our space is being invaded by bunches of sassy gals.  Some are recent arrivals but others have been here all along.  Take a look.
Artist Rose Vollmer has taken a circuitous route to her current passion of doll-making.  In her previous life she owned an interior design company with customers across the U.S.  Fifteen years later, she and her husband started Pizazz, a corporate a nd event gift business.  This gave her a creative outlet until she discovered . . . art dolls.  This has led to being published in several publications including Soft Dolls and Animals and Doll Crafters and Costuming.

You will find her new line called Fabulous Floozies--Outrageously Sexy Art Dolls with Sassy Sayings here.  Rose claims that these girls "are talking and dressing like my mother told me I shouldn't but how I always secretly wanted to!"
The girl above has a card that reads "Good girls are made of sugar and spice--bad girls are made of vodka and ice."

The doll to the right has a tag that says, "Best friends know how crazy you are, and still choose to be with you in public."

One customer commented that you might see these girls on Van Buren Street.  His girlfriend confronted him, "How would you know?"  Oops.

Not really recent, but yet sassy are the ornaments and greeting cards designed and hand-painted by local artist, Deb Lasch.  Her art takes advantage of hilarious sayings such as "If I die while shopping at Wal Mart, drag my body to Neiman Marcus" or "Red wine is my favorite anti-oxidant."  The ornament shown above says "Girls just wanna have funds."  Makes me want to dance, too.

Finally, California artist, Susan Hargrove, shows her sassy girls on a 22" x 9" pillow.  We also carry pillows that feature hearts, black birds and crazy cats.

1st Annual Gilbert High School Art Walk

 Gilbert Historical Society quilting demonstration--Pottery wheel demonstration in background

                                                                         Alumni art

Large triptych--student art

                                                    The Kidmans -- one of three musical groups

I spent many of my past Mondays helping one of our local high schools coordinate an art walk.  We also held a silent auction inside of the gallery.  Besides student art, there was also alumni and faculty art.  Three different venues featured three distinct musical groups.  When all was said and done, we claimed it a huge success!  But we're hoping that next year it will be bigger and better.

Check out the video which appeared on our local news.

Lot 154-Art by Stevie Fresqez

In an earlier post, I received a comment from Esther.  She had come into the gallery and purchased a ring made by Stevie Fresquez (shown on the left) of Lot 154 [Full Disclosure:  She's also my daughter : ) ]. Well, Esther was so happy with her ring that she asked me to post about Stevie's jewelry.

I'm happy to do so!

Stevie's bio reads:

Stevie Fresquez came to designing jewelry in a circular fashion. She trained in theater with an emphasis in scenery and costume design. Stevie has a BFA from Arizona State University in Technical Theatre and an MFA from Southern Methodist University  in Production Design. After three years at her first "real job" in Connecticut, she began a trek to the opposite coast intending to pursue work in the movie industry.
Along the way, she received a call from her mother asking her to help start up a business venture.  After committing to only one year, Stevie stayed on for a long, happy 8 years managing the well-known paper arts store called Ink It! in downtown Gilbert, Arizona.

"Initially, I had to adjust from a 40-foot backdrop mentality to one of designing 4x5 inch greeting cards.  That used to give me anxiety, so it's ironic that my love now is sculpture on yet a smaller scale--jewelry."

Stevie now manages a 15,000 square foot art supply store in Tempe, Arizona.

Stevie works with Precious Metal Clay and has been certified by two guilds.  She used to teach classes in PMC but with a full time job as the manager of Jerry's Artarama, she's now happy when she's able to find time to design and make some jewelry.  Shown above are two of her textured bands; they are about 3/8" wide.  ( $40-$45)

Her latest passion is making her own link jewelry from sterling silver wire.  She's happiest when every element has been handcrafted by her.  Below are two of her necklaces ($128-$145).

Bella Strata-were you there?

Bella Strata is a new event for Gilbert.  It occurred at San Tan Village on April 10-11 and it was fantastic!  It showcased Italian sidewalk painting.  The elements that make this type of art so amazing is the beauty and detail of the paintings and the fact that they are so temporary--2-3 days max!

Gallery 225 sponsored two spots.  This was a great way to expose kids to art.  Here are some photos from that day.  






My granddaughter, Samantha, working on her artwork.  This was a 5' x 7' space on which she showed planet earth being held by hands.  The arch over the earth reads, "Be the Change You Want to See in the World".

You already exemplify that saying, Samantha!!

Art We Support

We will always try to support local art but the most important thing is for individuals, such as yourself, to support it.  I'm confident that now that we're seeing more venues and exhibits close to home, you'll be there!

Here are two that I'm backing:

1st Annual BELLA STRADA Italian Street Art Festival, San Tan Village Mall  April 10-11, 2010 in support of Save the Family.

and

1st Annual Gilbert High School ArtWalk in Gilbert's Heritage District on May 5th to raise scholarships for the Transitional Assistance Program.

What's New in the Gallery?

Marcia Kmack (Cave Creek Glassworks) is a lampwork artist whom I have admired for many years.  She's now represented in the gallery with both her jewelry and loose beads.  I'll save her jewelry for a later post, but here's a glimpse at her beautiful glass artwork.  On the left is a closeup of an amber-colored focal bead with two smaller accessory beads.  They make a great statement just strung together to wear on a black cord.

Below I photographed the bead bar that holds Marcia's focal beads.  You can choose one and wear it alone or select accessory beads also available at the gallery.  Even Marcia's displays are beautiful! 

Finally, I've shown a necklace that I strung two years ago using Marcia's beads with turquoise, round onyx and Bali silver.  The design is hers but she allowed me to borrow it.  It's always been a favorite of mine

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Rose Minetti is a Gilbert artist whose acrylics are now hanging at Gallery 225.  Her method is described in her own words here:  "My work reflects my interest in the environment; natural, as in geology/land and artificial, as in structure/architecture. My imagery is an abstraction of what I see and experience in the natural and artificial environment. My recent work is defined by the grid and a stroke gleaned from calligraphy. I experiment with color relationships, particularly neutrals, looking at how colors effect other, creating shades and values that are unique."

Minetti moved to Arizona from her native Brooklyn in 1984. She received her BA in studio art from Rutgers University, and her MA in Art from Arizona State University. She worked as President of Arizona Women's Caucus for Art 1987-89. She was affiliated with MARS Art Space, an artist run gallery in Phoenix as an Artist Member (1989-96), and a Board Member (1994-96). Her last position was as exhibit curator for the Department of Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, Arizona State University. She lives in Gilbert, Arizona and Lewes, Delaware.

Some of her work is shown below.  But they must be seen in person to get a sense of  the acrylic textures and richness of Rose's techniques.

Arizona Spring Time

There is music on this slideshow in case you want to turn your speakers on or off.  When you've seen the 10 slides, press escape to return to the blog.  ENJOY!

Free slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Tips on Dogwalking to Avoid a Broken Arm

 Tip #1--Don't wrap the leashes around your wrists.

 Tip#2--Always carry your cell phone.

 Tip#3--Pay attention to both dogs equally.

 Tip#4--Sight hounds can spot a rabbit from long distances.

 Maybe you've guessed exactly what happened to me a couple of weeks ago.  I try to walk my two "Boyz" every morning at a local park.

My younger one,Chico, an adoptee from our local, no-kill shelter, really has bad manners.  He barks at other dogs or whenever he likes, and he only responds to his name if there's something in it for him.

My older and bigger one, Bondo, responds really well unless if there's a rabbit in the vicinity.

Well, there was a rabbit.  Since Chico was barking for no reason, I was paying attention to him and ignoring Bondo.  The rest is history.

Bottom line:  I still love da boyz!

Chainmaille--new in the gallery

"The jewelry that I design embraces centuries old textile and chain making techniques, and enhances them with a touch of the present. All the viking knitting, wire and chain making is personally hand woven from precious metal wire. Each chain is created, one loop at a time from either hand cut rings or precious metal wire."

Thus, Leanne Soden describes the beautiful pieces of art that are her jewelry.  Known more commonly as chainmaille, Leanne's bracelets and earrings feel like more like a silky fabric than woven sterling silver or goldfill. Because my photo of her Byzantine weave bracelet doesn't do it credit, take a peak at her website to see her work up close.

Nik Stabek is a Gilbert artist with an full lifestyle.  His family runs Wildhorse Ranch Rescue, a nonprofit charity saving horses from abuse, neglect and slaughter.  He works for a well-known web hosting company, and still he has time to produce beautiful jewelry.  His chainmaille usually consists of a larger gage coated base metal wire.  The results are similar to Leanne's.  Each piece drapes elegantly.

Million Dollar Opening, But Who Dat?

The Million Dollar Opening last week was a resounding success.  Over 115 attended, but since many were leaving as others arrived, it was difficult to pin down a good number. 

I'm hoping that each person will mention the gallery to a friend, and that friend then visits the gallery!  I'm expecting an uptick in traffic.

Take a look at these pictures.  Do you recognize anyone?

When the million dollar check was presented to me, I wanted to rush and deposit it in the bank.  Unfortunately, someone distracted me with a glass of wine.  I guess I'll have to earn my money the good, old-fashioned way.