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First Saturday Arts Market returns this Saturday with dozens of artists coming from Houston, Austin, La Grange and even Memphis, Tennessee.  Back by demand (and very nearly threats on the organizers life) is H-townStrEATs, a chef driven gourmet truck. Also this month, the nonprofit US Military K-9 will be on site with possibly one or two retired military dogs.

This is the eighth year the art market has been in operation, its truly a hidden Houston gem in Houston, mostly grown by grassroots efforts from the artists and organizer. If you haven’t been, stop by in April or May, the last daytime shows before the market returns to evening hours for Houston’s hot summers.

This is a quote “lifted” from a local couple’s newsletter circulating about a recent trip to the art market.

“What was most appealing, was these artists were for the most part as friendly as neighbors, people you would like to know. No sales pitch, other than smiles or offers to explain what we were seeing.”

Saturday April 7, 2012 * 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

548 W. 19th Street, Houston, TX 77008

On the parking lot between Gen’s Antiques and Wind Water Gallery

Google map page.

11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sean Walters followed by Harold Muther of Friends of Rock ‘n Roll

3 – 6 p.m. Featured: Myrna Sanders Band

Food Truck

H-town StrEATs– a chef driven food truck serving soul satisfying, globally inspired street food will be on site till 4:30 or they sell out.

Featured Nonprofit

US Military K-9 Fund They prepare and send Care Packages to the military working dogs deployed with our soldiers. Like their handlers, they need extra goodies from home. http://www.usmilitaryk-9fund.org/

Featured Artists

Anne-Joëlle Galley ~ painter / printmaker

Anne-Joëlle Galley, a painter and printmaker is a featured artist at the April 7 First Saturday Arts Market. Galley, born in Mexico and formerly a resident of New York City, has worked in Houston for several years now. She has won international acclaim for her paintings, mono-types and prints with their signature bold colors. Galley?s colorful paintings, monotypes and prints—characterized by strong, bold colors—have been exhibited in Switzerland, England, Mexico, Italy, Romania, New York and Houston. Full press release

Eugene John Hughes ~ Painter, abstracted realism

“My artwork derives from an overwhelming need to visually translate what I have seen or read, experienced or witnessed over a complex lifetime to date. Emotion. Religion. Family. Friends. Past, present, estranged or already gone.” Hughes says of his painting. “Today I see with a clean internal eye. A soul. I see purple in nearly everything. I understand. For the first time, all is finally out of myself and into a tangible visual, hold it in my hand form. Using color and texture, paint and canvas, and other elements, I can clearly execute and therefore share my experience.”

Peace or Drama, A Journey Through Music and Art is the latest project from Nashville musician, Eve Fleishman. She wrote 13 original songs and invited 13 visual artists to make each song into a painting. “I wanted this to be a true art-inspires-art experience, so I gave them no parameters – they were free to interpret it in their own way.”

Fleishman chose artists from the seven states where she’s lived, mirroring her own creative life’s journey. “It was so exciting to see what the artists came up with. In each painting, I could see echoes of the song in the work.” She has embarked on a year-long national tour with the 13 pieces of art. Her one-woman act is part storytelling, part concert, and part art show.

One of only two stops in Texas will be the First Saturday Arts Market in the Houston Heights. The seven year old arts market may be a perfect fit for this traveling art and music show.

Market founder/manager Mitch Cohen explains; “When Eve called and explained what she was doing, I had to say yes. We’ve always tried to keep our music as unique and one of kind as the artists’ work. With Eve we’ve got both!” Cohen continues, “This Spring and Summer I launched a market gallery booth with the intention of showcasing guest artists. I’m really excited to showcase the artwork of Peace or Drama, A Journey Through Music and Art.”

The only Texas artist chosen for Peace or Drama is Clear Lake City artist Carla Gauthier. Gauthier’s work is titled “Simply Be,” a 30″ x 22″ in watercolor. Gauthier’s work combines her love of architectural detail and attention to qualities of light that transform commonplace scenes. The result is a body of works that read like snapshots; people going about their daily life, oblivious to us looking on, and their story is allowed to unfold.

Gauthier says of her work, “Simply Be is nostalgic and speaks to the heart. To me, it is a reminder to chase what’s important, in the process leaving behind our plans, our possessions, our “heady notions.” It is a song that begs one to reflect and be content with what is at this moment.”

“My painting titled after Eve’s lyrics is based on an early morning visit to Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens. The business world was already humming, but the park was peaceful and quiet. Those lucky enough to spend their hours there were still home, still waking up. But I was there with my daughter Jillian, taking a moment to…. simply be.”

Eve is on the road this summer with pianist Joseph S. Smith, a former classmate from Berklee College of Music in Boston. The two friends wrote a song together at Berklee, inspired by the Van Gogh posters in Joe’s apartment. This became Van Gogh Heard, a song that features prominently on Eve’s album. “I guess for me, the music and art connection has always been there,” says Fleishman, who also has a background in museum work.

Eve has created an exhibition book featuring lyrics and images of the paintings, as well as “behind-the-scenes” commentary from each artist.  Audience members may bid on the paintings, buy books, CDs and postcards, with a portion of the proceeds going to PeaceTones, a charity that helps artists in developing nations.

Visit www.EveFleishman.com for more information and tour dates. peacetones.org

Located on the Wind Water Gallery parking lot at 548 West 19th Street at Lawrence Street, the market is open year ’round on the first Saturday of each month.  To stay out of the heat of the day, the market is open evenings in the summer including July 2. For details on artists, music and the White Linen Night in the Heights location visit the website. Admission and nearby parking are free.

The first Houston showing of new watercolor paintings by Dutch-American artist Kim Kaiser since 2008 will take place at the First Saturday Arts Market on Saturday evening June 4. Alongside numerous talented local artists Kaiser will display 14 works on paper, created in and inspired by the Southeast Asian country, Malaysia.

In mid April, Kaiser and her husband returned to Houston after three years of living and working in the multi-cultural and frantic city of Kuala Lumpur. Unlike many sprawling cities, Kuala Lumpur has maintained a lot of its natural beauty. While strolling through its parks or neighborhoods, it is common to see exotic birds, monkeys and a vast array of tropical flora.

The beautiful surroundings inspired Kaiser to create a series of watercolor paintings called “Urban Blossom”. The series focuses on various species of flora commonly found hidden amongst the chaos of the city. The pieces endeavor to strip away the “noise” surrounding the subjects, to see the simple beauty and originality of each species.

“I’m very interested in the patterns one sees in nature because to me it represents order and balance in a world where it’s so easy to dwell on chaos.” Kaiser says. “Life is actually…rather simple.”

The show was on display at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts centre last April, and is now available to see in Houston at the First Saturday Arts Market in the Heights, June 4th.

Kaiser is a full-time artist/designer with her first baby on the way. She is excited to share her work inspired by her life in Malaysia, and looks forward to the inspiration she will experience from Houston’s own diverse culture and rapid pace.  Kaiser and her husband David reside in Garden Oaks, just north of the Houston Heights.

“Kim’s work is completely different from what I remember her showing with us a few years ago. The refreshing lines and colorful images match the stories she told in her blog while in Malaysia. It’s really exciting to have artists come back from traveling with new work!”

First Saturday Arts Market in the Heights just marked its seven year milestone, and begins its fifth year of opening at night only (from 6 pm to 10 pm) for the summer on Saturday, June 4.

Houston’s only monthly outdoor art and fine craft show is a staple of the Heights art scene. Nearly every art medium is represented, including artist-designed clothing; cards and stationary; oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings; international photography; and jewelry of unparalleled quality. Artists working in glass, ceramic, paper, metal and wood can be found at the market this summer, many traveling from Austin, North Texas, and even Memphis and New Orleans.

Located on the Wind Water Gallery parking lot at 548 West 19th Street at Lawrence Street, the market is open year ’round on the first Saturday of each month.  To stay out of the heat of the day, the market switches to evenings for the June, July and August show from 6 to 10 p.m. This year the September show will return to daytime but remain open till 8 p.m.  Admission and nearby parking are free.

For more information and a complete roster of participating artists, visit the market’s website, www.FirstSaturdayArtsMarket.com, or call the market hotline at 713-802-1213.

On Saturday May 7, students that participated in an after-school cooking program “Healthy Snacks with Chef Tim,” will be rewarded with a limo ride to the First Saturday Arts Market and lunch at Collina’s Italian Cafe.

The public is invited to welcome the students at 1:00 p.m.  Bring cameras and join our “Paparazzi Party!”

Dinner: IS Possible was founded by Chef Tim Mehne in 2007 as a healthy-alternative cooking program.  It quickly grew to include a life mentoring program helping youth with the challenges of growing up.  I Needa Pita Chips are a healthy-alternative snack that are produced by the youth in Dinner: IS Possible, which raises money to keep the program growing.

Chef Tim Mehne, founder of Dinner: IS Possible, says of the day;  “We are rewarding all of the students that participated in the our after-school cooking program “Healthy Snacks with Chef Tim”, with a limousine ride to First Saturday Arts Market where they will be selling “I Needa Pita” chips, which is the healthy-alternative snack that the students produce to help sustain our program Dinner: IS Possible. They will also give out brochures on the program and get a chance to talk to all who attend the Arts Market about our program. We will then treat all of the students to lunch at Collina’s Italian Cafe in the Heights before having them driven by limousine back to Third Ward to end the trip.”

Through I Needa Pita Chips, the students learn about all phases of running the business from producing the pita bread to producing the pita chips to packaging & labeling to taking & filling the orders.  “Phase Two” will be a foodservice training facility which will prepare the teens to work in Houston’s huge food industry.

Twin brothers Alvin & Calvin Jackson, pictured with Heights resident Peyton Winston, visited the First Saturday Arts Market in April.  The brothers attend Ryan Middle School where Winston is with the Apollo project.

“Peyton is a friend of mine and to many of the artists so when she approached me about bringing some of her students with the Dinner: IS Possible program to the market it was just a flat out YES!  The brothers had a great time and Peyton tells me the market was the topic of the week after their visit.”  Said Mitch Cohen, market manager.

First Saturday Arts Market has been a catalyst for many artists careers over the past seven years it’s been in operation. The goal of providing artists a regular and affordable venue to show and sell their art has proven very successful.  May 7 will be the final day show until September.  Avoiding Houston’s hot summers the market switches to evening hours June through September.

First Saturday Arts Market returns April 2, from 11 a.m – 6 p.m. as it does every first Saturday of the month. The seven year anniversary show in March was met with what market manager Mitch Cohen described as, “Every weather event we’ve experience in 7 years rolled into one day.” Cohen says that he warned artists it would be a “character building” day with 20-40 mile per hour wind gusts, heavy rain, cold, heat and finally afternoon sun.  Cohen adds, “It turned out to be a great day by the time the sun came out, the artists did well and the patrons just poured in as if they’d been waiting on cue!”

Artist Profiles

The Bachers Family, New Boston, Texas.

Gary Bachers’ work is created with Prismacolor pencil on Duralar film. The result of his intricate layering is a vibrant work resembling paint. The full moon is usually present in his work as well as other signature features.

Christopher Bachers started painting with acrylics in grad school to take a break from the reading and writing, his “doodles” quickly evolved to include musical instruments with a vibrant color palette. Doodles begin as quick pencil sketches exploring motion, tension, and asymmetrical balance. Their organic interlocking forms express both wholeness and fragmentation, and the vivid colors of the final compositions create designs both of harmony (in their balance) and of dissonance (in their shifting optical illusions). Such musical terms are appropriate to his current work, which integrates musical instruments into the doodle designs.

David Vollmer – Wired Antiks, Sugar Land, Texas

“My artwork is all created by hand using ordinary knitting needles and various pliers. I have developed my own technique of knitting with wire, which I call “knitting off the needle.” With my technique I use only one needle at a time for the purposes of pulling the stitch and controlling the stitch size.”

Pettus Touré Mitchell – Memphis, Tennessee

For nearly a decade, artist Pettus Mitchell has traveled around the United States gleaning inspiration for his future works as well as displaying his art at local festivals and art galleries. His paintings run the gamut from historical portraits of the African Americans migration north in the 1940s to their current return to the modern south. Some of his pieces are inspired by cultural phenomena specific to the late 20th century, such as the popularity of video games and the rise of the digital era. Pettus himself is an accomplished graphic artist; he is also a CGI animator. His work is prominently featured at the Center for Southern Folklore and he is a mainstay at the Center’s annual Memphis Music & Heritage Festival.  Mitchell made his first appearance at First Saturday Arts Market in March of this year.

First Saturday Arts Market vendor Linda Hardy had debilitating back problems. She credits art for inspiring her to get out of bed and back on her feet again.

But she credits the market for launching her career.

After only a year of regular participation in the monthly event – held every first Saturday on 19th Street in the Heights – Hardy’s structuralized mixed-media pieces are now being sold commercially.

Stories like Hardy’s aren’t uncommon for artists who participate in the First Saturday Arts Market, which celebrates its seventh anniversary on March 5, 2011. In addition to being a launch pad for careers, the free event serves as a monthly meeting ground for an arts community that stretches across county and state lines; even U.S. borders.

Building a Community
First Saturday Arts Market founder and organizer Mitch Cohen has always intended for the market to have dual purposes – to provide an outlet for artists to connect directly with the public, and for the pubic to have an opportunity to meet and buy directly from the artists.

“Many of the artists connect outside the market, and even mentor each other in both business and in their art mediums,” said Cohen. “The feedback I hear most from artists and patrons is how much they love the vibe of the market, and enjoy visiting on market days. The original mission of the market has evolved far beyond what I ever could have imagined. I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing a community develop.”

Jewel in the Rough
Like Hardy, jewelry designer Steve Sellers has been selling his wearable art at First Saturday Arts Market for five years and attributes the event to the customer base he has today.

“It’s helped my career and helped me build up a regular customer base that consistently comes there looking for my work,” Sellers said. “I’ve been able to meet a lot of great people in the community”

Vendors at the market share trade secrets, fill each other in on hard-to-find items needed to compose their pieces and keep fellow artists in the loop as to where they can find other shows to sell their art.

The support that the merchants of First Saturday Arts Market provide for each other doesn’t stop with their work. When one of the artists was diagnosed with breast cancer recently, the First Saturday Arts Market community rallied to throw a fundraising benefit in her honor.

“To field support and make friendships with other artists and designers that do the same thing you do is not a common thing in this business,” Sellers said. “But our theory is that we’re all in this together, so let’s make it the best it can be for all of us.”

Home Sweet Home

New Caney resident T.D. Snider, a mixed media artist and regular on the gallery circuit, has been involved with the market regularly for about three months.

Snider professes that the networking and the friendships he’s made will continue bringing him back – even if he doesn’t sell anything.

“The First Saturday Arts Market is like home base for me,” Snider said. “I’ve never run across another place that does what they do for artists who are trying to launch their careers.”

About First Saturday Arts Market
First Saturday Arts Market is held in the Wind Water Gallery parking lot at 548 W. 19th Street, Houston, Texas. For more information about the market, call 713-802-1213 or visit www.FirstSaturdayArtsMarket.com.

by Valerie Clifton  | vallclifton (at) gmail.com

Link to high resolution album online.

January 27, 2011

Art market returns after one month hiatus armed and ready with ART for Valentine’s Day Lovers!

On February 5 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the First Saturday Arts Market begins its seventh year with three dozens artists under as many tents, two popular food trucks, two bands and three non-profits. All that squeezed between furniture stores Wind Water Gallery and Heights Modern Home at 548 W. 19th Street in the popular Heights.

First Saturday Arts Market certainly stands out on W. 19th with a 1957 aluminum trailer out front (What’s Up Cupcake!), several rainbow colored umbrellas and the Fusion Taco truck that looks like a race track rescue vehicle that drove through the Pimp Your Ride garage.

Walking in visitors are greeted by musicians, enormous abstracted paintings, dichroic glass earrings, steampunk jewelry, photography and handmade books. There is an eclectic mix to the offerings found here, like the big abstracts or up-cycled handbags, metal and wood sculpture, handmade soap and olive oil tasting. This is the Heights after all!

A certain vibe is apparent as patrons and vendors laugh and talk and share stories about adventures since they last met and teaching “newbies” the ropes. The market hasn’t strayed far from it’s original mission to give new artists a chance to “get their feet wet.” Now there’s a wait for the popular months to get in as the seasoned artists equal new artists in number. That’s good news for shoppers and art lovers!

“I don’t this kind of event could have taken hold anywhere else other than the Heights,” artist and founder Mitch Cohen says of the market. “Seven years ago space to show your art on your terms regularly was very limited and competition for wall space was steep. There are many more choices for artists now and the market is one. I’m very proud to be a part of this.”

The music at the arts market is as original at the art. Solo artist Rory Jagedeo starts the February show off at 11 a.m. with a mix of originals ranging from country to blues to rock. Featured performer Andrew Karnavas performs at 3 p.m. Karnavas is better known as the front man for Runaway Sun, his acoustic melodies are a blend of straightforward chord progressions and slow fingerpicking that combine elements of blues, country and folk.

Non-profits on site this month include Central City Co-op and the US Military K-9 Fund. Visit with Central City Co-op volunteers to learn more about this ten year old and Houston’s first organic farmers market co-op. US Military K-9 Fund’s mission is to support the military canines by raising awareness about their needs, and keeping up the morale of their soldier handlers.

Young actors from Theatre Under The Stars production of Billy Elliot may be found milling about around lunchtime, in their tutus and boxing gloves of course!

For more information and a complete roster of participating artists, visit the market’s website, www.FirstSaturdayArtsMarket.com, 713-802-1213.