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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.