Bluff Park Art Show- this weekend

Bluff Park Art Show is one of my favorite art show, and not just because it is in my neighborhood. I love the size, the high quality, and the variety. This year is the 50th annual, maybe I will try to show in the 51st!


Great image for the show! Click HERE to go to the website. I'll post picture tomorrow from the show!

Bluff Park Art show shopping

This year's show provided more woodworking than I have ever seen at the show, or any show in the area. It's like everyone got a lathe last Christmas. Not that there wasn't some lovely wood working, but oy vay was there a lot to choose from. Best part about all the wood workers, great dad gifts! I purchased from Bill Boyett of Gainesville Florida. His work included mostly boxes of exotic woods, however he had some beautiful letter openers. The letter openers are ergonomic in design and feel really good in your hand. And, any imperfections in the wood was inlaid with turquoise. Note the photo below, with the details of zebra wood and turquoise inlay. The second photo is on his show card. I wish he had had some of the letter openers that looks like the oak leaf on his card. They look lovely.

My other purchase was a beautiful mug. It is "replacing" a mug I bought years ago and broke from the same artist, Steve Loucks. It's obvious that his MFA was earned from the New York College of Ceramics at Alfred (a.k.a. Alfred), one of the best ceramic schools in the nation. Notice the matt glaze with the shine glaze underneath and the alligator like glazing on the handle. It's a beautiful high fired piece. Lynnette, Steve's wife who sold me the piece, informs me that all of his pieces are sanded smooth on the bottom, a very nice finish. And, a good indicator of quality. I like his mugs because many have light colored interiors, muck better to gauge the intensity of my coffee and tea. And, I can tell if they are clean... for two very pragmatic reason. For aesthetic reasons, the glaze choices are sophisticated. And the proportions are great. His other works can be found online.


Ceramic purchasing tip: Always ask if the piece is high fire or low fire. High fire piece are stronger, the glazes are more durable and the pieces can be designed with thinner "walls". Important to know that lower fired works can be cheaper made and commonly craze in the glazing after a few uses and stain in the cracks. Good examples of low fire works come from shops like Bath and Body Works... cute, but poorly made.

Please know that some mid-range and high fire glazes are designed to craze a part of the patterning of the glaze, but those will not cause you harm like cheaply made low fire pieces made in other countries. Really low fire pieces, like raku, are not designed to be functional, as in food safe. Many potters sell very low temp pieces (sometimes referred to as raku and pit fired) as dinnerware, but you should avoid it. Yes, people in ancient Japan used raku pottery to eat and drink from, but remember, as one point in European history, people used lead as a face powder. Those people died of lead poisoning. So, if you are not going to let your children chew lead paint and you're not going to install lead pipes for your drinking water, then don't buy raku to put food in.

Twittering at Bluff Park Art Show

I'll be tweeting at Bluff PArk Art Show first thing Saturday morning. Follow me @bergerechair for the picks of the show, I'll be recapping on this blog later!

Tip Day- Buying art at an outdoor art show

Though some artists in larger cities might look down upon artists that show at outdoor shows. In the South, it is quite common for our gallery artists to also be at outdoor shows. Often times, their prices are better outside of their gallery cities.



So, some tips on buying outdoors:

1. know what you need-
take measurements for all the walls you will be buying art for. And, make notes of
any locations you might like 3-D pieces.


2. set a budget-
though you cannot know exactly what you will spend for each spot, set a hierarchy
for what spots are more important and spend accordingly.

3. buy only what you love-
Don't settle for less... in anything! Just because you would like to fill a certain spot,
do not buy for it until you buy the perfect piece. You will have buyer's remorse and
think about the hasty purchase every time you pass the piece.


4. buy for others-
Keep a list with you of the people you still need to buy for for Birthday's or the
holidays. Make notes on the list as you buy for people, so you will not forget what
you have already purchased. And, consult the list before you set out for the art
show, you never know how much gift giving you could find there!

Bluff Park Art show... coming up!

This Saturday is the Bluff Park Art Show, one of the best art shows in the Birmingham Area. Intimate in scale and large on talent, this small park, nestled in the Bluff Park community of Hoover, is so small that the attendees are bused in from 5 different parking lots around Bluff Park. I usually pick up the bus on the "North route", which includes the parking lots of the Bluff Park United Methodist Church, the Piggly Wiggly shopping center and the Shades Mountain Independent Church parking lot, to name a few. There are signs all over the Northern half of Hoover directing you to a parking lot. The bus drivers are friendly and I've never had to wait longer than 3 minutes to catch the bus.
I love finding one-of-a-kind gifts, as well as, art glass I can't live without. Last year, over 20,000 people joined me at this one day show of beauty and cleverness. And, it promises to be a great show again this year. The weather should be lovely and I'll be tweeting during the show and posting a review afterwards! I look forward to seeing the park transform into one of my favorite Tent Cities of Talent!