Suburban showing

You could call it a brush stroke of genius.

Or maybe they just have a bead on a hot new trend, but a group of local artists is turning to  trunk shows and pop-up galleries as a means of reaching people who might otherwise never see their work.

From pottery to paintings, glass beads to leatherwork and clothing, the six women will set up shop in a Maple Ridge home for three days this weekend and invite the public to pop in and have a look at their art, during Bohemia in the Burbs.

Everything will be for sale — most of the pieces at prices that won’t give visitors sticker shock, said Elaine Brewer-White, a Walnut Grove sculptor who is co-organizing the event, along with Fort Langley painter Judy Nygren.

“We’re trying to invent a new market in a depressed economy,” explained Brewer-White, who modeled the idea on a similar effort by one of her friends in Chicago.

The title, Bohemia in the Burbs, reflects the fact that all the artists involved live outside Vancouver, she said.

This way, neither the artists nor their audience need to drive into the city to connect.

An alternative to cheap mass-produced wall hangings, dishes, clothing and accessories, the show is an opportunity to buy “one of a kind, beautiful, handmade things, instead of things made in China,” said Brewer-White.

“It’s so discouraging; how do you compete,” she asked, standing inside her home studio, surrounded by dozens of the whimsical ceramic figurines that have been her bread and butter for the past 30 years.

On a table behind her is a growing stack of brightly coloured dishes, bowls and mugs — no two exactly the same. She is stockpiling pieces for the trunk show, which will emphasize the practical as well as the pretty.

“This is the first time I’ve done anything utilitarian since art school — luckily, I still remember how,” she laughed.

As she talks, the artist pulls a block of clay from a clear plastic bag and, using a wire, slices a small chunk off the top.

Rolling it into a flat sheet, she carves out a rectangle, using a piece of cardboard and a practised eye to guide the knife. After pressing a pattern into the surface, she rolls it into a small tube and fixes a circle of clay to one end.

The finished product will be another of her kindness cups — small, colourful vessels, each bearing an inspiring word — which will sell for about $15.

At the other end of the scale, will be Fort Langley artist Sue Northcott’s handbags, stitched out of leather and other materials recovered from garments that have been sifted from “thrift stores and rag shops.” Those will likely run in the mid-$200 range, said Brewer-White.

Artist Billie Jo Thomson’s paintings will be among the items for sale, seamstress Loraie Tylor, with her passion for fabric and flow, is creating “wearable art”  for the show, while glass bead maker Chris Clarke is creating original art that visitors can carry home in their pockets.

Nygren, having just returned to her artwork from a three-year hiatus, will display her small oil paintings.