It’s difficult to think of something that makes almost everybody smile warmly. Puppies are cute, but not necessarily to cat people. Babies are delightful, but not to insomniacs. Football is fantastic, but it’s really not for everybody… even if Favre does come back.

Chocolate. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Loved by billions. Adored by most. Worshipped by many. Chocolate is linked to happiness… as in a Tootsie Pop; well-being… as in a birthday cake; tradition… as in a chocolate Easter bunny; fun… as in a cup of steaming cocoa after a snowy Saturday of sledding, and most important of all… love… as truffles inside a heart-shaped Valentine box. Chocolate might not make the world go round, but it certainly gives it momentum.

There’s a new chocolate Mecca in our midst, and it would be remiss for any art appreciator such as myself to keep it a secret. Franklin’s Fine Chocolate is a new store at 2474 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue. Open the door and the sweet aroma sweeps you off your feet. Franklin and Sue Di Vilio are the proprietors and will delight in telling you chocolate stories as they lean on the original candy counters from Gimbels that they bought and carefully restored after the Milwaukee landmark closed years ago. And trust me when I tell you that their phone number, (414) SO YUMMY is no coincidence.

Trained by and related to the family of purveyors famous for their irresistible Mackinac Island Fudge, Franklin and Sue lovingly make chocolates by hand in their state-of-the-art kitchen on the premises. Caramels, butter creams, cherry cordials, and many more varieties are waiting for chocolate lovers to come and get them, not to mention the mint meltaways, soon to become famous themselves, known as The Franklin Mints.

Some artists work in clay and stone, or oils and acrylics. Franklin works in chocolate that’s creamy and ever so dreamy. Art is subjective, but there won’t be many who don’t find Franklin’s chocolates to be delectable masterpieces.

~Peggy Brown

DID YOU ENJOY THE SOUTH SHORE FROLICS FESTIVAL OF ARTS??

If yes, then don't miss the Milwaukee Artist's Marketplace at the Milwaukee Art Museum Saturday, July 26th.

The Bay View Arts Guild is proud to be invited once again, and will have 9 members displaying their fine artwork. For more information, visit: http://www.mam.org/calendar/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=263&year=2008&month=07

I know we Americans have grown accustomed to getting a big bang for our buck, but we need to stay conscious. Nowadays people are used to paying bupkus for chintzy mass-produced stuff, and when offered a one-of-a-kind original work of art, they’re evidently not willing to up the ante.

My mom hand makes beautifully designed purses with quality fabrics, carefully considered color combinations, exquisite attention to detail, and a prayer in every stitch. Of course, I’m partial to them, but they really are individual and quite unique works of art that have the added bonus of being functional. Recently an acquaintance complimented her on the homemade handbag she was carrying and asked her if she took commissions. “Sure,” she said. “What would you pay?” The reply came back, “Fifty dollars.”

I have to hand it to Mom – she didn’t give in – even for somebody she knew.

Fifty dollars. Fifty bucks buys a round of drinks for 3 couples while they wait for their fish fry. Fifty clams is a parking ticket. Fifty smackers is a tank of gas or a bag of groceries, but fifty dollars is NOT a beautifully designed handmade quality fabric purse with exquisite attention to detail. Even without a prayer in every stitch. Fifty bucks doesn't even cover the materials. The term, “Starving Artist” has become commonplace, trite even, but let’s examine it for a moment. At fifty dollars, even if she took the money, she’d starve.

We bellyache how the big-box stores have ravaged the retail landscape and damaged the economy. We whine about how cheaply-manufactured goods generally break by the time you bust through the package. We gripe about jobs being shipped overseas to millions of faceless people who churn out sub-standard products for pennies. And when faced with the opportunity to purchase a beautiful made-in-America, one of a kind, exquisitely detailed product, what do we do?

What would YOU do?

Well, the perfect opportunity to prove what you would do is on the horizon. On Sunday, July 13^th the Bay View Arts Guild is proud to bring you the South Shore Frolics Festival of Arts. There you will find over 70 artists, each with dozens of one-of-a-kind, made-in-America original artworks for you to purchase and enjoy. We trust you to do the right thing.

~Peggy Brown

It never ceases to amaze me what people will hang up in their houses. Take a walk some evening at dusk, just when the lights in the houses come on and before everybody shuts their drapes. What you see will be endlessly interesting. I like to think of myself as having good taste in art, I have a mix of objective and non-objective images, paintings, prints, photos, quilts… mostly made by people I know and admire. Okay, most of it I did myself, but that speaks to my control-freak nature. I digress.

The thing about art in people’s homes, is that it is one of the truest forms of “art.” People (generally speaking) will only hang up stuff that really turns their crank. They showcase the stuff they love. Meaningful stuff. Things that remind them of someone, or of a chapter in their lives. Things they find to be beautiful, or that stir their emotions.

I took a walk recently and peeked from the sidewalk into the nearby houses. I saw one house with all kinds of old-fashioned guns covering a whole wall. In another house I saw a giant velvet painting of the head of a Great Dane in a funky carved frame. In another I saw a teensy weensy picture of what I think was a seascape in the middle of a huge blank wall (without binoculars I couldn’t be sure, and that’s a line I’m not prepared to cross). I saw kid-made-art, of paper plates glued up with dry macaroni, and finger paintings.

In my estimation, and, mind you, I hold a fine arts degree, it’s as good a show as in any museum to get a glimpse of everyday people’s private art collections… and as long as what’s displayed as art stirs somebody’s soul, or looks beautiful to one pair of eyes, or means something to even one human being, to me, it’s as legit as a Picasso.

Gallery Night is Friday, April 18^th, and the Bay View Arts Guild is pleased to open its Artist’s Challenge Show. All are invited to the reception.

One photo taken along KK provides the inspiration for sixteen artists’ interpretations in paint, fabric, silver, paper mache, pencil, and other media. Meet the participating members of the Guild, enjoy an art-filled Friday evening, and simultaneously feed your soul.

Thanks go to Shelly LaLonde, owner of South Shore Gallery & Framing for hosting the show and supporting local artists. We hope to see you there!

South Shore Gallery & Framing, 2627 S. KK Ave., Friday April 18th, 2008, 4:30 to 10:00 pm. Exhibit runs through May 17.

Artist? Art enthusiast? Art appreciator? Art lover? Art Maker? Art aficionado? If you’re any of these, you belong in the BVAG, and we’d be happy to have you! Join us at our annual Spring Social and get to know us, and see if you just might enjoy taking part as we create, share, and support art in Milwaukee. Everybody’s welcome!

 

Good things have been happening lately in the BVAG… last week Mike Hirschmann, a talented glassblower, organized a field trip for members to spend an afternoon at the Hot Shop Glass Studio in Racine. We all got to watch and learn how to make paperweights and blown ornaments with molten glass, and after the demonstrations, we each got to try our hand at making something. Everybody who attended learned a lot, and left jazzed from the experience.

Coming up this summer we’ll be participating in the Milwaukee Artist’s Market at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and we’ll be hosting our annual South Shore Frolics Festival of Arts, so there’s great stuff on the BVAG horizon. The next thing on the event calendar is the social at LuLu’s, and promises a fun time for everybody. Please join us!

Everybody is an art enthusiast. Everybody. Each and every one of us. Whether you think of yourself as “into” art or not, start looking a little harder at what surrounds you. If it’s getting late in winter and you can’t still see much beauty in the designs Jack Frost keeps leaving on your windowpanes, look at your watch. Somebody made it, sketched its shape, sculpted its volume, designed its face, and created the sounds it makes. Somebody chose specific materials from which to build it, and fabricated the very first ones by hand before it was put into mass-production.

Look at your TV. You stare at it for hours, but this time, shut it off. Look at the way it was made, notice the subtle radius of the edges and the slick logo on the front. It’s art. Kinda cool, huh? Do you like the shape of the car you drive? How about those shoes you’re wearing? Did you ever consider that the buttons that keep your shirt closed were created by an artist? It’s true. They’re art.

It’s easy to see the same things every day and forget to really look at them, but if you tilt your head, close one eye and try to come at ordinary things from a different perspective, you’ll begin to appreciate them in a whole new way, and you’ll realize there’s as much art here in Bay View as there is in Paris or New York… all you need to do is look for it.

So as you stroll KK avenue with your head tilted and one eye shut, remember this: Every single thing that is not a part of nature has been touched by the hand of an artist. And try not to bump into lampposts.