The Great American Brass Band Festival

2007 Festival Articles

June 4, 2007

Gallery Hop Stop offers different clientele to local artists

By JENNIFER BRUMMETT
jenb@amnews.com

Fiber artist Janine Miller will be a new face at the seventh Gallery Hop Stop Friday. (Jennifer Brummett photo)

Janine Miller will be selling purses, shawls and dishcloths she has created. (Jennifer Brummett photo)

Glass artist Sharon Duncan embraces lampworking and fusing as artistic mediums. (Jennifer Brummett photo)

Examples of glass artist Sharon Duncan’s fused work — her latest focus — are shown above. She’ll have several fused glass items at the Gallery Hop Stop Friday. (Jennifer Brummett photo)

The seventh Gallery Hop Stop will showcase a broad range of visual art, including painting, children's art, jewelry, photography, pottery, fiber art and henna art. All of this will be for sale at various locations in downtown Danville that will be marked with purple "Arts Event" banners.

And guess what? There are stops beyond the two-block radius - some of them new - that most of the regular hoppers see. Make plans to see them all because there are fewer locations this time.

"The Arts Commission is excited to have five first-time Hop Stop locations for our seventh gallery hop -Danville Bike and Footwear; Historical Medical Art; Stifell, Nicolaus and Company; Lexington Investment Co.; and Edward Jones Investments," says Arts Commission executive director Ann Nichols. "We could not continue this series of gallery hops without the assistance of our downtown businesses and agencies and the generous financial support of our local Kentucky Utilities.

"Forty artists will present their work for public viewing - a daunting experience itself - and I can only imagine the preliminary work they each have done to make their exhibits ready. We are fortunate to have so many talented people who are willing to share those talents with this community and out-of-town visitors here for brass band weekend."

New to the Gallery Hop Stop this time is fiber artist Janine Miller, who will be selling her knitted shawls, dishcloths and, mainly, purses. The lattermost all are felted - think shrinking a sweater, then making a purse of it. That's the unique aspect of Miller's pocketbooks. She says she's also made baby clothes, most of which she's given to her daughter's friends.

Passion for her

The shawls often are comprised of eyelash, ribbon and acrylic yarn. They come in a variety of colors and drape easily over the shoulders. The dishcloths are made of cotton fibers.

Miller, who has been knitting since the age of 6, says it is a passion for her. She only recently began marketing her work.

"I had been giving it away until a girlfriend said not to anymore," Miller explains.

She chooses her yarn by how it feels.

"I'm really in to touch. ... I have a knitting machine but I don't use it because I don't get to touch the yarn."

Returning to the Gallery Hop Stop this time is glass artist Sharon Duncan, whose work also can be seen at www.sharonsglass.com. Duncan creates a variety of work ranging from jewelry to plates and bowls. She often donates work to fundraisers, including Luminosity, and CASA and Wilderness Trace Child Development Center.

Duncan works in two processes: lampworking, which involves using a torch to melt glass and then form it into beads; and fusing, which is heating glass until it melts together, forming it in to a flat tile, and reheating it in to a plate or bowl shape. Lampworking primarily is used to make beads used for jewelry, she says. Lately, she has been focused more on fused work.

Duncan, whose work is for sale at Maple Tree Gallery, Yesterday's Potions and Jr's General Store, also has been working with pearls lately.

"I do like to include my glass beads with sterling silver and other beads. Pearls are real trendy right now and I've tried to jump on that wagon and include them in my designs. But they're not in everything I have," she notes.

Duncan has participated in most of the Gallery Hop Stops. They are markets she enjoys.

Socializing

"It's a great way to socialize, to see new people and meet new people," she explains. "With the brass band crowd, I enjoy sharing my craft with the people from out of town."

The Gallery Hop Stop during the Great American Brass Band Festival is a great venue to exhibit and sell her work.

"(Out-of-towners) are more prone to buy from us - they want to take home a little piece of Danville, like a painting, or a piece of jewelry, or a coaster. They like to buy those kinds of things and take them back to their homes. It makes their souvenir be a little more meaningful because it was produced here in town," Duncan explains.

"It's a little more excitement for me personally. ... With out-of-town folks - it's just people not as familiar with my work or other artists' work. It's a different vibe" from Gallery Hop Stops held at other times during the year.

Maps will be available in each location that evening or in the Arts Commission office in City Hall.

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