On March 2nd I dropped by the reception at the new Wee Gallery in the back of OZMA Atelier (vintage clothing) at the building on the SW corner of 6th St. and 6th Avenue. Address there is 439 N. 6th Avenue, and it’s a wee bit hidden but worth the search. Website: www.gallerywee.com. And it’s also a wee bit small for any art gallery, hence its appropriate name.

Exhibiting for the month of March is the Tucson Weekly’s cartoonist Rand Carlson, with his unique tin collage art pieces/pictures made out of recycled cans and auto license plates. If you haven’t seen his creative art over the years (he used to exhibit at Bohemia), drop by the Wee Gallery which is open Thursday to Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

This particular show of 11 pictures is all about guns and the American craze over them, hence the name “Armed and Dangerous”. I particularly liked the one entitled “The Gunited States of America” (take off of United States of America) with cut out pieces from cans depicting portraits of past U.S. Presidents and their First Ladies. I remember eating cookies out of similar cans, as I had saved them for our son to learn about American history.

From Rand’s artist statement:

Collage seems to be a medium of this modern world. It mimics the elements of thought, emotions, and even a diverse society. A collection of similar and dissimilar pieces quilted together to form a new larger whole, a composite reality.

The element of recycling is also a contemporary notion in the art. To reuse and reinvent these materials into a conceptual whole that borrows from folk art, and even a manufacturing environment, morphing into a ‘new’ object.

Over the years we’ve also seen Rand exhibit at the Temple of Music and Art and at the Tucson Museum of Art downtown, and my husband and I started saving our used cookie cans for him to use in his art.

Rand’s art studio is at the Citizens Artist Collective at 44 W. 6th Street (upstairs), and his artist website is: www.randomshots.com. Go to his website to see lots and lots of other one-of-a-kind collage art pieces.

From Bohemia, an artisans emporium: Open 7 Days a week! They sell lots of local artists’ handmade creations (jewelry, paintings, mosaics, wooden furniture, metal art, yarnwork,clothing, note cards, handbags, mirrors, gourds, mobiles, etc. etc).

I know of some of the Tucson artists who have their work there: Rand Carlson, Gavin Troy, Wil Taylor, Pamela Powers (“Tucson Progressive“), Ruben Moreno, Janet K. Miller, Liz Vaughn, and our Editor Ryn Gargulinski as well.

Bohemia now has 2 locations:
–2920 E. Broadway (west of Country Club)

artisans' wares for sale at Bohemia

Sun-Mon 11am-4pm
Tues-Sat 10am-6pm

–417 N. 4th Ave (south of E. 6th Street)

Sun 12-5pm
Mon, Wed-Sat
11am-6pm

extended holiday hours coming soon! Photos courtesy of Bohemia.

Shop Local Day!!
Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday…when big box stores and chain retailers open their doors at the crack of dawn or sooner for the crowds of peeps that are looking for deals of the year…well, 2 years ago our lovely Governor Napolitano proclaimed the day “Shop Local Day” as she understood the importance of keeping your dollars where you live! It is certainly hard for small, local businesses to compete with big box discounts, but we do our best and we offer so much more in the way of uniqueness, quality and special service!

So, in keeping with local shopping “tradition,” we will be offering 20-40% almost everything storewide at both locations this Friday, November 26th!! Visit us at 2920 E. Broadway or 417 N. 4th Ave (our cohorts in The Little Village, The Wooden Tooth and Ventana Gallery, will be offering discounts as well!) from 10am-7pm for great savings on lovely, handmade creations!

We encourage you to try to shop local all season long (or all year!)…visit www.localfirstaz.com for a guide to other amazing local spots and their deals for Shop Local Day!

typical artwork for sale at Bohemia by Liz Vaughn