Tis the Season For HANDMADE!

Happy Holidays to all, and we hope your season is festive, fun and full of family and friends!  The initial shopping craze is over, with Black Friday and Small Business Saturday behind us.  BUT, we know the holiday gift giving season has only just begun.  So, we at the Gallery want to assure you that our selves are filled with gorgeous, one of a kind, handmade art for the giving!

We invite you to join us this Friday, Dec 2nd for Once Upon a Time - Visions of the Season.  The holidays are all about magic, and one of our new Gallery artists, Wayne Smith, will be demonstrating how he creates magic with hot glass.  He will be spinning amazing creations in glass, right before your eyes!  We will also be welcoming other new Gallery artists Rosario Alborta (sculpture), Courtney Page (pottery), and Anthony Burks (mixed media).  Stop by for some handmade holiday cheer and meet these talented artists!  We'd love to help you find the perfect gift...see you at 6:00!

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday

This week is one of the busiest on the Calendar. Family and friends gather for Thanksgiving, and we all pause to appreciate the wonderful people in our lives. We are also conditioned to shop like maniacs on the Friday after Thanksgiving. "Black Friday"....an epic marketing ploy that is astonishingly successful--and stressful.

Well, we at the Gallery have a gentle suggestion for you. Instead of waking up ridiculously early this Friday, we ask that you sleep in. Enjoy breakfast with your family and friends, then take a leisurely drive to stroll the Avenue in Lake Worth. Downtown businesses and restaurants are waiting to tempt you with hand made art, unique one-of-a-kind gifts, delicious foods, music, and live art demonstrations. 

Consider supporting local businesses and individuals this season. Give a gift that was created just for you, not in some foreign country. Who needs the madness of a midnight sale under flourescent lights in a big box store packed with strangers? Come see us, and we'll guarantee a wonderful shopping experience, sending you home with the perfect gifts for you and those you love. Enjoy the sunshine and fresh air Florida is famous for!

So, we invite you to our Black Friday events on the 25th and to join us again on Saturday the 26th for Small Business Saturday.   We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgivig, and look forward to seeing you on the Avenue!!!

Shop Small!

There are so many reasons to shop locally this holiday season, skipping the malls and "big box" stores. Handmade art is an especially wonderful gift to give, and Gallery artist Norm Gitzen put it best, offering this insight, "When you buy a gift for a loved one from a local artist you are gifting two people at the same time!"

Supporting local art and artists has such a great impact on the arts community from the artists standpoint, as well as the galleries and shops offering locally made art. That is why we are encouraging all our friends and supporters to "Shop Small" this holiday season! This movement has become quite strong and Saturday, November 26th has been designated Small Business Saturday, dedicated to supporting small businesses on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

So please consider your locally owned and operated businesses when plannig your gift-giving this season, and support local arts and artists by shopping SMALL!!! See you in the Gallery...

Thanks go out to Chuck Weber and CBS12 News for featuring CGMS Gallery in a recent piece about the holiday econonomic forcast for Lake Worth. We look forward to a bright and successful holiday season, and hope to share it with all our friends and supporters!!

Buy Handmade this Holiday Season....PLEASE!

Can you believe it's already mid-November? Wow, the year is flying by. This is the time of year to reflect on what we are thankful for and to share gifts from the heart. All of us at Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery ask that you consider sharing handmade gifts this season. Skip the malls and "big box" stores full of mass produced products and give something made by a local artist instead! Original, beautiful and much more meaningful, handmade art supports local businesses and artists. We so appreciate your support!

Speaking of amazing gifts of art, our next event, Harvest - From Hand to Hearth, will feature truly lovely works in weaving and wood turning created by Gallery artists Mary Catello, Teri Salomoni and Mark Banfield. Come meet these talented folks on Friday, November 18th. Mary and Teri's woven baskets and forms are perfect for the season, and you will be amazed by Mark's intricate wood creations. Gorgeous works!

So, get into the gift-giving frame of mind with a visit to the Gallery. You know, many of our artists do custom designs, so it's not too late to create the perfect gift together! See you soon...

Time is FLYING!!! Let's Play in the Mud...

So sorry, folks...the blog posts have been so delayed! It's been a busy few months at the Gallery and I have been hard pressed to find all the time I need to keep all the events online. For up to the minute news, events and photos, be sure to check in with CGMS on Facebook (Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery) and Twitter (cgmsg). Thanks for your patience!

Whew, we've had some fantastic events in October. First, Norm Gitzen showed us how he creates his amazing metal works in "Forging Ahead" on October 7th, then Mary Catello and Teri Salomoni transformed the Gallery into a spooky wonderland for "All Hail All Hallow's Eve" on Oct 21st. Lake Worth was filled with ghouls, goblins and ghosts for Halloween weekend, in spite of the rainy, soggy weather!

This Friday, November 7th, we invite guests to join us to get "down and dirty" with Tracy Rosof-Petersen and John McCoy. Both will be behind potter's wheels in the front of the Gallery, domonstrating the ancient art of throwing pots. So, come get Behind the Wheel and sling some mud! This will be a wonderful opportunity to work with these award-winning artists, so don't be shy!

There are so many other great events on the horizon, please check our calendar and be sure to stop by the Gallery to say hello. I promise to keep you better updated here, and all over cyberspace! See you this Friday at 6:00....