If you live in the South, you're familiar with Jim Bonner's commercial art.  Now visit the Bonner Collection in Old Town to see his take on the natural coastal world.
- story and photographs by Karen Fineran

Ship models, wooden duck decoys and seabird figurines are artfully displayed among exquisitely rendered watercolor paintings of pelicans and other wildlife, boats, and lighthouses.  Sea-colored jewelry is draped over driftwood sculptures. Vibrant ceramic seahorses, starfish, seashells, crabs and turtles seem to be crawling just about everywhere.
 
The Bonner Collection Art Gallery contains the studio of well-known artist Jim Bonner, and is the primary outlet for his watercolor paintings and prints.  Owned by Bonner and his wife Patsy, it also contains an expansive retail space showcasing home décor, jewelry and gifts, and featuring the work of several other local artists. 

The gallery was first opened in Pass Christian in 1996, moved to Old Town Bay St. Louis in 2003, moved to uptown New Orleans in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, and in 2013 finally returned to its Gulf Coast home.

Originally from Meridian, Mississippi, Jim Bonner hails from the heyday of the advertising era in the ’70s in New Orleans.  He’s the guy who designed the iconic Barq’s root beer can, the Crystal hot sauce pepper logo, and the original New Orleans Jazz NBA basketball team logo, among many others, some of which are available as prints at his studio. 

So while a commercial graphic designer by trade, and a very celebrated and successful one at that (with a lineup of design and advertising awards to his credit), Jim’s true passion eventually emerged for painting watercolors of wildlife and nature scenes.  His work has been exhibited at The George Ohr Museum and at the Ocean Springs Annual Show.  His studio sells his original watercolor paintings, as well as signed and numbered giclees and prints. 

Jim also accepts commissions, and is particularly talented at painting pet portraits that seem to perfectly capture the spirit and sensibilities of these quirky cats and dogs so beloved by their owners.  He’s even painted Bay St. Louis’s own Lucy! 

Jim’s wife Patsy manages the retail side of the operation, collecting and displaying unique coastal-style gifts, home decor, antiques, new and vintage jewelry, and fun beach fashion like colorful bags, hats and scarves.  Alligators and herons adorn delicate boxes made of capiz seashells.  Dinnerware, hand towels, lamps and pillows prominently feature crabs and other sea motifs. 

Patsy says that the NOLA couture line that she carries is especially popular, with its neckties, dog collars, and key chains sporting alligators, cocktail glasses, fleur de lis, or red beans and rice.  She also carries the original art pieces of a number of local clay artists, jewelers, and mixed media artists.

 “This building is in such a great location that I think it really lured us back to the Bay,” Patsy explained about thedistinctive French Settlement Building that was opened for retail space on the Old Town beachfront in 2013.  “Plus, we have such a love for the beauty of the Coast, and we love being right by the water here.  Since we moved here, so many people have been coming and telling us that this is their favorite place to come in the Bay!”
 
The Bonner Collection Art Gallery is conveniently located in the French Settlement building at 108 South Beach Boulevard, steps away from the Bay St. Louis Harbor.  Open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday and Monday afternoons “by chance.” 

Many of Jim’s paintings, as well as some of their retail goods, can be viewed at their website at www.thebonnercollection.com. 

The monthly artwalk on July 9th celebrates the birthday of iconic artist Frida Kahlo with an extraordinary costume contest and a fiesta of other events! Hot Spots:  Magnolia Antiques (200 Main Street) and O'Dwyer Realty (105 North Beach).
- stories by Grace Wilson

For Second Saturday, in the courtyard between the store and Smith & Lens Gallery, Magnolia Antiques hosts Heather and the Monkey King starting at 4:30 p.m.
 
Most people don’t think of the word “new” when it comes to an antique store, but in fact Magnolia Antiques finds ways to stay current, even in a shop full of vintage treasures. 
 
“We are always getting new stuff,” said Glenda Schornick, owner of Magnolia Antiques.
 
What most Bay St. Louis natives remember as Jerome’s Department Store found new life in 2008 as Magnolia Antiques. There are five vendors in 3000 square feet of space, including Annie the Doll Doctor, who used to have a shop across the street. 
 
Magnolia Antiques boasts a large collection of playable ukuleles thanks to the keen eye of Glenda’s husband Jack. The store also features lots of mid-century modern pieces that their daughter Shay Coss enjoys. It’s a family affair at Magnolia Antiques, which makes for a wide variety of finds — from furniture to jewelry and toys, antique coins and so much more. 
 
Another unique find at Magnolia Antiques: Betty Stechman’s photography postcards from Bay St. Louis and Waveland. Schornick recently bought all the postcards from Stechman’s family. 
 
“We don't focus on one particular thing,” Schornick said. “We have something for everyone from every time period. It may not be all vintage, but it’s all collectible.”

For Second Saturday, in honor of Frida Fest, O'Dwyer Realty will host a mariachi band at their new location on Beach Boulevard. 
 
In a world ruled by cell phones and email, it’s nice to walk into a business and connect with someone face-to-face — especially when it comes to one of the most important life decisions: buying real estate. 
 
Right on Beach Boulevard, between the Blind Tiger and on the way to Tripletails on some of the most desirable real estate in Bay St. Louis, O’Dwyer Realty offers help in finding others their own dream homes. 
 
“We really enjoy our beautiful view of the Bay. St. Louis marina and the wonderful foot traffic that we get being right on Beach Boulevard,” said Avra O’Dwyer, owner and broker at O’Dwyer Realty. 
 
O’Dwyer started making real estate deals in New Orleans decades ago and fell in love with the Gulf Coast and Bay St. Louis. Sixteen years ago, she opened the Mississippi branch of O’Dwyer Realty and today has three businesses with 32 agents in New Orleans, Waveland and Bay St. Louis.
 
“What’s not do love about Bay St. Louis?” O’Dwyer said. “The people, the ambiance, the water… everything is wonderful here.”

11am - photobooth opens at Bay Emporium (until 8pm)
Taco Extravaganza begins at Starfish Cafe (until 6:30)
 
12pm - drop off self portraits for contest at Bohemian Gallery 
 
4pm - outdoor double feature begins at Antique Maison featuring Nacho Libre & Book of Life (until 8:00ish)
face painting and henna by Mistress Ivey at the Mockingbird
registration opens for Frida Be You & Me look alike contest at Smith & Lens (until 7pm)
Live Mission Music by Tyler Santiago & Health Fair with Hancock Ocshner at Starfish Cafe (until 6:30)
 
4:30pm - judging begins for homemade salsa contest at the shops at 111 Main
Jezer y el Mono Rey begin playing at Magnolia Antiques (until 7:30)
 
5:00pm - Photo Booth opens at Social Chair 
Imagination Station opens at the French Potager - make your own Luchador masks (until 7pm)
 
Loteria with Carmen Lugo begins at Smith & Lens (until 7pm)
 
6:00 - Blue Magnolia starts playing at the Mockingbird (until 9pm)
 
7:30pm - Look Alike contest starts
 
8:00pm - drawing for Frida tote bag filled with over $100 worth of goodies at Identity Vintage & Vinyl - drop your name in their bucket to win!
 
Frida inspired special menus at:
Louie & the RedHeaded Lady
Starfish Cafe 
Mockingbird Cafe
Frida inspired drink specials at:
Sycamore House
Bouy's
Trapani's
​
All day long:
Fresh flower crowns at the French Potager
Frida inspired clothing available for purchase at Bay Emporium 
Frida inspired art and merchandise available at Smith & Lens, Social Chair, French Potager, Louie & the Redheaded Lady, etc.

On honeymoon in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, columnist Martha Whitney Butler starts a new life chapter with the vivid colors and eye-opening perspectives of an old culture.
- story and photos by Martha Whitney Butler

Click on any of the thumbnails below to open gallery!

Directly after the festivities and a monumental all-nighter, we found ourselves passed out from exhaustion in the large, crowded Mexico City airport. When our zombie bodies walked through the doors and into the orange early morning light of Leon we knew we had finally arrived.

We left stress at the door and took a car to our final destination, San Miguel de Allende. Our sweet driver, Miguel, did his best to entertain us with the cultural and political history of the area while we repeatedly nodded off in mid-conversation. In a dream, we passed through mountains and deserts filled with strange plants that danced in the sun and waved us into the city. (This was likely the hallucinatory effects of altitude sickness, but we enjoyed the show and kept our eyes peeled for roadrunners and coyotes.)

As we began our descent into San Miguel we awoke, startled by the vivid colors and enchanting historic buildings. It was the beginning of our honeymoon. We were in love with each other and together we fell in love with this new place and its colors.

Immediately I could see this was a place of art. The buildings reflected the colors of the sunset and were accented with deep turquoises — the color palette of our wedding. It was somehow so foreign, but so familiar that we just melted (almost literally) into the landscape like we belonged there.

It was that kind of place. It was a place full of life, colors, artwork, smiling faces, fireworks, cacti, and cobblestone walkways that all led to new adventures. I suddenly spoke Spanish and didn’t care for air conditioning. I ate cactus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and drank tequila like it wasn’t my mortal enemy from my college days. The folk of Mexico and I had become one, and it was in those hot, hazy, tequila-infused nights that I finally understood color.

This wasn’t a place that paved over their rough cobblestone streets to make it easier to walk on them. Instead, they seemed to be adding more and widening the walkways. Things weren’t polished, they were patinated and loved for it. To understand Mexican folk art, you have to embrace primitive. You have to love color as a distraction from crude craftsmanship.

In a place called Atotonilco, a 20-minute drive from the city, we found a revered artists’ market. Not a lot of people had set up on this weekday and I felt almost like the Pope as I walked through with the vendors vying for my attention and pesos. They totally deserved both. It reminded me of a Mexican ArtsAlive!.

Each vendor wasn’t demonstrating per se, but they were set up making their objects out of necessity. I stopped in one booth where a lady was using a can-opener-like apparatus to cut the tin for her shadow boxes. I thought, “Why isn’t she just using one of those metal lasers to cut that?” and then realized what a foolish question that was to ask myself. She had made hundreds of these things in all shapes and sizes, only to be selling them to some foolish gringa who had the audacity to question her methods.

It wasn’t the ease of her craft that enticed me to buy her things; it was her work ethic. I appreciated her labor, her willingness to show up in the 90+-degree heat and cut sharp, rusty tin by hand. I bought several of her pieces, and I didn’t even haggle (which is weird for me).

I went stall-by-stall and did the same thing, watching the artists create. Several of them stopped to pay me attention and show me their artwork. It was a very moving experience, the same feeling I get when I watch artists at home in Bay St. Louis. I felt like a stitch in the embroidered tapestry of something bigger than myself.

Each object was handmade. Every glance at an item prompted the shopkeeper to say it was made here. There was nothing paved over about this art. I left with a greater understanding of folk art, something I must have never captured in my years of college classes on the subject.

To see my new husband so astonished at all that was happening was a delight, and his encouragement of my purchases was even more delightful, as I had made a vow that I wouldn’t work on our honeymoon. But when you love something, it really isn’t work.

People have always told me that, but we both understood it during this trip. I felt like Marco Polo, compelled to bring these objects and share my stories about them with my customers back home. Bringing back items from travels to offer to people in the community is in the blood of every merchant, just like bringing back inspiration is in the blood of every artist.

I’m grateful to be both and so thankful that I got to experience what I like to describe as “Bay St. Louis in Spanish.” Nothing thrills me more than the prospect of getting to dwell in color during Frida Fest on July 9th, when the downtown is converted into a little Mexico of sorts. I will forever relish my newfound ability to breathe blues, hear reds, and embrace the warm oranges of love.

Celebrate the summer in Old Town during the Second Saturday Artwalk on June 11th - with Hot Spots California Drawstrings (216 Main Street) and Twin Light (136 Main Street)!
- stories by Grace Birch

And don't miss the popular BSL Trio, playing at the Mockingbird Café (110 S. Second Street) from 6pm - 9pm.  It's an outside, family-friendly venue and it's free!

California Drawstrings
216 Main Street,
​Bay St Louis
(228) 463-2124
A CLEAVER SPONSOR - please thank them! 

Owner of California Drawstrings Linda Keenan will tell you her boutique specializing in cotton, linen, and silk doesn’t have much to do with California. And that’s partly true — her company has been firmly rooted in the Gulf South since 1984.
 
But California borrows its motto from Archimedes, the famed Greek mathematician, whom according to legend exclaimed "Eureka!" after he discovered a method of determining the purity of gold.
 
Keenan had her eureka moment as a young entrepreneur coming to New Orleans for the 1984 World’s Fair. 
 
“I was working in real estate in North Carolina when I saw this fabulous line of linen clothing at a boat show,” said Keenan. “I knew I wanted to continue my real estate career and move to New Orleans, but I thought people visiting for the World’s Fair weren’t going to understand the heat and humidity. I thought I could earn some extra money by selling this cool clothing line in the French Market and it just really took off.”
 
Keenan quickly outgrew her French Market booth and moved into the French Quarter. Today her store on Royal Street in New Orleans is a well-known spot for both men and women to pick up the best in resort wear — shirts, pants, shorts, dresses, skirts, outerwear, accessories — California Drawstrings has something for everyone to be comfortable and stylish, no matter how high temperatures rise. 
 
California Drawstrings has also expanded to a Magazine Street store, as well as an outlet location on the North Shore in Covington. 
 
“One day Nancy Moynan of Lulu's called me saying the mayor of Bay St. Louis told her about my shop and they thought it would be a good fit for Bay St. Louis,” Keenan said. “I went to see her space at Maggie May’s and opened a Bay St. Louis branch in 2012.” 
 
Just as Keenan faced the familiar problem of outgrowing the space a couple of years later, she heard of a business for sale on Main Street. She saw the building and immediately made an offer. 
 
“I just know Bay St. Louis is a place I want to spend the rest of my life,” Keenan said. “I’ll never really retire, but the pace is so much easier here than in New Orleans. And after a while you just appreciate not having to worry about things like parking.” 
 
Keenan said that besides being a picturesque beach town, what she loves about Bay St. Louis is the people. And Keenan knows people.
 
“I feel like I have the greatest sales team and the greatest managers,” Keenan said. “They look after the stores as if they were their own. The greatest compliment you can give me is that you love my staff. They are truly like family to me watching out for what’s best for all of us. I can’t be in three places at once. And to think I literally started with two tables and $1500 at the French Market.” 
 
When she’s in Bay St. Louis and not at California Drawstrings, chances are you’ll find Keenan at her favorite place to eat: the Sycamore House. 
 
“Their food is very consistent, very good, and they have a great bar and bartender,” Keenan said. “It’s the kind of place where they know your name when you walk in.” 
 
You could say Keenan has struck gold again by moving to the Bay. 

Twin Light Creations
136 Main St
Bay St Louis
(228) 469-0011

Twin Light Creations isn’t just the a shop, it’s a home. Located in one of Old Town’s iconic bungalows, the 1890s building is listed on the city’s historic tour as the Angeline House named for a family from Sicily who once lived in it. 

Today the proud business owners and residents are Pam Collins and Joy Panks, who have created a colorful, whimsical paradise where they live, work and play. Each day they welcome people in and when they lock the shop doors at night, they simply walk out the back door into their apartment in the evening. 

Collins and Panks love having visitors come through the shop and admire their unique home and garden offerings. Shoppers are wowed at the variety of items. It’s easy to see that this shop is a literal dream come true for the owners of Twin Light. 

“We started renting a cottage in Bay St. Louis in 1999 and it just got harder and harder to leave,” said Collins. “We knew one day we wanted to have a shop, but we also knew we wanted it to be something different.” 

At the time Collins was working in the hotel business in New Orleans while Panks was a draftsman, drawing deep water structures. 

“I jumped out of the frying pan with hotels and into the frying pan of retail,” smiled Collins. 

“It’s a lot like having a farm,” Panks added. “Our days start incredibly early and go incredibly late. It makes it hard to travel sometimes.” 

Their whole Twin Light adventure started with travel. While they were still working their former jobs, they took two 6 week trips - one up the East Coast and one to the West Coast. Along the way they met families and artists that made unique goods. By the end of the trips they had a list of 50 vendors they wanted to work with. 

“Some people said we would never make it because we don’t feature many local artists, Collins said. "But we're still proud to be here."

Twin Light does feature local artist Julie Nelson, well-known for raku pottery, but the rest of the items are unique to Old Town Bay St. Louis. 

Lots of wind chimes. hand-blown glass, specially lighting, metal artworks and wine-themed decor items line the walls, shelves and ceilings. 

The bungalow keeps going with beautiful bird fountains near the back and a whole section dedicated to garden and house flags. 

Out the French doors in the back of the shop, Twin Light Creations continues onto an outside deck and stunning garden. The outdoor walls are filled with vibrant Haitian art and spinners blow in the Bay breeze in the backyard. 

Each unique piece has the story of the artist or family behind it, which Collins and Panks are all too happy to share. 

There are many unique lights and lanterns in the shop, which fits the name Twin Light Creations perfectly. The true meaning of the name Twin Light is even more illuminating. 

“We have friends who always call us twin because Joy and I look so much alike,” said Collins. “And the Light is for God.” 

Indeed, images of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary hang above the front window, rescued after Hurricane Katrina from their former shop location right across the street. 

The Sacred Hearts and special twins have found their true home at 136 Main Street and their light is shining bright in Old Town at Twin Light Creations. 

This innovative new program teaches team-building and cutting-edge technical skills while promoting communication and school spirit at Bay High.  It's an artistic win-win. 
  - story by Karen Fineran

Every artist needs to know the rules of the copyright road - to protect themselves against inadvertent infringements and their work from being used without their knowledge.  Attorney and Cleaver Correspondent Karen Fineran manages to make the legalese good reading! 

It's full-tilt boogie spring and Old Town celebrates Second Saturday by "going green!"
- stories by Grace Birch and Kerr Grabowski

One of the liveliest festivals on the coast, Arts Alive! embraces all types of art - including visual, literature, culinary arts, theatre and music - with lots of fun competitions!
- story by Ana Balka, photos by Ellis Anderson

"Art-challenged" friends find a teacher who opens new pathways to creativity - and the healing cycles of life. 
- story by Christina Richardson

A new $8 million dollar, 24,000 square foot facility sets the stage for entertainment and education in Hancock County.
 - by Stacey Cato

The $8.2 million state-of-the-art stage is now set in Kiln, Mississippi. It’s a new, one-of-a-kind performing arts center that will bring new opportunities to area youth. Tibbs says the center will provide varied offerings, so there will be something for everyone.
 
The facility houses a 500-foot orchestra pit, over 2,000 square feet of lobby area complete with gallery-style hanging system, and a spacious backstage make-up and dressing room. The center also has a catering kitchen fully equipped to accommodate guests in final preparations for that big fun-filled family event or special day.  
 
All are invited to the ceremonial ribbon cutting on February 20th, where there will be food, multiple performances, and other live entertainment. Crews have been working around the clock to make this opening an event you don’t want to miss! 
 
Tibbs says the center’s goal is to benefit the entire community and its visitors. "We've never had anything like this in Hancock County! We want to bring in big Broadway plays and other programs that the community will enjoy. The center is not just for Hancock County. We welcome all performing artists to use the facility. It's a place where you can bring the whole family to enjoy concerts, dance recitals, and other aspects of the arts. We want it to be an all inclusive facility."
 
The center will be available for rent upon reservation. Stage productions of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Little Shop of Horrors” have already been booked for the coming months. For more information on upcoming performances and rental dates contact the center at 228-255-6247.

Grand Opening Ceremony  Schedule:
Saturday February 20, 2016
10:00 a.m.
7140 Stennis Airport Drive

10:00- 10:15- Ribbon cutting ceremony and greetings from Mr. Dedeaux
10:15-West Hancock Elementary School
10:20-10:40-Hancock North Central Elementary School
10:45-11:10-South Hancock Elementary School  
11:15-11:35-Hancock Middle School
 
11:35- 12:30- Intermission
 
12:30-12:50-Hancock Middle School’s Performing Arts Club
12:55-1:05-Hancock High School’s Talon Dance Team
1:10-1:30-Hancock High School’ Drama 
1:35-1:40-Hancock High School’s Talon Dance Team
 
1:40--2:00- Intermission
 
2:00- 2:20-- Hancock High School Drama
2:25- 3:00- Hancock High School Symphonic Band

Local performance potter Steve Barney is part of a new program in the works to promote “STEAM” Education On the Coast.
- story by Karen Fineran, photos by Robert Mosley

Later this month, Gulf Coast residents will have the opportunity to see Barney’s STEAMPunk Pottery Project performances in action.  Barney has entered into a strategic partnership with the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art (OOMA) in Biloxi to launch a new educational venture dubbed "STEAMPunk:  AN OHRiginal Enterprise."

The program is designed to integrate the STEAMPunk genre, the "Maker" culture and the experience of making pottery.  The combination of elements will be applied to a unique new educational curriculum. 

On January 30th, from 10am to 6pm on the grounds of the Ohr, Barney will perform a "sneak preview" of the project, informally demonstrating his radically innovative pottery-making machine and techniques.  

Then on March 5th, Barney will be the host and the headliner at OOMA's kick-off event to introduce the new curriculum.  It's scheduled to coincide with "Coast Com" (AKA Comic Com on the Gulf Coast) and the Mississippi Museums Association's annual meeting, being held this year at OOMA.  The March event will feature George Ohr-like circus sideshow performances.

STEAM is a new offshoot of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) school-based educational curriculum, which teaches an engineering approach towards real-world problems while building math and science skills. The nascent STEAM movement seeks to add an “A” to the equation by integrating art into the STEM curriculum. For Barney this would mean applying principles of industrial machinery and engineering to the experience of creating pottery, thereby introducing concepts like rotation, gravity, centrifugal force, engine torque, and mechanical leverage to students.

With an electrical engineering degree from Tufts and a lifelong interest in industrial design, Barney spent 15 years as an instructional design consultant in Boston and created interactive computer simulations for clients like museums and educators.  But Barney had also been throwing clay pottery on the wheel since he was a child growing up in Buffalo, New York.  Creating and teaching ceramic art were always an important part of his life, and he itched to bring his artistic interests and his passion for engineering together.

Barney initially visited New Orleans several times for Jazz Fests; when he made exploratory forays into the surrounding areas, he fell in love with the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Barney bought and renovated several cottages in Old Town Bay St. Louis, throwing himself into the creative process of restoring historic homes. Within a couple of years Old Town became home.

When Barney decided recently to pursue his passion for pottery on a full-time basis, the key was deciding on his own path. “There are literally hundreds of potters working and selling their wares on the Gulf Coast,” he says. “I just couldn’t see myself throwing coffee mugs all day long and then trying to sell them into an oversaturated pottery market. And to me, really, the cognitive process of throwing pottery is more interesting than the product. So I decided to focus on the process.”

Barney’s fascination with industrial machinery had taken a steampunk turn in the late 1990s. Steampunk as a movement incorporates a Victorian industrial aesthetic: think H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, or Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” with a modern sensibility.

While Barney had long felt influenced by the post-apocalyptic “Mad Max” movie series and William Gibson’s cyberpunk novels, his “eyes and mind were blown” when in 1997 he started attending the annual Burning Man art festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. There he got carried away by the outrageously high tech/low tech contraptions, art cars, sculptures, and performance art on display and before long was exploring the diesel punk world of machine-design innovation and folk engineering, fashioning original contraptions out of old flywheels and belt pulleys.

Next came the design and fabrication of Barney’s steampunk extreme pottery-making machine, Agile Argile (French for “agile clay,” pronounced ajeel arjeel). Agile Argile is an odd collection of vintage pottery equipment, industrial-revolution-era machinery, homemade tools, belts, robot arms, and mannequin hands — all powered by a collection of antique motors, belts, pulleys and flywheels. The bizarre and dangerous-looking contraption also includes a flamethrower, lasers, LED lighting, and sound effects.

Barney can use Agile Argile upside down, using reverse gravitational forces to throw an upside down pot by affixing a lump of clay upon its 19th-century cast-iron drill press, which then pulls itself down from its base by gravity.

Upside-down pottery throwing is not particularly novel, Barney explains. Many potters over the years have bolted wheels to the ceiling in their studios and “pulled down” surreally tall structures that are not possible to create on a standard potter’s wheel. Barney chose to further explore the process by inverting his body so his hand-and-body orientation to the wheel and spinning clay could be maintained while he was throwing.

Thus, Barney dons a climbing harness supported by an electric winch, working upside down with a remote control for as long as he can stand it before the dizzying rushing of blood to his brain impels him to re-right himself. When he first started climbing into the harness about 15 months ago, he could only hang for about 45 seconds before blackness oozed across his vision. Now he hangs for about 2 ½ minutes at a time.

Another striking visual feature of Agile Argile is a series of fixed and mounted mannequin hands attached to multi-axis pivoting arms to mimic the potter’s hands performing particular tasks. Functioning simultaneously, they conjure a demented Wizard of Oz or the multi-armed Hindu deity Shiva.

Barney engages audiences in vaudevillian fashion, responding as they shout out to him with pot-throwing guidance. He centers lumps of clay with his bare head, using the eyes of the audience and really involving them in the throwing process — turning a typically solitary endeavor into a collaborative and participatory experience. Individual viewers have unique interactions with the machine, Barney says, and he sees powerful emotional and visceral reactions from the audience.

Barney's relationship with the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art began when he first visited OOMA a couple of years ago and learned about the fantastical works and vaudeville persona of the self-proclaimed “Mad Potter of Biloxi” George Ohr. Ohr was a master of carnivalesque self-promotion, and his pottery shop was an established coast tourist attraction where fascinated visitors could watch the Mad Potter give entertaining performances as they purchased mementos of their trip.

Ohr’s eccentric persona and flair resonated with Barney. “As I walked around the Ohr museum and grounds, I felt like I had come home," Barney said.  Weeks after that visit, Barney dreamed of Ohr himself directing him to carry out Ohr's artistic vision using a steampunk premise. “This concept really belongs at the Ohr Museum,” Barney says. “It’s the right idea at the right place and the right time.”

Barney plans to take his machine to schools, museums, and festivals across the state and pique children’s interest in pottery, as well as inspire passion for learning about engineering, machinery, robotics, and other sciences.

“The steampunk concept really brought it all together for me. I thought, if I could teach pottery as a creative and cognitive process, and incorporate my passion for engineering, then I could gift to the children so many things that I’ve learned over the years. I feel like my ideas have the potential to touch thousands of kids nationwide.”

Barney sometimes appears in Bay St. Louis at Second Saturday and other local events, often in front of the Ugly Pirate bar. For more information about the SteamPunk Pottery Project, email Barney at [email protected].

The most wonderful time of the year anywhere is even better in Bay St. Louis!
 - story by Karen Fineran, photos by Ellis Anderson

Our creative community boasts a bonanza of cool gifts by local artists!
- story and photos by Ellis Anderson and Ana Balka

Yep!  A regular plethora of artists:
and we've hot-linked Cleaver sponsors who represent them!

By some estimates, over 100 artists show work in Old Town.   The established veteran, Gallery 220/Clay Creations (220 Main Street) is home to 22 artists and craftspeople.   The new Bohemian Gallery and  Something Special host around 20 each, right next door to each other.  The French Potager is home to three more.  The Sycamore House and the Starfish Café use their restaurant walls to showcase local artists too.  That’s just on the 200 block of Main!

Just around the corner on Second Street, Antique Maison, Social Chair, Bay Emporium, Flair, and the Mockingbird Café are longtime venues for local artists.  The new Smith & Lens Gallery has gained a statewide reputation for excellence and imaginative shows in the year that it's been open. 

Toward the beach, on the first block of Main Street, Twin Light Creations, Maggie May’s, Jean Anne’s Fashion Express and the new Bay Life Gifts all feature work by superb local artists.  By all means, one can’t forget the iconic Jim Bonner at the Bonner Collection on Beach Boulevard (in French Settlement). Cappie's Point, also in the French Settlement building, is the sponsor of this Arts Alive monthly column! 

In Old Town's Depot District, The Lawson Studio boasts a collection of art to complement the most discriminating decor, while folk art lovers can pick up prints of popular original paints by the renowned Alice Moseley in the museum named in her honor (top floor of the historic depot building).

Antique shops like Magnolia Antiques and Antique Maison Ulman can be gold mines for outsider or collectible vintage art and artifacts.  While it's hard to guarantee their point of origin, by shopping locally, you're still investing in your community while having a blast!

Special Shopping Opportunities!

Happy Holidays from the Crew at the Cleaver!

An artistic family calls on all their construction, real estate and design experience to transform a derelict historic house into a welcoming showplace.
- story and photography by Ellis Anderson

The Rosendahls’ appreciation of art and design spans the decades of their marriage.  The couple both grew up in Naples, Florida and met when Vicki took a job working at an exclusive designer apparel store owned by Ron’s parents.  The two college students found they shared a common interest in art and music and were caught up with the creative energies sweeping the country in the 1960s.  While Ron finished his degree in international business administration, Vicki focused on completing a commercial art degree.
 
 When the two began their family, Ron focused his business savvy on construction, which was booming in the ’70s and early ’80s.  Although his primary business eventually evolved into consulting on large-scale development projects in the Caribbean, Vicki and Ron worked on many upscale residential homes together.  Ron would design and build the house, while Vicki — who had studied further and obtained licenses as an interior designer and a real estate broker — would create a custom and complementary interior.  The team developed a reputation for “making space work.”
 
Vicki’s art background gave her a knack for discovering standout work by local artists — pieces that would become focal points in luxe Naples homes.  Ron, who’d followed his artistic muse despite his busy career, found that his own sculptures were in demand throughout South Florida.  Since he worked mostly in stone at the time, he also had opportunities to design and create award-winning stone altars and fonts for well-known churches.

The couple first visited the New Orleans area in the early ’90s, after son Matt moved there to pursue a Master’s at UNO.  The Rosendahls became regular visitors, even more so after Matt established himself as one of the city’s quality renovation contractors.  When their son purchased a weekend home in Bay St. Louis before Katrina, Vicki and Ron were enchanted from their first visit.  They made plans to build in the town and relocate eventually.
 
Katrina changed those plans, along with those of everyone else on the coast.  Afterward, nothing remained of Matt’s Bay St. Louis house except a single piling.  To complicate matters, Ron began battling a grave and extended illness.  In the coming years, Vicki often wondered if the active life they’d shared was coming to a close.  They downsized from their large Naples house into a small cottage near Cedar Key, Florida, waiting to see what the future would bring.  
 
In 2011, the future delivered, big time.  Matt, who’d continued building and renovating in both New Orleans and in Bay St. Louis, went to Bay St. Louis on the behest of Vicki to check out an abandoned house that she’d seen on the Internet.  Although the interior was wrecked and the structural integrity dubious, the team of three had the vision and experience to make the purchase.  They began the renovation with enthusiasm. 

The project took a year and a half.  Ron’s health began to stabilize and he was able to come to the Bay and work with Matt on occasion.  For instance, the two looked for weeks for a piece of granite large enough to cover the huge kitchen island without a seam.  It had to be big and have “just the right movement.”  Vicki says even though she wasn’t able to visit often, “every decision was a group decision.” But the parents trusted their son’s taste and instincts completely.
 
“Matt’s always got great ideas,” says his mother.  “Most of the time, if he suggested something, we said, ‘just do it.’”  
 
“The three of us brought all the knowledge we’d learned from decades of building to this project,” says Ron.  As an example, he points to a hidden steel beam that added strength to the back structure.  A distinctive feature they collaborated on is the bead-board wainscoting throughout the house:  it’s made from wood salvaged from the original ceilings that had been collapsing when they made the purchase.  Vicki insisted on leaving the original paint colors of taupe, turquoise and ivory, with lots of natural wood showing through the layers.
 
At 2000 square feet, the house is smaller than the Rosendahls are accustomed to, but they say it fits them “just right.”  Their experience with designing well-thought-out spaces shows throughout.  Although it’s three bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths, no space feels cramped.  The high ceilings contribute to the sense of spaciousness.  Comparing them to the lower ceilings common in Florida, Vicki says “it’s opened us up.”  Her studio, outfitted with built-in cabinetry, gives her both room to create and ample storage.  Ron, whose work requires a larger studio, may eventually build one on the home’s large lot, but for now, he’s content with a small cottage in the neighborhood that gives him room to work large.

The couple chose soft beige-grey neutrals for most of the walls to better showcase the artwork.  The colors gives the master suite a restful, spa-like feel.  There’s one exception to the softer wall colors, however:  the Haitian Room.  The couple have an exceptional collection of originals, purchased long ago from Haitian artists who lived in the island’s highlands.  Vicki chose a dark blue for the wall color of the guest room where the collection resides, then used lime green as an accent color.  The effect is somehow a combination of energizing and restful.  
 
The couple have settled happily into their new home, often sitting on the front porch to listen to music coming from Depot Row or watching events unfold on the Depot park lawn.  The entertainment features of the house come in handy.  Matt and his wife, Lauren, divide their time between Bay St. Louis and New Orleans.  Daughter Kerry, who lives in the Bay, along her rescued black Lab Louie (short for Bay St. Louis) comes over often.  Oldest son Chris (who, no surprise to anyone, sculpts as well) and grandson Rider still live in Naples, but they visit several times a year.
 
Even with a revolving roster of family and guests, the Rosendahls admit that their home is a still work in progress.
 
“Come over next time,” says Vicki, “and we’ll have everything all changed around.”  
 
With two such talented artists in the same household, who makes the final decisions on décor? Vicki begins to laugh.  “We don’t always have the same opinions,” she says.  “But in the end, I get my way.”
 
Ron smiles in response and then winks.  “We work it out,” he says.

Artists are unique people.  I can say that with confidence - because I am an artist.  And so is my wife.  As well as one of our daughters. We are familiar with the artist "raison d'etre,' which means we have to do art and be around art to fulfill our sense of purpose and meaning. That's why I have always loved to enter or peek into the private world of other artists' homes.  They construct, paint, spray, and stage everything as if their homes were just another canvas or another gallery to display their work.

The other thing that artists do in their homes is collect or acquire things that energize them and help them to find inspiration and new influences for their own art. Artists' homes can also be fascinating self-portraits about the art they wish they could have done or are hoping to involve in their own art. The secrets and revelations to discover in artists' homes are limitless - just like the unending expressions artists may depict. Artists' homes are their safe place set apart from a world that may not understand them.

Our good fortune is that some artists let us in to walk around and share their personal space. And we are allowed to discover the fascinating and different way others live and embellish their nests. Or how an artist uses their home to find meaning and refuge.. Perhaps it is as the author Pierce Brown says, “Home isn't where you're from, it's where you find light when all grows dark.”

The oldest artists' co-op in Mississippi will celebrating twenty years of providing studio space to some of the state's most creative people during its annual Open House in November.
- story and photos by Karen Fineran

The 20th Annual Open House/Studio Sale of the Bay Artists Co-Op (415 South Necaise Ave.) takes place November 21-22 (Saturday from 10am - 4pm and Sunday 11am - 3pm).  The studio, not normally open to the public except by appointment, opens its doors one weekend each fall for an up-close look at the works of the artists inside.  A wide array of striking art will be on display, including pottery and clay sculptures, paintings, and jewelry.  You will have the opportunity to speak with the artists about their inspirations and techniques, and learn from live demonstrations throughout the weekend.

A cooperative simply is a business or organization that is owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its services.  Started in 1994, the Bay Artists Co-Op is the oldest artists’ cooperative in the state of Mississippi.  Manager and founder Regan Carney began this one, shortly after she moved to Bay St. Louis from Los Angeles in 1992.  (A native New Orleanian, Carney was then working from an artist’s cooperative in L.A.’s Artist District.)   Like many others before her, she was enraptured by the natural beauty, serenity, and safety of the Gulf Coast.

Now that she had found her home, she tackled the project of organizing an artists’ cooperative in this town that would help foster the growing arts community here.  She hunted through town until she found the perfect building to rent, and a small group of other artists eager to share the space and form a cooperative.  Other founding members included other award-winning  artists like Vicki Niolet.

The artists share the monthly rent and utilities of the building (based upon the square footage of their studios inside) and may also share use of the large electric kilns inside.  Over the years, the size of the co-op has ranged from as few as three artists to as many as twelve at a time, and has included clay artists, sculptors, painters, jewelry artists, and metal artists.

In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina’s formidable storm surge partially destroyed the building and completely destroyed the equipment, supplies and art works inside, Carney stepped up to the task of rebuilding the co-op.  Along with some of the volunteer groups staying in town at the time, and with the assistance of grant money from the Mississippi Arts Commission, Carney and her friends and family scoured and repainted the building, and repaired the extensive structural damage to the walls and roof.  (Her husband, fellow co-op artist Mark Buszkiewicz, was nearly killed when he fell from the roof rafters to the cement floor twenty feet below).  About eight months later electricity was restored to the building, some of the artists whose lives had been so disrupted returned to work in their studios there, and the co-op went on.

The 4,000 square foot building surprises and welcomes on the inside with its high, open-raftered ceiling, cinder block walls, and large windows and open doorways that allow for generous sea breezes.  It has an open and flowing layout, with common facilities down a wide central aisle (electric kilns, clay recycling station, storage shelves) and is sectioned off into separate work studios for each of the resident artists (including a sizeable “clean room” for painting and other mediums that may require a dust-free environment).  Studio resident Sadie, a gentle-natured black cat who survived Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in the same studios, lounges about on the cool concrete floors and greets visitors.  

Currently, the artists at the co-op number eight, including Carney.  The other studio artists are clay artists Barney Adams, Gayle Andersson, Mark Buskiewicz, Lynne Harris and Jeanne Pertuit, and painters Janet Densmore and Kathleen Higgins.

Carney’s work has been shown at numerous galleries in Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, Biloxi and Ocean Springs, and can currently be seen and purchased here in town at Gallery 220 and Lawson’s Studio.  Carney offers pottery classes (both throwing and hand building) four days per week.  She recently offered a clay wind chime workshop, and is looking forward to offering her Christmas clay ornament workshop in December.  Other co-op artists also offer workshops and classes; the best way to learn about these opportunities is to speak to the artists during the open house about their work and their instructional techniques.

The open house is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday at 415 S. Necaise Avenue, across the street from the St. Stanislaus football field.  Refreshments will be on hand, as will live blues and folk music by Ivory Bill, featuring Billy Ray Hammons and David Sallis.  For more information, contact Regan Carney at (228) 216-0210 or [email protected].

Things are lively all day and start hopping from 4-8pm.  The November “Hot Spots” are Antique Maison Ulman Mall & Tea Room (317 Ulman Avenue) and The Shoe Boutique (126 Main Street, inside of Maggie May’s Gallery).  Read about them below!

Plucky Alice Moseley, a retired teacher, began her painting career at 65 and moved to Bay St. Louis when she was 80.  For nearly fifteen years after, the red-bereted folk artist charmed and inspired people with her paintings - and her stories.  In the Alice Moseley Museum, she's still doing just that.
- story and photos by Ellis Anderson

When she passed, just before her 95th birthday, the entire town mourned.  Yet Alice Moseley continues to enrich Bay St. Louis through the legacy of a museum named in her honor.  Located on the top floor of the town’s historic depot, it contains forty-seven of her original paintings and an astonishing collection of antique books, toys, glass, pottery.  

The museum is so popular, Myrna Green, director of Hancock Tourism says that over half of the 20,000 people who stopped into the Visitors’ Center last year also visited the museum.  That means over 10,000 people from around the world have enjoyed Alice’s art in the past year alone.  One weekday in late October, this writer found six visitors in the museum.  Two of them were from South Carolina, two were new residents of Biloxi – by way of Australia – and a third couple hailed from England.  It was their third time to visit the museum.  

Last year, the board of Hancock Tourism signed a five-year management agreement with Tim Moseley, museum founder and Alice’s son. They then hired Audre Brook to oversee the day-to-day operations and spread the word about Alice.

Brook is passionate about her work.  She believes that the Moseley Museum is the “best-kept secret in Mississippi.”

“Her zest for life was matchless,” says Brook.  “She painted up until right before her passing.  And she continues inspiring us now.  You can walk through the museum and look at all the portraits and paintings and appreciate how far we’ve come.  Remembering the past makes us better each day, remembering where we’ve come from and what we’ve gone through.”

Tim Moseley said his mother’s values often showed up in her work.  “She had very progressive ideas about civil rights.  My mom wanted to make clear that her paintings were a tribute to the people who survived those times and those injustices…  My mom considered herself one of those people… If you were in Mississippi and you were a sharecropper, it didn’t matter if you were black or white, there wasn’t going to be any cash money come your way.”

Tim attributes a big part of Moseley’s appeal to her storytelling talents, both verbally and in her paintings.

“It’s not just how good an artist is, it’s the stories they tell and how well they connect with people.”

A good example is a one of the museum’s most popular paintings,  called “Labor Vs. Management.”  Alice has painted a farmer trying to plow, but his mule is sitting down.  The farmer in raging at the mule, but it’s clear the creature has no intention of budging.  

Tim Moseley explains the thought behind the painting:  “Either you’re labor and think that your boss asks more than anyone has a right to expect or you’re the boss and you think that your labor’s just sitting down on you while you’re paying good money."

 One of the museum's latest acquisitions is an original painting of Alice’s called “What’s so new about Women’s Lib?” It shows a woman with a child and a small toddler hanging onto her skirts while she’s guiding a plow through a muddy field.  The two mules pulling it look surprised.  On the other side of the painting, there’s a wagon under a tree.  On it sleeps a man and a boy child on a blanket.  He looks supremely relaxed.   A wood cabin in the background of the painting obviously needs a lot of work.

Brook says that “Miss Alice’s” exceptional constitution and ability to take risks comes through in her work.  She’d lived through the suicide of her father when she was still a teenager, the Depression and two world wars.  She survived the loss of her husband and made a major move when she was eighty.

“Miss Alice is our Shero,” Brook says, smiling.  "She was a woman of true courage, someone we all need to emulate in one way or another."  

Alice Moseley’s nephew, Birmingham businessman and frequent Bay St. Louis visitor Mike Krawcheck agrees.  He says that Alice Moseley and the town of Bay St. Louis share the same plucky DNA.  He points to the way the town’s residents showed courage and determination after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as proof of their similarity to his aunt.

“They’re the kind of people who confront adversity and challenge turn it around to everyone’s advantage,” he says.

“My aunt was flat out indefatigable.  She described the time she spent in BSL as the best time of her life.  She flourished there.”

Alice’s son Tim agrees.  “She really did think that the pot of gold was at the end of the rainbow in Bay St. Louis.”