You can view a list of all the artists participating in the tour, with maps to each location, at the Tucson Pima Arts Council web site. My fellow Flux artists will also be participating, with Lee Roy Beach, Mary Vaneecke, and Sheryl Holland setting up shop at Flux Gallery, and C. J. Shane, Dragana Skrepnik, and Peter Eisner hosting visitors at their own studios.

Next Friday and Saturday, July 8 and 9, Flux Gallery will feature small treasures by artists C J Shane, Lee Roy Beach, Mary Vaneecke, Sheryl Holland, and me. I will have several wonderful new small vessels and some new bottle stoppers. Our show will coincide with the summer Zuni fetish show at Grey Dog Trading Company, our neighbor at Plaza Palomino. Special for the show, we will offer a 10% discount on small works at Flux with a same-day receipt from Grey Dog; Grey Dog will reciprocate by offering 10% off of its Zuni fetishes with a same-day receipt from Flux. Flux will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Grey Dog, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Come out and celebrate small with us!

Plaza Palomino is located in Tucson at 2960 N Swan Road (at Fort Lowell Road). Flux Gallery is in Suite 136; Grey Dog, in Suite 138.

The mission of the Primavera Foundation is to provide pathways out of poverty through safe, affordable housing, workforce development, and neighborhood revitalization. It addresses the systemic causes of homelessness by providing a continuum of services designed to move people out of poverty and into a self-sustaining life. These services include: street-level outreach, drop-in services, emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent affordable housing, workforce development, financial education, homeownership opportunities, and neighborhood revitalization.

Join us at Flux on Friday, January 21, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. to support this important and necessary organization. Add beauty to your home and help someone else find a home at the same time.

The Ben’s Bells Project, begun by Ben’s family to commemorate Ben’s sudden death at age two, has as its mission is “to inspire, educate and motivate each other to realize the impact of intentional kindness and to empower individuals to act according to that awareness, thereby changing our world.”

Ben’s Bells are beautiful ceramic wind chimes, crafted and assembled by hand by people all over Tucson and beyond. By the time a Ben’s Bell is assembled, at least ten people have worked on it, making it a true community effort. Ben’s Bells are not for sale. Twice a year, hundreds of Ben’s Bells are hung randomly in public places around Tucson and beyond, with a written message to simply take one home and pass on the kindness. The only way to get a Ben’s Bell is to find one or to be “Belled.” To date, more than 17,510 Ben’s Bells have been released.

The point? To remind people how much power they have each day to make the world a better place simply by being kind.

Help support this organization by joining us at Flux on Saturday, January 22, from 5 to 8 p.m., for “Connecting through Kindness: An Evening of Art.” Learn more about Ben’s Bells and how to get involved at their web site, bensbells.org.

Flux Gallery is located at Plaza Palomino in Tucson, at the southeast corner of Swan and Fort Lowell Roads, in Suite 136, across from Dark Star Leather and next to Abstrax Salon and Day Spa. Its normal business hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Flux Gallery will feature small works for sale on Friday and Saturday, December 10 and 11, 2010, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., in conjunction with Grey Dog Trading Company’s annual winter Zuni fetish show. (Grey Dog is just a few doors away from Flux at Plaza Palomino.) Customers who present a same-day receipt from Grey Dog will receive a 10% discount on the small works at Flux, or Flux customers can present a same-day receipt from Flux at Grey Dog to receive a 10% discount on their fetishes.

In addition to the small works by member artists Carol Ann, Lee Roy Beach, Peter Eisner, Maurice Sevigny, Shirley Wagner, and me, we will also have work by incoming Flux member Katherine Minott, a photographer with a love of color and texture. Katherine won’t officially be joining Flux until January, but this show will give visitors a preview of what is to come.

Join us next weekend at Plaza Palomino, and give your loved ones the gift of beauty this season. For further information, please contact Flux (520-299-5983) or Grey Dog (520-881-6888) directly.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters Southwest Flair A-Fair is coming up soon, November 5 to 7 (Friday–Sunday), 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, at Plaza Palomino. It’s an excellent chance to get started on your holiday shopping while supporting a terrific cause. I will be in my usual location, booth 88, in the east parking lot, close to La Placita Cafe. I will also have work up in Flux Gallery in the plaza.