President’s Letter: Greetings! I can’t believe it’s time to say goodbye to our members who fly north in the summer! I wish you didn’t have to leave. I’m extremely happy that we have secured another exhibit at the Naples Art Association’s von Liebig Art Center! The Board of Directors has chosen the theme Ride the Color Wheel. The Prospectus will be distributed in late May or early June, but please be planning ahead, and mark your calendars with the important dates: Receiving: Tuesday, October 7, 2014, 11 AM – 2 PM; Reception: Friday, October 10, 5:30 – 7:00 PM; Removal: Friday, November 7, 11 AM – 1 PM. A call for volunteers will go out this summer, so please be thinking of how you can help. We have five months to create new pieces for this exhibit, so hit your studios and get to work! Many of you met my mosaic artist friend from Colorado, Jeanne Gregor, at our April meeting. She is a part-time resident of Naples, and she arrived at the end of March, just in time to visit our exhibit in Marco. She raved about the high quality of work in the exhibit and the high level of creativity. She also said that while she was in the gift shop, one of the staff members remarked that they thought it was the best exhibit they had ever had there! I’m not sure if it is worth the gargantuan effort it would take to have another exhibit in Marco, but it is very nice to hear nonetheless! Speaking of the Marco exhibit, Removal was particularly hectic as we scrambled to pack up all the artwork for those who could not make it to Marco that day. Many arranged to bring home other members’ pieces, and there were also those who forgot that it was Removal day. Remember, it is a big undertaking to take responsibility for the safe transport and return of other artists’ work. In a number of instances packing materials had not been provided for the return of pieces, placing art work at greater risk during transport. This is not what anyone wants! Finally, if anyone has packing materials that were used to return their work, for instance packing boxes and tote bags which may belong to others, please get them to me and I will try to return them to their proper homes. Some may have owners’ names on them. We must do a better job of working Removal in the future! At the urging of some members (you know who you are) and Doug, I am trying to lighten my workload. While I still love being President, the toll the job takes on me is too much, both in terms of the time I spend and the stress involved with having too much to do. I need a bit more personal time and more time to create. I have been thinking of ways that individual jobs can be pulled out of my repertoire and assigned to others. This will not only help me, but it will provide more volunteer opportunities for Guild members as we move through time. Volunteering will always be required to participate in exhibits, and as we grow, we will need more jobs. I am delighted that my first two ideas for jobs were immediately filled at the April Board meeting, and I thank those who stepped up. Phyllis Rieser and Francine Gerson are going to organize the annual new member luncheons, and Joe Noe is going to distribute newsletters and important emails to those who do not have internet access or access to a printer. Thank you! One other job is to organize our People’s Choice Awards at our exhibits, since the membership has reported that the awards are a good idea and should continue. More details can be found in the volunteer section below. I plan to identify other jobs this summer, and will share them with you in the August newsletter. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer! Warm wishes, Lorraine Southwest Florida Fine Craft Guild Business Meeting Minutes – April 19, 2014 Meeting called to order 1:00 PM by President Lorraine Capps. Matters discussed and acted upon: > New members were welcomed and asked to introduce themselves and their fine craft. > The new officers for the 2014 – 2015 year were introduced. > Lorraine asked for affirmation and received it for continuation of the People’s Choice Awards at our exhibits. She then presented the PC awards for Marco Is. exhibit to Rose Young(absent), Sue Vorobel and Jim Sobel. She also recognized Andrew Corke and Bobbi Robertson for their award/achievements at the Ding Darling event. > Marco Is. Center gift shop requirements were presented and discussed. > Motion made and approved to accept minutes of March meeting. > Lorraine announced that Shelly the Sea Horse now resides at Royal Shell on Sanibel, who sponsored our effort. Also, that $380K in total was raised in this project. > Lorraine announced that we have secured a new exhibit at von Liebig/Naples in Oct-Nov, 2014. The theme selected is Ride the Color Wheel and prospectus will be ready in May. > Dee Cooper, Treasurer, gave treasurer report. Our current balance is $5,785.52 and reported anticipated income and expenses. > Lorraine updated our interaction with Alliance for Arts and Dir.Lydia Black. Lydia is requesting our participating in two more Artists @ Work next season because of the success of our initial event. > Lorraine announced that the Board had approved awarding four $150.00 grants to the Alliance for needy summer camp kids. > Phyllis Rieser, Volunteer Chair, announced that Trudy Sampson had stepped up as Scholarship Chair, Lynn Ondercin stepped up to take Trudy’s place on the hospitality committee, Phyllis and Francine Gerson stepped up to oversee the New Members Luncheon, Joe(and Sandy)Noe stepped up to produce and disseminate hard copies of the Newsletter and other communications to those members who don’t have email access. (TY all). > Jeanne Kostrub gave report on the Guild sales case and explained the whole process for the benefit of new members. New members will have the month of April solely for them and should be in contact with Jeanne by Dec, to reserve space as a collective presentation. > Kathy Erickson, Membership Chair, made yearbooks available to new members. > Lorraine noted that a number of our members also belong to Quilters Group that is putting on an exhibition at the Community Foundation in Ft Myers April 25. > Dale Eulitz noted that she has her work on exhibit at the Cape Coral Library. > Anna Marie Jacobi, our Member Emeritus, announced that she is ‘retiring’ to a residence in Milwaukee by Sept., having sold her home and started the process of selling off the contents, including her accumulated art works. Fortunately she plans to continue working in clay at this facility. We shall miss her! > Bobbi Robertson gave instruction to volunteers at exhibit ‘takedowns’. Please don’t put stickers on art work and treat the pieces as they were your own. > Lorraine reminded all about the CCAS upcoming exhibit MAY’S BOUQUETS. Receiving is April 28 and your participation is encouraged. > Sandi Krym, Community Outreach Chair, explained our participation with the food pantry, collection of ink cartridges that benefit our troops, and aluminum can tabs for Ronald McDonald House and other out reach programs. > Toni Ory reported on the Ding Darling Art Event along with other members who participated and the possibility of participating next year. > 50/50 winner was Dale, who picked the Guild’s portion to be donated to Holiday for Heroes ($60.00). > This portion of the meeting was adjourned at 1:53 PM. > Angela Aradia then gave a terrific presentation on the Art of Critiquing. This was followed with a direct example with pieces from Sue Housler and Angela. > A ‘buy-sell-trade’ was conducted in the clay lab. > The meeting then ended with a gift exchange enjoyed by all. Respectfully submitted: Jim Sobel, Secretary      Sue Archer has completed her book Beginning Glass Fusing Notes. It is intended as a foundation for artists entering this field and meant to accompany classes. The booklet is about 60 pages and includes a well-researched description of the basic firing phases, an extensive bibliography, as well as a problem and solution table. Sue is offering this reference book for $20, which is the cost of printing. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please email Sue at [email protected]. Pam Bradfield’s piece Sunflowers was on exhibit at the Ft. Myers Art League from April 4 -April 25. Andrew Corke’s piece, Death Owl, won third prize at the Ding Darling Upcycle Art Festival! Renee Farr has a new email address: [email protected]. Francine Gerson has a new email address as well: [email protected].    Joan Klutch is teaching a watermedia workshop in East Hampton, NY from July 29-31, 2014. If you are interested, you may contact Joan at [email protected] or 516-578-8095. Bonnie Langenfeld won first place for two fiber pieces at the Art Quilters Unlimited Show at the SWFL Community Foundation: Glorious Everglades and Blue Winter. Joe and Sandee Noe entered a contest at McMow Art Glass, in Lake Worth FL, www.mcmow.com. Sandee won the Employee's Pick for Best in Show of all five categories for her fused glass piece Walking By Woods! Joe won Third Place in Mosaics for Toucan, and First Place in Fusing for Moonrise at Jupiter Lighthouse!  Gloria Winer’s telephone number is incorrect in the Yearbook. The correct number is 732-581-3740. MAY, 2014 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 1. 4. 5. 6. NATIONAL PET WEEK EL CINCO DE MAYO NATIONAL TEACHER DAY 11. 12. 13. RECEIVING Co-op Art Gallery 10-1 7. 8. 19. SATURDAY 2. 3. RECEPTION May’s Bouquets, CCAS 5-7 PRC Committee Meeting 10:30 CCAS 9. 10. Deadline for online submission, SBDAC, Elements of Artchitecture 14. 15. FULL MOON Notification: All Florida Juried Exhibition, Alliance for the Arts 18. FRIDAY 16. 17. RECEPTION Co-op Art Gallery 5-7 Board Meeting 10:30 CCAS Jury Notification of Acceptance, SBDAC, Elements of Artchitecture 20 21. 22. 23. 24. 31. Receiving VAC’s Made By Hand Fine Crafts Exhibit 9-12 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. MEMORIAL DAY Receiving, All Florida Juried Exhibition, Alliance for the Arts, 9-5 NEW MOON Reception VAC’s Made By Hand Fine Crafts Exhibit 78:30 REMOVAL May’s Bouquets, CCAS 9-3 Reception All Florida Juried Exhibition, Alliance for the Arts, 5-7:30 JUNE, 2014 SUNDAY 1. MONDAY 2. TUESDAY 3. WEDNESDAY 4. THURSDAY 5. Delivery of Artwork, SBDAC, Elements of Artchitecture 8. 9. FRIDAY 6. SATURDAY 7. Opening Reception, SBDAC, Elements of Artchitecture 10. 11. 12. 13. RECEPTION Co- 14. op Art Gallery 5-7 RECEIVING Co-op Art Gallery 10-1 15. 16. Removal VAC’s Made By Hand Fine Crafts Exhibit 9-12 17. 18. 19. 20. FATHER’S DAY 22. 21. SUMMER SOLSTICE 23. 24. 25. 26. Show Closes & Removal, SBDAC, Elements of Artchitecture Removal, SBDAC, Elements of Artchitecture 27. 28. RAMADAN BEGINS Show Closes All Florida Juried Exhibition, Alliance for the Arts 29. 30. Removal All Florida Juried Exhibition, Alliance for the Arts, 9-5 IN MEMORIAM: WEB SITE: Sadly, June Bennett’s husband, Dick, passed away on April 11. June sends her thanks for all the expressions of sympathy from Guild members. Please take the time to check out the Guild’s newly-designed web site: www.swflfinecraftguild.org. Our web master, Nancy Giffin, has been hard at work updating it, and it looks absolutely fabulous! You will find Guild documents, brochures, information about the peer review process, photos of our artists’ work, contact information for our members, a calendar, important links to other organizations’ web sites, and a host of other information. Please check your personal information by clicking on the Artists Members button, and make sure your information is correct. If you have changes to your info or ideas for the web site, feel free to contact Nancy. She is looking for more photos to post, so send her your photos that you would like added to the site. Everyone should take the time to share our web site with your friends, email connections, social media contacts, and everyone you can think of to help spread the word about what a fantastic organization the Guild is! And for those of you who are not active on Facebook, you can still NEW MEMBERS: Information regarding how each new member was recruited is included here to demonstrate the varied circumstances in which new members can be found. If you always keep a new member application with you, and if you keep recruiting in the front of your mind, it will make a huge difference in the number of new members we acquire! New member applications have recently been printed and were distributed at the March meeting. They can also be downloaded from our web site: www.swflfinecraftguild.org. Please welcome our new members: Jay Lana, Sculpture; 239 -691-2820; 2102 SE 15th Street, Cape Coral, FL 33990; [email protected]; retrosteamworks.com. Toni Ory recruited Jay at the Ding Darling Upcyle event! Sandra May Roshan, Jewelry; 239-333-9479; 1143 NW 20th Place, Cape Coral, FL 33993; [email protected]. Judy Van recruited Sandra May! Gretta Storrs, Jewelry; 315-427-8549; 10645 Pelican Preserve Blvd. #201, Ft Myers, FL 33913; [email protected]. Toni Ory also recruited Gretta at the Upcycle event! NEWS FROM THE VP COMMITTEE: The VP Committee is actively looking for exhibit venues, and in that regard, is looking for exhibit themes. The Board has approved a list of themes so that proposals can be sent out quickly if a venue comes to our attention. However, we can never have too many theme ideas, and since hopefully we will be sending out additional proposals in the near future, we are still in need of ideas. Toni Ory is our Keeper of Themes, so let her know all of your suggestions. Also, if you have ideas for judges to hire for our exhibits, please let Toni know. She will compile a list of judges to bring before the Board for approval. All themes and judges will be Board-approved in the future. Thank you, Toni! MEMBERSHIP UPDATE: check out our Facebook page by clicking on the Facebook button on the left-hand side of the site! Thank you, Nancy, for continuing to do a fantastic job! CCAS GUILD CASE: The Guild’s display case is located in Building 2 of CCAS. CCAS retains 30% of the sales, so work should be priced accordingly. Contact Jeanne Kostrub to reserve your spot: 239-731-1302; [email protected]. New members should take advantage of this opportunity! The Board has decided that beginning in April of 2015, each April will be new members’ month in the case. New members will be able to put one piece in the case for that month. We want to continue to encourage new members and members who have never shown in the case to take advantage of this opportunity so that we can have fresh work and more people participate. May 2014: June 2014: July 2014: August 2014: September 2014: October 2014: November 2014: December 2014: January 2015: Sandra May Roshan Martha Grattan Nancy & Bill Giffin Toni Ory Judy Van June Bennett Dale Eulitz Alex Chung Craft Bash Workshop Examples We currently have 95 members! Let’s all please put an effort into recruiting this spring and summer to increase that number by fall! Keep membership brochures handy, and be aware of potential new members! Send any changes to your information in the Yearbook directly to Kathy Erickson at: [email protected] anytime! Remember to keep your Yearbooks up-to-date by adding contact information for new members and updates on current members as they are published in the Newsletters. CO-OP ART GALLERY UPDATE: Total Gallery sales for March were $7,422. Total Guild sales were $2,751. That is 37% of sales for the month! Bonita’s sales were $1,581. Congratulations to all the Guild members who sold in March! The gallery sitting schedule can be found on the Art Council’s web site: www.acswf.org. If you must change your sitting date, it is your responsibility to find a replacement AND you must email Ginny Whiteman at [email protected]. Ginny must have updated information regarding the sitting schedule. In order to participate in the Gallery, you must be a member of the Guild for three months and you must attend two business meetings. ALLIANCE FOR THE ARTS: The Alliance’s annual members’ exhibit is Diametrically Opposed, and the exhibit runs from August 8 – 29, 2014. Watch for the Prospectus on their web site. Alliance memberships cost $50, and you can always signup during Receiving. You may download the Prospectus by going to www.artinlee.org. You will find a full listing of upcoming exhibits on the Alliance’s web site as well. ART BY VETERANS: The Caloosahatchee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is making a call for all veterans for an art show they will be hosting at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center (SBDAC) November 7 - 21, 2014. The exhibition is open to all veterans and for artwork of any subject matter and medium. There is no size limitation, but all hanging work must be either matted or framed. Artists must submit their bios, image of artwork, dimensions, and sales price by August 1, 2014. Please submit this information to: [email protected]. All work is to be delivered to The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center by November 3, 2014 and picked up from the gallery November 22, 2014. A private reception will be held on November 7 from 4:30 - 6:00 PM. Artists will receive 50% of the sales price for any work sold during the exhibition, SBDAC will receive 30%, and DAR will receive 20%. DAR’s percentage will be used to fund projects to help veterans and children. For further information please contact: Sonia Lomano, DAR Service for Veterans, 239-470-3474, [email protected]. exhibits that each need small armies of volunteers, and Chairs and Board members who need help with specific tasks. We will always have special events such as Craft Bash and Artists@Work, and hopefully many additional opportunities we can only imagine now as we continue to grow and expand our work. In addition, Lorraine will be creating new positions in the future to help lighten her load. COMMON THREADS AT THE VAC: Advertising Chair and Committee: New members Joe and Sandee Noe are our new Advertising Co-Chairs! Thank you for stepping up so quickly to help the Guild with this important job! The VP Committee and the Board in general will help them get started and all members can help as well. We have distributed our new Sponsorship Brochure, which can also be downloaded from our web site. This is an important and effective tool to help us gain sponsors and advertisers. We can all help by asking our doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. to advertise or be sponsors. The brochure will do the work for us, if we leave it with every possible lead we can think of. We do not have to restrict ourselves to local businesses. Think of the businesses you deal with and support. Remind them of the value of your support: kiln companies, art supply retailers, teachers, art centers, use your imagination. The new Yearbook will be printed this summer, and we can use all the advertisers we can get. Advertising in the Yearbook is only $50. Sponsorships for our exhibits are something new that we can explore. We should approach this from the aspect of how beneficial it will be to them if they advertise or become a sponsor. We have members from Punta Gorda to Naples, and we can provide a tremendous amount of exposure for advertisers. Common Threads announces their juried exhibition of fiber art, Joy of the Unexpected, at the Visual Arts Center of Punta Gorda, December 3 – 29, 2014. Receiving is Tuesday, December 2, from 9 AM – 12 NOON. All work must be completely original, completed within the last two years, fiber related, less than 60” wide by 84” long, and ready to hang. Three entries per artist will be allowed. The cost is $10 per entry for Common Threads members, and $20 per entry for non-Common Threads members. You may join before November 1, 2014. For further information call 941-639-8810, or visit the VAC’s web site at www.visualartcenter.org. SIDNEY AND BERNE DAVIS ART CENTER (SBDAC): Elements of ARTchitecture is the SBDAC’s annual juried art exhibit, and this year they are celebrating the restoration of the Art Center. They are asking artists to explore all elements of architecture, both constructed and deconstructed, in 2D and 3D. Online entry deadline is May 9, 2014. For more information, go to www.sbdac.com or their Facebook page. You may also call 239-333-1933. VISUAL ART CENTER OF PUNTA GORDA (VAC): The VAC’s annual Made By Hand Fine Crafts Exhibit is perfect for our members and is coming up in May! Receiving is Wednesday, May 21 from 9 AM – 12 Noon. The Reception is Thursday, May 29 from 7:00 – 8:30 PM. Removal is Friday, June 13 from 9 AM – 12 Noon. The exhibit will be open from May 23 – June 12. This exhibit is judged but not juried: All work that meets the criteria of the exhibit will be accepted. This exhibit is for fine art crafts designed and made with hand tools, a functional object used for a purpose, including but not limited to: clothing, furniture, jewelry, lamps, musical instruments, rugs, utensils, etc. Every piece must be original. Work from molds and kits are not accepted. The exhibit chairperson will determine eligibility at the time of entry. This exhibit is open to both members and non-members of the VAC. The Prospectus is available on the VAC’s web site listed below. The VAC’s Firecracker Exhibit is coming in July and is also only judged. It is open to all media and members and non-members alike. The Prospectus will be made available on the web site approximately one month before receiving date. Other VAC exhibits may be of interest to our members as well. Please check out their web site: www.visualartcenter.org for their full exhibit schedule, Prospectuses, and other information. You may also call 941-6398810. If you need a hard copy of any Prospectus, please notify Lorraine Capps. GUILD T-SHIRTS: Sue Archer delivered our new Guild t-shirts at the December meeting, which were created by her husband, Neil. A huge thank you goes out to both of them for a job well-done. If you’d like to purchase one of the extra t-shirts that were ordered, contact Dee Cooper. Buddy System: Established members who are active in the Guild are assigned to a new member and make themselves available to explain all facets of Guild activities, answer all questions and concerns, sit with new members during meetings, and generally help them become informed and feel comfortable as quickly as possible. Phyllis has a pool of people to pull from when new members join, and we had more people sign up at the March meeting! We can always use more people, so please let Phyllis know if you’d also like to participate. Scholarship Chair and Committee: Trudy Sampson is our Scholarship Chair, and Analilia & Randy Clay and Gloria Winer her committee! Thank you for filling these important positions! we can expand our scholarship program, and encourage even young people to follow their artistic dreams! new form Now more Hospitality: Lynn Ondercin has taken Trudy Sampson’s place on the Hospitality Committee! Thank you, Lynn for stepping up so quickly! New Members’ Luncheon Coordinators: This position was filled as soon as it was created! Thank you to Phyllis Rieser and Francine Gerson for stepping up and adding this responsibility to everything you already do for the Guild! Newsletter Distributor: This position was also filled instantly when Joe Noe volunteered to add it to his responsibilities as Advertising Chair! Thank you, Joe! He will be distributing hard copies of the Guild and Art Council newsletters to those who do not have internet access and/or printers, as well as important emails. If you need to have hard copies printed for you, you may contact Joe at [email protected]. People’s Choice Awards: This position would include creating and gathering all the supplies necessary for the People’s Choice Awards, as well as tabulating the final count. All Upcoming Exhibits: We will always need volunteers for Receiving, Installation, database entry & program creation, Receptions, and Removal for upcoming exhibits. FRIENDSHIP MEETINGS: Although we have recently filled many volunteer positions, we will never be without volunteer needs, and we will always require volunteering in order to participate in Guild exhibits. We frequently have people approach Phyllis and/or Lorraine privately who need help, we still have committees that could use more members, we have future Friendship meetings are our way of providing more opportunities for us to get together in a relaxed, social setting. The hosts simply provide nonalcoholic drinks and paper products, and the attendees supply everything else. The hosts may choose the day of the week and the time of day. Contact Lorraine if you are interested in hosting. Hosting and attending Friendship Meetings do not count toward Guild volunteer requirements. COMMUNITY OUTREACH From our Community Outreach Chair, Sandi Krym: We collected a record amount of food for CCMI at our April meeting PLUS I gave them $115.00 in cash & checks! They were thrilled and I felt great taking it to them! I called the Ronald Mc Donald House to verify the address for the 50/50 check from March's meeting for $38.00. I told the person I spoke to who I was, what SWFFCG is and what I was sending. I told her it was not a huge amount, but we hoped it would help. She was VERY appreciative and happy to have Ronald McDonald House chosen to receive the money. She assured me that ANY amount would be put to good use and was very much appreciated. Here's a list of other possibilities, including some things we've already talked about and do, but hopefully will serve as a reminder. Give2TheTroops' Corporate Branch: They will accept used printer ink cartridges, old cell phones, PDA, GPS units, etc. They recycle these items and use the money earned for postage to send CARE packages to US troops deployed abroad. I have ordered their starter kit and will gladly handle collecting and sending to them. There is an extensive list of ink cartridges they can use on their website, but it is far too long to include in its entirety here. www.CCCashUSA.com/give2thetroops. Ronald McDonald House: Please save pop top rings, found on soft drink cans, pet food cans, soup cans, and many fruit and vegetable cans. Jim Sobel's car club collects them, and I give the ones I collect to the Cape Coral Hospital Auxiliary's Thrift Shop where they have a collection point. Either of us will be happy to take them. St.Jude’s Ranch for Children: They are collecting used greeting cards of all kinds. Volunteers are crafting them into new cards and selling them to raise funds for the ranch. Terminally ill children go there for a week of camp. (My sister makes and donates quilts for the children to have while they are there and then to take home with them when they leave the ranch.) www.stjudesranch.org. If anyone hears of any other worthy cause that we, as a group, or any of us individually can help with, please let me know. Phil and I are hoping to leave for our summer home in Georgia in the middle of May. My email address will remain the same as shown in the membership directory and my summer address is in the directory also. I would recommend that everyone just hang on to anything they are collecting until we get back in the Fall, but if anyone wants to send anything to me I'll be glad to take it over the summer. Sandi From Jim Sobel: I stopped in to see Jonette Kessack at Sip & Send and present her with the 50/50 drawing check for Holiday for Heroes. I explained what we had done and gave her the check and she was in tears; not just because of the Guild's generous support, but she explained that someone had donated the contents to fill four 'care packages' that they wanted to send to Afghanistan but they didn't have the postage. And here we arrive like angels. She was so very grateful and asked me to pass that along to Guild members. I had previously dropped off the info forms re advertising/supporting the Guild and discussed same with her. I reminded her about the benefits of advertising with the Guild and she said she would do something. She came out to my car as I was ready to pull out and told me she would be doing a combo ad and would put the info together and mail it in. She also said she would like to do more, possibly an exhibit award (my suggestion) depending on how business holds up. So there you have it; good news + good news to start another day in paradise. Jim LONG TERM PLANNING: Please be thinking ahead, as we have the following Guild exhibits coming up in the future. Themes have been approved by the Board of Directors and have been assigned to our exhibits for next season:    Visual Arts Center (VAC), Goff Gallery, Punta Gorda, January, 2015. EXTRA DIMENSIONS. Cape Coral Arts Studio (CCAS) February, 2015, A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE. Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center (SBDAC) July, 2015. ART ATTACK. Our eligible winners from our exhibits will participate in the Council’s Winners Circle Show in March of 2015. We will also have the next Art Council Spring Show open to all Guild members in February of 2016. Pertinent dates for these exhibits can be found in the Art Council newsletters, and will be published here as they get closer. Check the Art Council’s web site, newsletters, and brochure for other art leagues’ exhibits that are open to all Art Council members. METAL DISPLAY STANDS: The metal artist who created Louis Ford’s display stands is Byron Wood of Metalsmith Designs, Inc.: 12581 Metro Parkway #17, Fort Myers, FL 33966; Email: [email protected]; www.metalsmithdesigns.com; www.byronmwood.com. Phone: 239-936-6720; Fax: 239-561-0286; Cell: 239633-3469; It is best to call ahead and make an appointment, but feel free to stop in any time as you may be able to catch him. He will make custom display stands for your work at a reasonable cost, and will make one at a time, or a larger number. Lorraine Capps and Phyllis Rieser have also had stands made by Byron, and are extremely pleased with the results. Lorraine is actively trying to recruit Byron, whose metal art is even more fabulous than his display stands! AN UPDATE ON SHELLY THE SEAHORSE: Shelly the Seahorse is currently residing at Royal Shell Vacations on Sanibel: 1547 Periwinkle Way. If you have never seen her, it’s worth the trip to Sanibel! GOAT MILK SOAP: Laid Back Ranch in Arcadia makes goat milk soap out of milk from the goats that they buy from Kathy Erickson! How’s that for knowing where your products come from? Like their Facebook page: LBR Soaps, and you can purchase from their Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lbrsoaps. The soaps are made in several different scents. SAVE THE DATE: Craft Bash 2015 will be held on Sunday, January 25, 2015! Please mark your calendars!