New Year, New Digs!

New year, new digs! The Shops at the Gallery at 206 W 10th St. in Lamar is closing, so Peaceacre is on the move. We'll be sharing info about the new location soon. We are moving to a larger space, where we'll be better suited to serve our wholesale customers. But rest assured, Peaceacre will maintain a retail space as well. Watch this page for news. 2012 is going to be the best year ever! Thanks, everybody, for supporting Peaceacre all these years. Have a fun and peaceful new year!

New Hours and New Stuff!

Peaceacre is expanding! I've added tons of unique, fun gift items, as well as boutique style AFFORDABLE clothing, so come check out what's new! Our hours are Wed-Fri, 11:00  to 5:30. Come enjoy new art displays every month, and shop for stuff you won't find anywhere else in Lamar! 

Here's a photo gallery of the shop and a few of the newest items on the shelf. Enjoy!

 

What's New at Peaceacre

Peaceacre is now permanently located inside the Arts Council Gallery at 206 West 10th Street, Lamar, just west of the historic town square. The Gallery is the coolest place to visit in Lamar, but the hardest place to define. Is it a working art gallery, featuring a continually changing display of artwork and photography by local and regional artists? YES! Is it a shop, offering a wide variety of handmade items crafted by local artisans? YES! Is it a gourmet bakery? YES! Is it an incubator for artists and craftspeople seeking an inexpensive, low-risk opportunity to start the creative business of their dreams? YES! Is it an artistic community center where groups of people, from writer’s circles, to fiber arts fans, to Open Mic Night musicians and poets and beyond can meet to share and explore their interests in a comfortable, nurturing, and even “funky-cool” setting? YES! Is it a FREE WIFI hotspot? YES! Is it an arts classroom, with a special focus on providing free art classes for children? YES! Is it a concert venue, featuring live music by area musicians across a wide spectrum of musical styles, from folk, to jazz, to classical, to rock and roll, and more? YES! 

And now, it is also the exclusive home of Peaceacre!  The Gallery is open Wednesday through Friday from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM. Come check it out! Lots of new stuff!

COLLEEN BRAND TO BE APRIL FEATURED ARTIST AT THE ARTS COUNCIL GALLERY

Local artist Colleen Brand loves color, and the vibrant hues in her many nature and travel inspired paintings seem to literally leap off the canvas, drawing the viewer into scenes that challenge us to experience, as if for the very first time, the profound, yet whimsical beauty of the world around us. Whether the subject is a Puerto Rican rain forest hut (complete with hot tub!), deer grazing in a Southwest Missouri wood, or her beloved schnauzer "Pookie" peeking slyly from the window of a passing car, Colleen's paintings show us, not only what these images "look like" to the eye, but how they "feel" when the eye, heart and imagination work together to catch a glimpse of the magic hidden beneath life's surface.

Colleen was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1940. She moved to Jasper, Missouri in 1970, and later to Lamar. Her first job in the area was at Judy's Cafe in Jasper, followed by 30 years of service with O'Sullivan Industries. She worked for several years at Summer Fresh, Wal-Mart and Lamarti's, and even moved briefly to Tallahassee, Florida to work in construction, before returning to Lamar and retiring in 2009.

She got her start as an artist when she opened "Herbs R Food & Gift Chalet," a store on the Lamar Square selling herbs, gifts and handmade ceramics. Her friends Steve Ortner and his wife taught her how to make the ceramics, and she took naturally to painting small decorative scenes on items before their final glazing. Upon retirement, she rediscovered her talent for painting, and now gives full expression to her love of nature, travel, life and color on canvas instead of pottery. In the few short years since taking up the brush in 2009, she has produced more than 150 paintings.

Her work will be on display throughout the month of April in The Arts Council Gallery at 206 W 10th St., Lamar, on the northwest corner of the Square. An artist's reception will be held Saturday, April 2nd, from 2 PM to 4 PM at the Gallery, with hors d'oeuvres, drinks and sweet treats catered by The Wild Plum Cafe and Colleen's granddaughter, Brandi Beam. Both Saturday's reception and the full April art show are free and open to the public. All are invited to come and meet the artist Saturday afternoon, and to enjoy her work all month.

How to find Peaceacre products!

Had a wonderful time at the Cecil Floyd handmade show in Joplin. Met a lot of very cool people, This show draws a HUGE crowd! From 9:00, when the doors opened, until around 1:00 PM or so, there were never less than 30 people in the room we were in, shopping, talking, and generally having a great time together. This was my first year at Cecil Floyd. The lesson I learned this year is that I DEFINITELY need more stock in future years. The Spa Salt Bars sold out early. And I sell them as fast as I can make them in my shop, as well. I played around with this spa salt bar recipe, and finally think I got it right. The feedback has all been positive.

The question everyone was asking at Cecil Foyd was. "Where can we find you? Where do we go to buy your products? We can't find them in the stores or on-line..."

As I have said before, after the holidays I will be shutting down the Artfire store and switching to Etsy. And I will list all of the favorites - handmade spa salt bars, lotion bars, and of course all the soaps you have come to know and love. And yes, French Green Clay soap will be available! Back by popular demand!

But for now, if you really need something, email me at peaceacre@ymail.com. Or visit me at the studio! Hours are Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 6PM, and Saturdays from 9AM to 2PM, through December 18th. In January, the studio/shop will be open one day a week for customers to buy directly from me.Address: 208 W 10th St., Upstairs, Lamar, MO.

Arts Council Christmas Bazaar!

I've been at the studio every day getting ready for Cecil, but I'm REALLY excited about the Arts Council Christmas Bazaar this year. This is fun! It's really cool turning the upstairs of the Arts Council building into a bunch of cool little shops. Today, Vickie Clark amazed me by turning an otherwise drab corner of the Arts Council main classroom into a stunning jewelry boutique. It's all coming together better than I ever expected. Here's the cool ad we are posting tonight all over the Internet. Check it out!

Arts Council Christmas Bazaar!

The Arts Council Christmas Bazaar opens Saturday, December 4th, 5PM-9PM, UPSTAIRS in the Arts Council building on the NW corner of the Lamar Square. Come visit us after the parade (or even before)! This is not like any ho-hum "Home for the Holidays" Arts Council event you've seen before. It's an all-local, handmade, ultra-cool "mini-mall" with three separate stores to choose from. The Handmade Shop features stunning (and affordable!!!)jewelry by Vickie Clark and Fern Brown, "Mo-Chocolate" gourmet cookie mixes and candy's by Janet Dermott, Queen's Family Farm's fabulous dips, jams, candied nuts, Pam Allen's local honey, plus wreaths, scarves, holiday decor, etc etc etc! Wow! Store #2 is a "re-sell-it" shop featuring high quality, gently used, items. We've got doll house furniture, hand-carved African masks from the Ivory Coast, beautiful framed art, books, movies, clothes, dishes, just tons of amazing stuff and more coming in every day. Last but not least, store #3 is Peaceacre - you all know who that is! Handmade soaps, scrubs, lotion bars, spa salt bars, gift sets, and other natural bath and body care products. Peaceacre has added imported Bohemian cloth purses, lace scarves, and all kinds of new goodies just for this Bazaar! And the best part is, after Saturday, all three stores will be open every Thursday and Friday from Noon to 6PM, and Saturdays from 9AM-2PM though December 18th!

But wait, there's more! The amazing Kristie Boswell of Creatively Designed Photography will be doing Christmas portraits. Visit her Facebook page for details - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100001893811571

There will be frequent drawings for gift baskets, jewelry and other "door prizes." Check back for details!

More info is available on the Arts Council website at http://ACOBC.org.

See you all Saturday!

Look like this Arts Council Christmas Bazaar is a go! So far there is going to be just tons of cool stuff ! And then there's the Bohemian Handbag! This is the only purse I have ever carried where total strangers stop me in the street to ask me where I got it. It's just wild! So I tracked down the company, did some research, found out they are a VERY ethical company (no slave labor here!), and decided to carry them at the Peaceacre shop. This is not the best picture, There will be at least 5 varieties to choose from, some with peace signs, some flowers, etc. All uber-cool. You have to see them to understand just how amazing they are. The fabrics are beautiful. And I can get by with selling them for only $20. How cool is that?