Gallery

When form competes with function for dollar power, art doesn't always win. To Matthew and Andrea Porter, that just doesn't seem right. The co-owners of the Bluebottle Art Gallery and Store have a solution: They stock the shelves with all of life's must-haves — clocks, mirrors, T-shirts, note cards, nightlights — but each item is a work of art as well. Mirror frames double as paintings; nightlights plug in to illuminate art photos; and clock hands tick slowly across cartoon abstractions.

Tall walls offer the hanging kind of art as well, from delicate block prints to unusual wooden canvases — cut thick, like building blocks jutting from the wall, or thin, like plywood wafers brightened by video-game creatures. Pop, pulp and cartoon art complement careful pen-and-ink illustrations. Canvases of abstract splashes hang near the smaller, subtler messages of framed photography. Prices range from $4 for art-in-a-bottle-cap pins to $660 for a thigh-high sculpture of metal gears. The best part? The Porters offer payment plans so everybody can afford the pieces they like, and artists price their own work.

Wind your way up a spiral staircase to the loft gallery to gaze at well-lit rotating exhibits. Don't miss the balcony effect — the bird's-eye view of objects below is as unexpected as each piece in the place, such as Matt Porter's uniquely positioned painting that can be seen only from above.

Tips: Meet the exhibiting artists from 7 to 11 p.m. the first Saturday of each month. Also, watch for events such as a color-by-numbers contest, a connect-the-dots art walk or independent film and music shows.

By Alison Peacock
Special to NWsource