Local galleries echo Wimberley’s creative vibe

Editor’s Note: This is the last in a three-part series, running monthly prior to the Second Saturday Gallery Trail and profiling art galleries in Wimberley. This installment features RiverRock Handcrafted Jewelry, Wildflower Art Gallery and Silo Glass, all of which will be open until 7 p.m. on May 11 for the gallery trail event. A full list and map of Wimberley galleries can be found at www.gallerytrail.com.

When you visit galleries in Wimberley, you quickly see the diversity of creative talents sharing their art with the world. While you’ll find some similarities from one gallery to the next, each is unique — from the artists represented to the size of the building. And just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you need to step inside a gallery to really know what treasures it holds. Two such galleries are both located in Olde Towne Plaza, a collection of shops in quaint-and-quirky old buildings located between the Wild West Store and Art on 12.

RiverRock Handcrafted Jewelry

Just inside the rock wall at Olde Towne Plaza, stands a small, unassuming shop painted in teal green and sky blue and wrapped with large old-fashioned glass window panes that provide the first glimpse into the treasures within.

Inside RiverRock Handcrafted Jewelry, you’ll find an impressive selection of necklaces, earrings and more, all one-of-kind. Much of the work has been created by owner and artist Diana Popham.

With a background in graphic design, Popham began working with jewelry some 25 years ago, starting with formal silversmithing classes and lapidary at the former Southwest Craft Center in San Antonio.

“Once I learned how to make glass beads, I knew I wanted to create jewelry,” she says.

Popham does most of her creating from her home studio at Canyon Lake, but you’ll also find her working on jewelry while in the gallery, which has been open since the summer of 2017. She has shown in many galleries in Texas as well as New Hampshire. You can also find her work locally at Gallery G and LT Custom Framing and Creations.

In addition to Popham’s creations, the gallery features jewelry by Maria Bayoumi, a designer out of Austin.

“Maria is self taught and shares my workspace when she’s in town, but works out of her own space in Austin or San Antonio,” Popham says. “She shares a similar aesthetic and we are able to bounce ideas off each other with great success.”

Every piece is created by hand, composed by stringing, forging or Precious Metal Clay (PMC), and always includes semi-precious stones and metals, such as sterling silver, copper, brass or pewter. Prices start at just under $20 with an upward range of only a “few hundred” dollars, Popham says.

Recently a couple visiting from Houston discovered RiverRock. The wife left with a sterling hand-wired necklace with an amethyst flower druzy pendant, freshwater pearls and crystals with matching earrings.

“They were just walking and shopping, stopped in and found something she loved,” Popham says. Most of her sales come from walk-ins but she also gets referrals from other shops and artists.

“I believe that Wimberley is a haven for artists and a great market for buyers to find unique creations that reflect our area,”Popham adds. “If you want something that you won’t find anywhere else, this is the place to find it.”

Online you can visit www.riverrockgems.com to learn more about the gallery.

Wildflower Art

Gallery

On the opposite side of the Olde Towne Plaza courtyard is another boutique gallery. Despite the size — only about 550 square feet of display space — both the quantity and quality of art available at Wildflower Art Gallery reinforces that idea that “big things come in small packages.”

Manager and co-owner David Jacobson enjoys seeing how people react when they first walk in.

“Although the space is quite ordinary looking from the outside, once you step in the door it’s like walking through the looking glass to a whole other world,” Jacobson says. “Seeing folks’ faces light up with smiles and awe when they step through our door is very gratifying.”

The gallery opened opened on Valentine’s Day 2015 and features original paintings by Linda Calvert Jacobson, who is also the manager’s wife and business partner. Since he has watched her develop her style over the years, he has both a unique perspective and personal connection to the work.

“Linda offers a joyful, colorful palette of impressionistic, low-relief style of wildflowers close up and personal, along with a broader sweeping landscape series often involving dramatic sunrise and sunsets that our area produces in abundance,” Jacobson says.

In addition to the paintings, the gallery offers a selection of Horse Hair and Raku-style fine art ceramics by Seguin artist Kathy Rigdon, as well as one-ofa-kind hand-crafted jewelry by Holly Glenn of Round Rock and Lynette Clauser of New Braunfels.

Some visitors are longtime collectors of Jacobson’s wildflowers who come in looking for new works. Others just happen to be in the area and walk in. Still some find Wildflower Art Gallery though social media and advertising, such as the Wimberley Art Guide, a collaboration between 10 of the local galleries.

“A lady came in awhile back with a Wimberley Art Guide booklet in hand,” Jacobson says. “She was staying at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin and was visiting from Boston. She picked up the guide there and made a special trip to Wimberley to specifically visit in person and consider purchasing a painting by Linda after seeing our ad in the guide. Over the course of her visit she found just the right piece to add to her art collection.”

Overall prices range from just under $20 to several thousand, offering something for first-time art buyers to seasoned collectors.

More information about the gallery can be found at www.wildflowerartgallery.com.

Silo Gallery and

Glass Studio

While the two previous galleries could hardly fill a combined living/dining room in the average home, another space just outside the city limits encompasses some 4,000 square feet of gallery and studio space. In fact, it includes the largest purpose-built, warm glass studio in Central Texas!

Owners Chester John, PhD, and Elissa D. Beach are both retired from programming careers with IBM. They were looking for what Beach describes as a “healthy artist community” and relocated to Wimberley in February 2014.

They first opened in the 30-year-old silo structure, which is still next door, later that year. After a lengthy permitting and construction period, they moved into the current space in late 2016.

Outside, a modern Piet Modrian-inspired building design serves as a colorful backdrop for the custom grotto with two waterfalls and a koi pond. Inside, the space is divided into gallery space, class room, kiln room and what’s called a “cold working” area.

The gallery represents some two dozen Texas artists specializing in 3D. Owners John and Beach are the resident artists, both working in their own styles. Other artists include glass artist Kathleen Ash of Manchaca, and Lake Austin Raku artist Bobbie McCrea.

Another featured artist is Kim Springer-Smith, who recently moved to Wimberley after her travels took her to Germany and other parts of the world and then Oklahoma. Springer-Smith works in glass and mixed media.

“Kim combines fused glass and painting in her glass art,” Beach says. “Each piece goes through a painstaking process of painting then firing after each color. She creates pieces with texture, depth and an amazing ‘artist eye.’ A single piece can take weeks to complete.”

In addition to the 3D art available at all times, once a month during Second Saturday Gallery Trail the Silo hosts A Propos Pop Up Gallery.

“This unique ‘gallery’ is everything a traditional gallery isn’t,” Beach explains. “The second Saturday of the month is the one time you might find non-3D art, such as paintings and photographs, in Silo Gallery. It is such a joy to see what beautiful artwork Zeina Cook brings each month - it is a value add of up to ten more artists to our Second Saturday Gallery Trail fun!”

Learn more about Silo Glass and Gallery, including classes they offer, by visiting www.siloglass.com.