The Artful Home: Art in a Box

North Oakland's Compound Gallery has devised a novel way to get affordable pieces from emerging local artists into the hands of collectors on a budget: a monthly subscription service called Art in a Box.

Here's how it works: Subscribe for the pick-up-only or nationwide-delivery packages, and every month you'll receive an 11-by-17-inch box containing a painting, print, photo, mixed media work, drawing, collage, ceramic piece, or sculpture from one of 11 Bay Area artists.

The art and the artist will be a surprise, but you can let the gallery directors know your preferences ahead of time and they'll do their best to send you something they think you'll like.

Participating artists include Ben Belknap, Jake Gillespie, Alissa Goss, Kerri Lee Johnson, Obi Kaufmann, Crystal Morey, Lena Verderano Reynoso, Matt Reynoso, Audrey Roy, Eric Sanchez, Tallulah Terryll, Adrian Van Allen, and YaChin Bonny You.

The service costs $30 or $50 a month, with a three-month minimum. Find out more about Art in a Box right here.

Over and Out

Photo by -stacey-

Have a lovely long holiday weekend, everyone! I'll see you back here on Monday.

P.S. If you're local, don't miss Evan B. Harris and Alisha Wessler's new show, Back Channels, opening tonight at Johansson Projects as part of the monthly Oakland Art Murmur.

Mark Your Calendar: Your Weekend of Art, Crafts, and Wicked Cool Pyrotechnics

Photo by Lane Hartwell

Heads up, locals: There's tons of great stuff going on in the Bay Area this weekend.

Friday, July 17

* Learn more about Italy's Alessi housewares at the first Summer Design Series presentation at Old Oakland's Entrez! Open House from 5 to 7 p.m. Alessi wares will be 10 percent off during the event, a Michael Graves tea kettle will be raffled off, and drinks and snacks will be served. RSVPs are required.

* Stop by the opening reception for Alex Rosmarin's A Daily Operation at Oakland's Cricket Engine Gallery from 7 to 9 p.m. The show will be up through July 26.

* Get your pyro on at the Crucible's ninth annual Fire Arts Festival. There will be ten acres of interactive fire art, performances, live music, and the largest collection of outdoor fire sculpture on the West Coast. The fiery spectacle runs from 8 p.m. to midnight on Friday, and wraps up at the same time on Saturday night. Tickets are $35 to $50.

* If you're in San Francisco this evening, join the Flower Weaving Workshop with Cathy of California at the Curiosity Shoppe from 5 to 7 p.m.

* While you're there, don't miss Lisa Congdon and Mati McDonough's pretty Little Pink Houses in the Curiosity Shoppe's gallery space. The show will be up through July 31.

* Swing by Congdon's own shop, Rare Device, over the weekend to check out its new art exhibit. The Buddy System: A Conversation in Art was curated by Little Paper Planes' Kelly Lynn Jones, and features work from Aline Cautis, Caitlin Gallupe, Clare Grill, Matt Momchilov, Bridget Moser, Nathaniel Russell, David Wilson, and Jess Wheaton. The show will be up through August 30.

* Kill two birds with one stone at the Mission's BellJar, where you can mingle at the opening reception for Ian Huebert's The Shape of Content from 6 to 9 p.m. and shop the store's Summertime Sale. Huebert's show will be up through August 11, and the sale lasts through July 23.

* Stroll down the street to see Ocean + Beach at Needles + Pens, featuring work from Charlie Callahan, Jeff Canham, Misha Capecchi, Alberto Cuadros, Amy Jo Diaz, Kyle Field, Christopher Gentile, Rachel Kaye, Jeffrey Manson, Aaron Mason, John McCambridge, Serena Mitnik-Miller, Dave Muller, Jay Nelson, Lana Porcello, Nathaniel Russell, Orion Shepherd, Mason St. Peter, Augustus Thompson, and Isabell Weberbauer. The show will be up through August 9.

Saturday, July 18

* Grab some great bargains at Modernica's mammoth 20th Anniversary Warehouse Sale. It's online from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific Time (and in L.A. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

* Don't miss the second annual Renegade Craft Fair from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Fort Mason's Festival Pavilion. This year's Renegade extravaganza will showcase more than 200 independent artists and crafters, and continues through Sunday.

* After you've taken in all that Renegade has to offer, pop over to Fort Mason's SFMOMA Artists Gallery to see its current exhibit, Pipeline: Art, Surfing, and the Ocean Environment. The show features artwork by Jo Ann Biagini, Leo Bersamina, Charlie Callahan, Terry Hoff, Reuben Margolin, Serena Mitnik-Miller, Adrienne Keahi Pao, and Charles Valoroso, surfboards by Jeff Clark, and photography by Frank Quirarte and Doug Acton, and will be up through August 28.

* Check out L.A. street-turned-fine artist Becca's True Colors at White Walls Gallery, up through August 1. (Pssst: New, limited edition prints from Becca available here.)

* Cap off your day at the opening reception for Theo Ellsworth's new exhibit, Imaginary Friends, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at Giant Robot. The show will be up until August 19.

Whew! Have fun out there, kids.

Mark Your Calendar: Weekend Events

A few Bay Area events and art openings on the radar this weekend:

Thursday, June 4:

* Everything You Need Can Grow, new work by Christopher David Ryan, opens at San Francisco's Rare Device. The artist's reception runs from 7 to 9 p.m., and the show will be up through July 7.

* Worship Thee Kindly the Dark Hand That Guides Me, a new installation of sculpture, paintings, and mixed media work from Skinner, opens at 111 Minna. The reception runs from 6 p.m. on, and the show will be up at the SOMA gallery through June 27.

* Over in Oakland, Nathaniel Crane and Michael Deane's Becoming Non-Object opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. at Uptown's Hatch Gallery. The gallery will also be open for Friday's monthly Oakland Art Murmur, and the show will be up through June 27.

Friday, June 5:

* There will be a First Friday reception for Val Britton and Michael Meyers's The Echo Fields from 5 to 9 p.m. at Oakland's Johansson Projects. While you're there, don't miss Jennifer and Kevin McCoy's Show Me installation in the project space.

Saturday, June 6:

* More than 400 local artists will provide glimpses into their work spaces and processes during East Bay Open Studios, which runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday as well as next weekend. Get a list of participating artists here, studio maps here, and preview the artists' work here.

* The Sunset Celebration Weekend transforms Sunset magazine's sprawling Menlo Park campus into a multi-acre test kitchen, demonstration garden, craft bazaar, home and garden trade show, and performance venue. The event takes place both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and tickets are $15.

* Pop Noir is San Francisco nonprofit arts organization Southern Exposure's huge annual fundraiser, with art for sale from a veritable who's-who of the Bay Area art scene. The auction runs from 6 to 10:30 p.m., and there's a $35 admission charge. Preview the artwork for sale here.

* Annie Galvin's In a Golden State opens at San Francisco's Studio 3579. The reception runs from 6 to 9 p.m., and the show will be up through July 18.

Sunday, June 7:

* Oakland newsstand extraordinaire Issues holds its Second Anniversary Party from 2 to 6 p.m. Stop by for snacks and microbrew, palm readings, a customer-appreciation raffle, and a giant sidewalk sale featuring books, vinyl, t-shirts, "weird sculptures," and odds and ends galore at the popular Piedmont Avenue-area shop.

Lots to do!

Cool Stuff: Oaklandish Screenprints

This one is strictly for the locals: Brand new, hand-screenprinted posters from the 510's own Oaklandish. Above: Sunny Side Poster (That's right -- suck it, SF.)

Classic Poster

Pigeon Poster

Grotto Poster

Cityscape Poster

The 16-by-24-inch screenprints are $20 each right here. And check out all of the homegrown merch from Oakland's own "stealth multi-form public art and media cooperative" here.

Mark Your Calendar: Weekend Roundup

* Saturday, May 9, from 10 to 3: Feria Urbana at Pizzaiolo in Oakland

* Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 4: Open Studios and Factory Store Sale at Heath Ceramics in Sausalito

* Opening Saturday at noon at Johansson Projects in Uptown Oakland: Val Britton and Michael Meyers's Echo Fields (the artists' reception for the show is next Saturday, May 16, from 5 to 8 p.m.)

* Saturday from 2 to 4: The First Annual Cupcake Bake-Off at Oakland's Rock Paper Scissors Collective (across the street from Johansson Projects); $4 at the door

* Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m.: The opening reception for Isabel Samaras's Into the Woodz at San Francisco's Shooting Gallery

* And at the same time next door at White Walls Gallery: The opening reception for New Work from Ian Johnson

* Finally, if you're still on the hunt for a Mother's Day gift, don't forget the exclusive discount for More Ways to Waste Time Readers at Atomic Garden in Rockridge.

Deal of the Day: Discount at Atomic Garden

Attention, locals: The lovely ladies at Atomic Garden, the beautiful Rockridge eco-boutique, have generously offered More Ways to Waste Time readers 15 percent off all of the shop's gorgeous, earth-friendly housewares through the month of May.

Whether you need to pick up a unique Mother's Day gift, are looking to subtly and beautifully green up your home, or simply owe yourself a small-but-wonderful treat, the shop has an array of handmade and sustainably produced items from which to choose.

Goods include low-impact ceramics; recycled glassware; organic cotton, linen, and hemp textiles from companies such as Plover, Fog, Transylvanian Images, and Flock Home; pretty, reusable shopping bags and lunch sacks; natural beeswax candles; locals Rebecca Stevens's and Nabil Samadani's eco-printed seasonal soup cookbook; recycled-paper notebooks and stationery; and even salvaged-wood birdhouses by Oakland artist and furniture maker Billy Kroft.

To take advantage of the 15 percent savings, just mention More Ways to Waste Time when you bring your purchases to the register between today and May 31.

Atomic Garden is located at 5453 College Ave. near Kales in Oakland's Rockridge district, and is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Read more about the shop right here, and feel free to pass along the savings to friends in the area!

Mark Your Calendar: Weekend Art Openings and Events

A few things on my radar this weekend:

Friday, May 1

* The Den, the brand-new lounge at the fabulous Fox Theater, hosts its inaugural "First Friday" Poster Art Party featuring gigposters from Jason Munn of The Small Stakes and Lil' Tuffy. The party (complete with drink specials and posters for sale) runs from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. The Den is located at 1912 Telegraph Ave. at 19th St. in Uptown Oakland.

* Old Oakland's FiveTen Studio presents The Home Show, a group exhibition featuring work from Modesto Covarrubias, Miriam Fagan, Linda Braz, Glenna Alee, Elyse Hochstadt, and Dave Higgins. The opening reception runs from 6 to 9 p.m., and the show will be up through May 30. FiveTen Studio is located at 831 Broadway at 9th.

* From 7 to 10 p.m., 21 Grand hosts its 9th Annual Art Sale featuring more than 100 affordable pieces from a dizzying array of local artists. (If you can't make it tonight, the sale continues Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m.) 21 Grand is located at 416 25th St. near Broadway in Uptown Oakland.

* Over in San Francisco, Rare Device unveils Rachel Denny's Out of the Woods, showcasing the Portland artist's textile taxidermy and other sculptural pieces. The opening reception is from 7 to 9 p.m., and the show will be up until June 2. Rare Device is located at 1845 Market St. near Guerrero.

Saturday, May 2

*After you hit the Modern Economy Sale at Fort Mason Saturday morning, swing over to the other side of the City for the Dogpatch and Bayview Artists Spring Open Studios, which runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Artists Annie Galvin and Eric Rewitzer and ceramist Diana Fayt will open their doors for studio tours, art previews, and light refreshments. Galvin and Rewitzer's 3 Fish Studios is located at 610 22nd St. #243 at Illinois, and Fayt's space is at 1044 Revere Ave. #B29 at Griffith.

* Close out the day at Needles + Pens for the opening of You've Got Light in Your Eyes, a group show curated by art blogger extraordinaire Meighan O'Toole of My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses and featuring work from 1911, Kate Bingaman Burt, Jill Bliss, Will Bryant, Kime Buzzelli, John Casey, Lisa Congdon, Liam Devowski, Bill Dunlap, Kenn Goodall, Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch, Know Hope, Olivia Jeffries, Aidan Koch, Ashley Lande Brown, Jeremiah Maddock, Leslie Martinez, Terri Olsen Von Schaub, Mike Perry, Shannon Rankin, and Dan Szymanowski. The opening reception runs from 6 to 9:30 p.m., and the show will be up through June 28. Needles + Pens is located at 3253 16th St. at Guerrero.

* P.S. Don't forget that Saturday is World Naked Gardening Day! And Sunday is, of course, the Alameda Flea Market.

Have fun!