December has rolled in, and it brought with it cold, wet weather, a downtown ice-skating rink, really early sunsets, and most importantly, new gallery openings! Yes, Raleigh’s burgeoning creative class was out in force on Friday, despite the cold and sometimes rainy weather conditions. Couple this with the aforementioned ice skating rink as part of WinterFest ’09, and you had a great crowd out enjoying the city!

The first gallery I went to was RebusWorks. I really like RebusWorks, and I really, really liked their show this month: Via Penland. Via Penland is a show with featured artists Evan Lightner and Sylvie Rosenthal, as well as many Penland area artists, Penland School Resident Artists, Penland School Core Students, and people who had taken classes at Penland. Some of the ones I really liked were:

Christina Boy (woodworking and glass)

Jason Burnett (ceramics and printmaking)

Marianne Dages (letterpress)

Jessica Heikes (woodworking)

Beth Schaible (letterpress)

Tim Ayers (ceramics, above)

Tom Spleth (ceramics, above)

Susan Feagin (ceramics, above)

Jerilyn Virden (ceramics)

I didn’t get great pictures of all the artists whose work I liked, but those are definitely some Penland associated artists that you guys should check out! Their work will be at RebusWorks until January 30th, in case you are looking for good Christmas, Winter Solstice, etc. presents. Even if you aren’t, you should still swing by RebusWorks and check out all the stuff. There’s a lot more cool stuff than what I’ve pictured.

After RebusWorks, I rode down to DesignBox and checked out the eighth edition of Brand Fandango. Brand Fandango is a yearly market held at DesignBox, selling the crafts made by local (and regional) artists, including Staci Sawyer (metals), Megan Clark (metals), Blue Barnhouse (letterpressed cards), Paul Friedrich, Matt McConnell, Ahpeele, and many more.

Some Eco-Friendly Jewelry by Zass Design

a jug I was particularly fond of by Tim Ayers

Also, First Friday marked the opening of ShotBox, a coffee and cupcake shop within DesignBox. I don’t know if they are open beyond December, but you guys should definitely check them out! The Brand Fandango page on DesignBox’s website describes it as:

“Shotbox” is a special coffee and cupcake component that is new this year. Serving the gallery and street it promises to be the best thing since sliced cake! Featuring Crumb’s “cups of cake” and Counter Culture Coffee’s it promises to be the best (if only) little coffee takeout in downtown Raleigh.

David Menestres is calling their little creations ‘cups of cake’ because they will be way beyond cupcakes you have seen in other shops. With your sweet tooth taken care of Designbox has sought out Counter Culture to provide the best in espresso and single origin coffees to wash it down.

All drinks will be one size fits all, based on traditional sizes and proportions with all drip coffee made to order on a manual brew rail. Look for special ‘origin’ drinking chocolate from Paul Mosca of Chocolate Seed fame. There will be lots of one of a kind eats this year. You wont want to miss our Shotbox exclusive The Doughnut Muffin. Its hotter than ‘hot now’!

shotbox hours for december
first fri (dec 4): 7p–10p
weekdays:7a–7p
saturdays: 9a–2p

323 W. Martin St, Raleigh
inside designbox shop & gallery
(or outside walk-up window)

Please support your local artists and craftspeople and consider a locally made gift this year! A list of Brand Fandango merchants can be found here.

After a brief trip to Artspace to see Keith Norval and Anna Podris (their studio is pictured at the top), I swung by the Fish Market, where an Art & Design Senior Show was being displayed. Great work by some talented young artists.

Anyways, that about wraps up this year-end First Friday post. I hope everyone had a great time! Please consider your local artists and craftspeople when you think about gifts for your friends and family, these creative, talented people have unique work that is totally awesome!