Artists Market Gets More Selective

The first time people began expressing interest in buying Shelly Lewis’ art, “it was very, very difficult!” the 32-year-old Long Beach artist recalled. “It was as though I were parting with a piece of myself or a child.”

Although Lewis has created varied pieces, from painting to sculpture and ceramics, she is best known for her jewelry--handcrafted work with abstract designs influenced by her American Indian heritage. Her jewelry will be exhibited Saturday and June 7 as part of the Long Beach Museum’s Artists Market, an outdoor festival of art and music by the sea.

In the several years since Lewis’ pieces have been selling, she has managed to overcome her initial rejection of commerce. “Sometimes I’d even think, ‘Oh that’s not the type of person who should be wearing this!” she said. “But I’ve gotten over that. Now I think, ‘That person will be wearing a piece of me. It’s an exchange. So why not?’ ”

Lewis, one of 34 artists participating, represents a change in direction for the 32-year-old Artists Market. “This year we’re being much more selective,” said Joanne France, a member of the museum’s Friends Council, the festival’s sponsor. “We’ve cut out a lot of artists to ensure a high-quality show.”

The work ranges from Hmong tapestries, textiles and pillowcases to whirligig sculptures of dragons and fish and abstract paintings, France said. The show also includes crafts: leather handbags, wallets and belts, ceramics and pottery, glass and even Angora sweaters. (The artist has promised to bring a bunny to demonstrate how she transforms animal fur to art.)

One of the exhibiting artists, Ellen Drebin, has had pieces of her jewelry--made from a combination of earth and sea minerals, precious metals, pearls and antique pendants--displayed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., France said.

Prices for pieces at the Artists Market range from $1 for a small needlepoint to $3,000 for a marble sculpture.

Lewis describes her work as a combination of global influences, borrowing heavily from Marcel Duchamps’ idea of found art. She works with a thermal setting plastic indistinguishable from clay, she said, but more durable.

“I try to make something out of the most unexpected objects,” she said. “Like safety glass. When my car was broken into, I collected all the glass and found a lot of great pieces out of the crumbled stuff.”

Lewis, who speaks fluent Spanish and French, works full time as a dietitian for a federal Women, Infants and Children’s program in an East Los Angeles clinic. She loves her work and doubts she will leave it. Besides, she said, “I wouldn’t want to make a living from art. The money isn’t important to me. The artwork is important to me. I do it for the passion, the spiritual part of it.”

The artists’ works go on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and June 7 in the sculpture garden at the museum, 2300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. There will be food booths, entertainment by jazz singer Undine, Leo Potts and his saxophone quartet, a jazz band and Big Band music. Tickets cost $3 for adults. Children under 12 are free.