Artisan Round-Up
All I Want For Christmas is Something Unique
By Lou Petrucci
When you think of Allentown, you think of historic homes, antique stores, and restaurants. Allentown is also the home to some of Buffalo’s most interesting purveyors of original artwork
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Greg Link.
Photo by Jim Bush |
Located at 105 Elmwood Avenue, just north of Allen Street, is Cone Five Gallery, offering an eclectic mix of pottery, photography, paintings, jewelry, blown glass, and metal work. The proprietor, local ceramic artist Greg Link, has his studio in the rear of the shop overlooking the gallery in the recently remodeled building. People are encouraged to come in and watch him at work as they browse the offerings of over twenty local artists.
Cone Five has been open for two years and the name alludes to the Orton pyrometric cone. These cones melt at pre-determined temperatures, and therefore are used to determine the temperature of a kiln. “Cone Five” refers to the temperature at which most stoneware is fired. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. or by appointment (332-0486). Because Cone Five is a working studio, ceramic lessons are also offered on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings at levels ranging from beginner to advanced. For more information, log onto the website or call the number listed above.
Greg Link began his career in the mid-nineties, first as a collector and then by getting his hands dirty in a six-week pottery class. After his second class, Greg had already purchased a pottery wheel. In 2001, Greg won first place in clay at the Allentown Art Festival. After opening Cone Five gallery a year later, Greg has never looked back.
“I am always challenging myself to try new forms. It is important to me that my style continues to evolve, and that the quality of my technique remains consistent. All my pottery is high-fire, microwave-safe, and dishwasher-safe. The glazes are made on site and are lead-free. I want people to buy my pottery and to use it in their everyday life.” Link states.
Not far from Cone Five is Storehouse 22, located at Allen and College Streets. The gallery shares space in the same building as Mark Goldman’s latest restaurant venture, Allen Street Hardware Café. This former hardware store is seeing new life as a restaurant, gallery, and artists’ studio, its two distinct spaces divided by a pair of French doors.
“We are in the process of figuring out how the two spaces will work as one. People originally thought we were the bar,” say owners Erin Harris and Molly Rich. The gallery specializes in works by local artists and offers paintings, mixed media, ceramic, purses, and functional art, such as old furniture that has been creatively transformed into something entirely new.
Ninety-five percent of Storehouse 22 displays are functional. “Our motto is, ‘It changes everyday.’ We don’t sit still for long,” explain Harris and Rich. The gallery has a welcoming and homey feel, as if you have walked into an artist’s living room, and, in many ways, you have, complete with couches, chairs and other furniture, some of which the owners/artists are refinishing in the rear studio. “We are a gallery/studio, but presented more like our own house so that you can see what the piece will look like...We want people to feel like they are at someone’s home.”
Harris and Rich also do custom design work on everything from furniture to floors to lampshades. Storehouse 22 is open from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday.
Lou Petrucci is Chief Housing Inspector for the City of Buffalo.
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