BEANS

Coffee Shop Gallery

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Electricians, new opening times and Open Evenings

A lot needs to happen for a damp, old solicitors office to become a coffee shop and a workshop space.  The emphasis so far has been on the inside – which is just about there (Except for a few decorating touch-ups required after everywhere gets a chance to dry out!).  The final work will soon be starting on the outside.  Chimneys need to be capped and rendering needs to be repaired.  So….  WH Buck and Son will be returning to finish off the last of the project.  We will remain open through the work – but maybe best not to look up when you enter the shop.

As well as Andrew Buck and his team, we have some other unsung heroes.  All those electrical sockets, new lights, alarms and fire exit lights didn’t just magically appear – though it felt like they did. If you’re looking for an electrician who can listen, make suggestions, get on with the job, solve problems and work in synch with your builder, I’d recommend KTN Electrical (Kip Trueman on 01159 300938). You can even have a socket under the stairs if you want one.

New Opening Times – For the winter, our new opening times are Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 5. It turns out that paperwork takes longer than I thought (or I’m slower than I thought – or both) and I’m too old to stay up late and get up early in the morning. Eventually, the plan is for the new staff to run the shop between them a few days a week while I work from home – but while things are still settling down and we’re all finding our feet…  a break is required.

Open Evening Thursday 13th January (5.30 – 8.30) – In December we had an Open Evening with Cynthia Else. Cynthia showed some stained glass techniques and the evening gave people a chance to look around and enjoy some hot mulled apple juice and sweet potato pie. Our second Open Evening will be with Steph Harvey and there will be a chance to see Steph do some Batik work and perhaps have a quick go yourself. I believe there is still some mulled apple juice left and we’re still deciding on the nibbles – but there will be something!

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2 Weeks Today

BEANS coffee shop gallery in Bolsover
Snow on the roof of BEANS coffee shop gallery shortly after opening in December 2010

Today we have been open for 2 weeks. What a two weeks it has been. We had the first open evening on the 9th of December. Cynthia Else came along and taught some stained glass basics and visitors had a chance to look around – see the artwork that had arrived to date, and sample some sweet potato pie and mulled apple juice. Then the first art class ran on Sunday with

Jessica Noonan – Make a Silver Ring (or two). There was much hammering and soldering and more hammering – and some laughter thrown in. Everyone walked away with 2 rings they had made themselves – some rings  worn and some ready to be wrapped as Christmas presents. Meanwhile, I have had the pleasure of meeting many local people who have popped in for a coffee or two, for snacks and/or for lunch. And, a few local artists have found their way into BEANS and I am looking forward to their return – with work in hand. The walls aren’t full yet, but we’re working on it.

Cynthia Else’s stained glass work is up on the walls and so is the work of Helen Hallow.  Both artists are offering Sunday courses in the new year – so if you’re considering a course, you may want to pop in and get a feel for the artist and their work – or purchase an original. Polly Warren,

a printer, has added her work to the collection. Boats, Flamborough Head and botanical subjects have all been captured by Polly. Viv Cooper has added a splash of colour with her watercolour paintings. And we also have a print by Pete McKee. Pete came into BEANS and shared his story – painting on pieces of wood while working at Tesco, and now selling work in galleries around England – including his own A Month of Sundays gallery in Sheffield.

So – a lot of highlights in 2 weeks.  But also, a bit of a whirlwind for this old American. And, I don’t seem to do whirlwinds too well anymore. So, I have decided that I am going to have 4 days off at Christmas and 3 days off at new year – and hopefully then, I will stop leaving my purse in the post office and actually be at the shop to meet the electricity board when I say I will. I can only hope.

Here’s to a happy, healthy and calmer 2011.

Karen

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Opening Times

To start off, BEANS will be open Monday to Friday, 8 – 5, and Saturday from 9 – 5.  Sunday is reserved for art classes, but we might open on non-art class Sundays after we get going.  It’s a bit of a wait and see. After we find out when people come and what works best, our opening and closing times may change.  But, we’ll let you know.

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Grand- ish opening

The swoop happened at the weekend.  Friends had been promising a swoop – and they delivered.  Paint brushes, old clothes, fan heaters, humidifiers, new kettles and homemade soups and bread arrived along with willing bodies.  And, it is starting to look like it could be a coffee shop.  Still more to do (and the snow had better start to behave itself) – but if nothing else, there will be coffee on Saturday.

So – a big thank you to all the helpers and an especially big thank you to WH Buck and Son, the builders who took the damp and sad old solicitor’s office and tranformed it into a special space (with loads of storage) where you can sit and drink a coffee, have a bite to eat, listen to some music, check out some art and crafts and make your own masterpieces.

It turns out that actualising a dream is a group effort – even when it’s not a group dream.  Lots of skills are required and I don’t have lots of skills – but I know people who do and, luckily for me, they are very nice, skill sharing people.  You will need people who listen and encourage and give out the occassional slap (metaphorically speaking) when you fall apart and wonder if dreaming is a good thing.

A word to all your dreamers – pick your friends, family, builders, electricians, architects, drawing creators, web designers, interview panelists, plasterers, artists, art tutors and tap posting people carefully.  You’ll need people who can listen and make sense of your senseless ramblings (cause your brain will cease to function), build extra cupboards under the stairs cause you said you need lots of storage space, get their artwork ready and wait patiently for your call – and accept new class dates without batting an eyelid, pop round just when you’re about to crawl under the covers and never come out, then make sure you have envelopes and a short-list, arrive ready to do whatever needs doing – supplying their own tools and food for the next 3 days, make a space that looks too small come to life with 3D drawings, put balloons on your web site to announce your opening, help you to come up with a name, knock on doors and fill in questionnaires, buy tapered tap attachments and hand over $30 to the post office, drive through the snow to put in track lighting cause you should’ve ordered it earlier and you didn’t, stand on the bannister to paint the unreachable bit of wall, email you words of wisdom, hand out tissues, spend their week off work decorating, let you put your bin in their drive, go without Christmas presents and just generally stand in your corner and listen to you and refuse to believe you when you tell them that you don’t think you can do it.  They’re all out there (If you need names and telephone numbers, I’ve got ’em.).

We’ll all be learning for the next few weeks and the menu will be developing while we grow into our skin.  But you’ll get the idea.

Karen

PS   Don’t forget the open evening on the 9th of December (5.30 – 8.30).  We’ll have stained glass and fabric decoration demonstrations – and you can try some sweet potato pie.