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In
June of 1995 Barbara Melby-Burhans along
with 5 other artists opened a shared gallery in Dunedin, Florida
called The Painted Fish Gallery and Artist Studio.
The
gallery’s primary focus was to showcase their artwork. They
shared the work hours, expenses, and sold each others work.
Barbara had her papermaking studio in the back room art studio
in the beginning. The concept worked well but they soon realized
they needed to have more than their own artwork to keep people
interested in coming back.
Now
Clay and Paper, Inc. represents over
Seventy-five craft
artists and has featured gallery shows throughout the year.
The gallery has changed some since it opened. It is actually two galleries in one space, Clay and Paper, Inc. and The Painted Fish Gallery.
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Clay and Paper, Inc. owned by Barbara Melby-Burhans and Ira Jon Burhans is a gallery dedicated to featuring only artwork handmade in the USA. Featured works include Ira's pottery, Barbara's cast paper wall sculptures and photos, along with jewelry, glass, more pottery, metal work, furniture, paintings, linoleum block prints, and papiermache.The Painted Fish Gallery owned by Bill and Linda Renc features Bill's watercolors, Linda's calligraphy, artwork by about 10 artists, and authentic 15th century medieval manuscript pages.
The two galleries have always been committed to exhibiting
and selling American artists and craft people's artwork with
a large emphasis on Florida and local artists’ work since
the beginning and will continue with that commitment in the
future. They believe their excellent reputation in the Tampa
Bay area is based on this commitment.
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