Recently, Clovis has seen a large influx of new bakeries and sweet shops, which we might have to *review* soon, but in the midst of researching local businesses for my son’s 5th birthday party, I ran into Jessica Marie Barriere via Craigslist.

I checked out her online portfolio / blog over at Vanilla Expressions and was immediately impressed with her work. Her cakes are like miniature works of edible art and it was very apparent that Jessica had an eye for detail.

After emailing her back and forth a couple of times, we finally met at the Java Loft, a local bookstore and coffee shop. I had showed her a couple pictures of what I liked and what the cake needed to have. I certainly wanted a 2 tiered cake with a yellow and black theme. I gave her a lot of creative license as I wanted to see what sort of creative ideas she had and how they would translate on the cake itself.

I had asked Jess to bring the cake to our home the day before the party. The expression on my son’s face was priceless! The cake was completely covered in fondant and the decorative details were lovingly carved with expert precision. Every detail of the cake was completely hand made; from the chocolate ganache filling, to the chocolate lettering.As an Independent Cake Decorator, Jessica’s work is phenomenally done and had such flair and fine details as if the cake was crafted by a veteran artisan. You can contact Jessica with the below details for a quote:

Mrs. Jessica Marie Barriere
Confectionery Artist
Vanilla Expressions
575-904-9500
http://vanillaexpressions.blogspot.com

This past Friday evening was a hastily planned one. A very good friend of mine sent me a text message:

Yo! There is going to be an art party down main tomorrow at 8. Proceeds goes toward Chris Montoya’s headstone. Live band, art, food, wine and beer.

I had nothing planned, and it sounded like a very nice thing to do for a friend so I made plans with my boyfriend and a friend to go and check it out.

Upon entering this art gallery, I was immediately greeted with loud rock music and a slew of reveling onlookers. The name of the band that was playing was ‘Chase the Moment’ and here’s a video of them playing ‘Grandfathered In’:

Something else stood out as well: the amazing art adorning the walls. I made my way to the back of the long room to find Scott who then introduced me to John Pritchett.

John explained that he had always been a photographer but became interested in painting over the last years. He explained his method:

‘I don’t paint ideas or even thoughts. I just paint, and allow the person viewing my art to interpret it however they please. That is the art of it. I also don’t mount or frame my paintings. It’s form as it is now is also a part of the art. I like it when the canvas gets torn or the edges of the paper furl. This is all a part of the experience and the experience itself is art.’

We spoke for a few more minutes as my guests and I admired his work. Beer, wine and cheese was also served so naturally I had a New Castle Brown Ale and a Negra Modelo.

Keep your ears open, Clovisites! There’s plenty of awesome things going on, you’ve just got to keep open to the opportunities out there! You can follow us @clovispulse on Twitter to stay in the loop!

I’ve been hearing the radio ads about Gallery Fifteen, so last Saturday I decided to check it out. Gallery Fifteen is on US Highway 60/70/84. To get there from Clovis, head East towards Texico. Gallery Fifteen will be on the North side of the highway (on the left). If you reach the New Mexico Visitor’s Center, you’ve gone too far.

Gallery Fifteen looks like a new lime-green stucco building with a metal roof. Long-time area residents will recognize it as the old Stuckey’s building. The building was gutted to down to the original structure and completely renovated.

Inside you’ll find one large room with a few side rooms. Gallery Fifteen sells fine art, furniture, and antiques. They also operate a small Bistro. The Bistro menu changes daily with reuben and steak sandwiches and a soup of the day making regular appearances. Gallery Fifteen also hosts small parties.

Click on image thumbnails to view an image gallery.

Gallery Fifteen is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., six days a week, Monday through Saturday.

To contact Gallery Fifteen:
Call 575-482-9090 or e-mail galleryfifteen [at] yucca [dot] net.

This past Saturday was a very busy one for me. In addition to attending the Women’s Health and Wellness day during the daytime, I also attended the Clovis Main Street Downtown Gala that was held at The Underground Embassy on 321 E. 1st Street.

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect since I had never been to one of these types of events before. I knew this was a wine and beer tasting event, but when I read the invitation and saw that there was going to be a chocolate fountain, I was sold.

The most pressing question for me was ‘What do I wear?!’

Luckily, I got a lot of feed back on that question. One representative from Dillard’s told me:

Don’t worry about what you wear; people usually dress up for the event, but you really can wear anything from a nice pair of jeans with heels to a nice evening dress!

So, I went with the evening dress and heels despite the reconstructed ACL.

Finding the Underground Embassy was not difficult at all. Although the building itself does blend in with the other vintage warehouses in the area, the giant billboard labeled ‘Underground Embassy’ is hard to miss.

Upon walking into the converted warehouse, I was completely taken aback of how beautiful the interior was. The walls are completely covered in beautiful, giant canvases showcasing the resident artist, Andrew Merritt’s work. The ceiling was adorned with chandeliers of various sizes and styles. The furniture ranged from sofas and settees to stools and vintage wooden chairs. The ambiance was enchanting, to say the least.

There were several stations around the building that offered drinks, food and dessert. The Wine Tasting table featured wines from the D.H. Lescombes Winery, the St. Clair Winery and Blue Teal Vineyards. Me and my date personally drank the Pecan Blush, the Blue Teal Muscat Canelli, the Chocolate Vine and a Mimosa.

The beer table featured beer from the Santa Fe Brewery. The company had a variety of beers that this novice beer drinker has never even heard of! Some of the delicious beers available for tasting were the Nut Brown, Pale Ale, Hefeweizen and Pen Porter. Other drinks at the table were the Imperial India Pale Ale, the Chicken Killer and the Barley Wine Ale.

I am a Corona with Lime drinker, so the lineup was admittedly a bit intimidating but I tried them all! I highly recommend the Santa Fe Brewery Pen Porter. Although it was an extremely dark beer, it went down easy and tasted like heaven!

Personally, my highlight of the night was meeting and speaking to Andrew Merritt, the artistic genius behind every art piece in the establishment. He was very candid and down to earth. We discussed his art, where he went to school (Dallas, TX) and how he came to obtain such a gorgeous place to call his own. Andrew’s inviting attitude and casual demeanor definitely put my date and I at ease.

His artwork is right up my alley as well. His art can be best described as urban, ranging in topics like politics, style and homelessness.

The Underground Embassy can be rented out for events and get togethers. Fees vary by event and time reserved. For pricing or questions, call Debbie Merritt at 575-760-1550.

This Clovis Main Street Downtown Gala is intended to raise awareness and funds for the downtown revitalization. You can become a Friend of Main Street by calling 575-309-8370 or going to the Clovis Downtown site.