New Tapestries!

These are two new tapestries made by Fine Art Tapestries, from Mark Merrill's "Alpha" & "Beta" paintings. Wonderful detail and texture, and fantastically priced. Shown with John Robin Merrill and a "Light of the World" lamp from Mission Gifts (you want one). Update: price is $180 each, $350 for a pair! Also available through Upper Room Art Gallery Manila: 9,000 pesos each, 18,000 per pair. Contact Popoy Vilchez 0918-900-8966. In the US, contact Upper Room Art Gallery-Fort Lauderdale, 954-828-1505.

Save the Forests

Benji Reyes' furniture is made from 100% RECYCLED HARDWOODS! Deforestation is a HUGE problem is SouthEast Asia. Many of the woods that Benjie uses are banned from harvesting, but he obtains them from ancestral homes that are being demolished in certain regions, especially the from the Spanish archtectural areas in Illocos Norte. Hopefully you will see these wonderful artpieces soon at the Upper Room Art Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida!

Benji Reyes

Benji Reyes is a furniture artist in the Philippines, represented by the same gallery that Mark & Robin Merrill show at in Manila, Gallery 139. Benji also lives up in the mountains where we lived, in Antipolo. Currently CCDF/Upper Room Art Gallery is loading a 20 ft container of handmade paper lamps, but we have a bit of room left over, and we would absolutely love to bring back some of Benji's furniture. What do you think?? Let us know! We would need a couple thousand $$ to purchase it and load it in the container. Upper Room Art Gallery would love to represent Benji in the United States....please pray this into possibility! It would just take the sale of a couple paintings in the gallery, to give us enough money to get Benji's furniture into this shipment. Benji has a family foundation that gives scholarships to children in poverty in the rural area where he lives, and children can attend school--children which would otherwise be without an education. Also, they have an apprenticeship program that gives poor children a chance to learn the woodworking craft--they sand and treat the wood that is used in this furniture, and earn a wage.

Antipolo Skies

Painting by Robin Haines Merrill, oil on board, 27" x 45", $3,200
Antipolo is the name of the town Mark & Robin lived in, in the Philippines. From the mountaintop overlooking the expanse of metro Manila, a beautiful theatre of color in the sky was a nightly gift to those of us inhabiting the hills. This painting was a part of the "Heaven & Hell" show that Robin had in Manila in 1999, and recently was shown in the sanctuary at First Lutheran, Ft. Lauderdale, Feb. 2006 show.

Gift Bags

Check out our new Gift Bags at Mission Gifts--Handmade paper and Bamboo. Three sizes available and lots of color varieties, priced from $6.50-8.50. Sturdy and re-usable. Made by Village Handcrafters, a ministry in the Philippines working in squatter relocation areas. A church-based work program, providing a salary for the pastor and jobs for the church community. Notice the bouganvilla leaves? This product is environmentally friendly and a healthy, creative job for the poor. Visit our shop downtown Ft. Lauderdale to pick up a supply to keep on hand for all your gift-giving needs. (The square in the center of the bag is a gift card holder--each bag comes with a matching gift card to write a greeting upon)

In the Garden of Gethsemane

Marc Greenblum's larger than life graphite drawing on paper....from the February show in the sanctuary of First Lutheran. Framed, $20,000. From the curators statement: "Marc Greenblum is a Jewish Christian, and has rightly portrayed Jesus-Yeshua-as a Jew. His accurate and obsessive pencil lines have dramatically rendered a difficult subject for an artist: portraying a likeness of God. Marc's choice of chiaroscuro drama aptly reveals the moment of destiny when Yeshua faced his humanity in all its pain, and made a decision to move forward."

Golden Orchids

Painting by Mark C. Merrill, oil on wood panel, framed. $2,000

Boy with Soccer ball on head

"That's what I think of the World Cup right now" -John Robin Merrill.
Seriously though, remember this: "With official support from the German government, up to 40,000 young women will be "imported" from Central and Eastern Europe into Germany to "sexually service" the men. These women come from desperately poor circumstances. According to reports,
most will not speak German. Most are being "sex trafficked" against their wills. They are told that they are going to be models, waitresses, or some other harmless occupation. Many will be brutally assaulted by intoxicated fans.
Whatever their circumstances, each and every one of these young women is someone's daughter, a child of God and deserves our protection! They DO NOT DESERVE to be exploited and sentenced to a life of misery to satisfy the sexual appetites of soccer fans. This is a massive assault on women and should be opposed by every Christian
and every person who believes in human dignity! What makes this crime particularly appalling is the open support it is receiving from the German government. Prostitution is legal in Germany. But their legal red light districts will be too small for the thousands of sport/sex tourists attending the World Cup games. The German sex industry has erected a massive prostitution complex for the "booming business" expected during the games. The Germans have already built a mega brothel in Berlin, right next to the main World Cup venue to accommodate 650 male clients. Wooden "sex huts" called "performance boxes" that look like toilets have been built in fenced-in areas the size of a football field, with condoms, showers and parking for the buyers and a special focus on protecting their "anonymity." It is estimated that as many as 30% of the soccer fans will visit
prostitutes at least once. Sexual activity on such a massive scale is highly likely to spread STD's." sent by Lisa Thompson, Salvation Army, Liason for the Abolition of Sexual Trafficking.

Light of the World Lamps

Our handmade paper lamps, using wonderful bamboo and paper made by the poor, in the Philippines. Created by CCDF designer Wendy Regalado of Antipolo, Rizal. The paper making is a project of Village Handcrafters, and is a church-based economic development project for those living in squatter relocation areas. We see this as a prevention project re: prostitution and human trafficking. People without jobs are easily preyed upon for slave labor, or end up leaving their families in the village and journey to the city in hopes of finding employment, but usually find the worst that the city has to offer. These beautiful lamps are art sculptures, each one is unique and hand made. In Florida we only have a few remaining, but a new 20 ft container has been in process for the past year, and we hope to receive it in the U.S. by the end of 2006. The top photo shows the room divider, which we will have in many colors. It utilizes the beautiful "buddha bamboo", in which Wendy sees the likeness of a fish. Once they get here, they are expensive, but worth it! You can bet you won't see this at anyone else's home.

WORSHIP IN VAIN

Alan Greenspan altar series, by Robin Haines Merrill. Oil painting on board, with mixed media.
Part of the sanctuary show, displayed in the narthex (entrance to the church sanctuary). This was up during the very week that Alan retired from the Fed. Next to this piece was Marc Greenblum's drawing of Yeshua/Christ, and my slogan was "Choose you this day, whom shall you serve?" A good question to ask yourself upon entering a church...will it be Yeshua or Mammon that you serve with your life?

Michelle Woolley mirrors

Sanctuary show, February 2006. Michelle Woolley hand paints, layer upon layer, wooden mirror frames, encrusted with Swarovski crystals (which looked stunning against the stained glass). "Versailles" $6,900. "Fruit of the Spirit" $4,800. From the curator: "A true house of worship should not only encourage outward adoration of the Creator, but also inward reflection. Michelle Woolley's mirrors are placed facing the pews, purposely promoting more than a glance, but a stare. Imagine spending an entire hour, listening to hymns and sermons, and being forced to really look at yourself, whether you like it or not. I think mirrors should be installed in all pews!"

THE GALLERY

Views of the Upper Room Art Gallery, show during the first quarter of 2006.
Paintings by Mark C. Merrill. You should have been there.
Look at the nice paint job that intern Gino did on the walls, fabulous.

Chalices, February 2006 show

Ceramic chalices by Robin Haines Merrill, on display at the First Lutheran Church downtown Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 3 person show during the month of February 2006 in the sanctuary, together with Michelle Woolley and Marc Greenblum. (photography by www.coreymcfarlane.com)

May Flowers show, Opening

Opening: "May Flowers" show, paintings by Mark C. Merrill @ the Upper Room Art Gallery, May 13, 2006

The Hanging of the Sign

Mark Merrill and Gino Salvatelli putting up the sign, February 2006. We are located in the historic First Lutheran church building, downtown Ft. Lauderdale.

WE ARE HERE

Come visit us at 417 NE Third Avenue, downtown Ft. Lauderdale, between Broward Blvd and Sunrise. Better call first: 954-828-1505. This is one of the few remaining original cottages in Fort Lauderdale, built in the 1920's and on the earliest known map of Ft. Lauderdale. Everyone around us is getting bulldozed and turned into $$$$ condos! Come and dwell....