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Doris Beeks Little: The Button Lady and The Flea Market at Eastern Market

What is essential? What is that transcendental, metaphysical element that binds? "That note in music heard not with the ear?' What do we long for?

WHAT BUILDS A COMMUNITY?

I came to the Flea Market at Eastern Market sometime in 1992. I was in my mid-twenties, and I remember thinking that the Flea Market was not as cool or interesting as the Saturday, Market 5 Gallery, Arts and Crafts Festival. The Flea market had fewer artists, fewer produce merchants and a whole lot more old people selling old stuff--antiques, collectibles, vintage etc. Many of theses exhibitors reminded me too much of my mother's crowd. You know them...

So, I avoided "them" like the plague. I mean I was an Artist, cool, club-hoppin' twenty-something, child of the dream, feminist, alternative....

"They," I was sure, paid me and my set of young arty hipsters "no never mind". I would speak when spoken to and, if need be, I could pull out my Sunday-goin'-to-meeting-manners". After all, I had good "home training".

A couple of months after arriving at the Flea Market at Eastern Market, Tom Rall, manager and founder, gave me a permanent space on a picnic table across from produce merchant Jesse Dunham, vintage exhibitor Doris Beeks Little, and importers Pia and Mitch Phulsuksombat. I set up my stand there on Sundays from 1992-2007. The fire that devastated the structure of the building was Sunday night/early Monday morning in late April of 2007. I remember thinking when I heard about the fire but I was just there, how could it have happened?

But for years before the fire, during the transition afterwards, and still today, there was and is Doris Beeks Little: The Button Lady at The Flea Market at Eastern Market.

(Mrs. Doris Beeks Little-The Button Lady-)

Doris Beeks (Little) was born in May 1932, in Laurens County, South Carolina. She was raised on Highway 25, which was on the way to Augusta, Georgia. Her father was a farmer, and she grew up farming. Her mother passed away when she was very young, but her father managed to keep hearth and home together. Ms. Little comes from a family of nine children and from a farm where Mr. Claude Beeks raised cotton, wheat, corn and a large vegetable garden.

Because of the peculiarities of life in the south (and in America in general) during that epoch, Doris Beeks attended a boarding school in another county. She and millions of other Americans were not allowed to attend local schools, or libraries, or ride on the front of buses or be treated as equal human beings in the eyes of the law, so she went to Chapman Grove High School in Grenville County.

Ms. Little tells wonderful stories about life on the farm with her family, stories in which her father is her hero and moral guide. Like the time when pickin' cotton (she was one of the youngest children) she was unable to pick as much as everyone else, so she "borrowed" cotton from the piles of her siblings so that she too would receive some praise. But she was caught by her father, who repeated her favorite bible verse, "thou shall not steal." He was always there watching over his family. Another story about her father: after a hard day on the farm in the evening, he would cook peanuts, while she and her siblings played a game called "Jack in the bush." The game involved guessing how many peanuts each person had in their hands, and if you guessed right, well, there was a forfeit of peanuts involved. Once she hid peanuts in her pockets, but once again, she was caught..and turned upside down for the forfeit.

As for growing up in a large family, she says, "...with that many in the family, you were never lonely; you had somebody to share. If it was nothing but going to the well and getting a bucket of water." She developed a love for reading and writing at a young age and now writes poems. Her father, Claude Beeks, had a fifth grade education. She notes that "books were limited because there were no libraries provided to us. Oh, we had a hard time..." She finished high school at sixteen in June 1949.

In November of 1949, Ms. Doris Beeks came to Washington, D.C. She, like many others, was part of the "field to factory" movement that transformed northern cities and reshaped the south. She notes that all her older siblings had moved to D.C.; in the deep south there were no opportunities for work other than as domestics or farmers, and educational opportunities were limited. She took the civil service exam, passed it on the first try and worked at the Civil Service Commission for nineteen months. But her high school sweetheart followed her from South Carolina, they got married in 1951 and her focus again became her own family. Mrs. Doris Little now has four daughters, one granddaughter and two grandsons.

The early part of Mrs. Little's professional life was as a home maker. She recalls having "...ironed my share of dresses...forty-two dresses a week. You starched them and sprinkled them and rolled them up to let the water penetrate and then ironed them one by one." She was active in numerous civic associations, in the library and in the PTA. I asked Mrs. Little about raising children in D.C. in the 1950's, 60's and 70's; she says life was good and that the community worked together. "I would blink my porch lights for my daughters to come into the house...everybody just abided by that in the evening." She still lives in the same house in which she raised her children in South East Washington, D.C., in the Fort Davis community.

However, Doris Little had the desire to be...a career woman. In the late 1960s, she again worked for the government as a civil servant, this time with computers that required that she change and run tapes. On this experience she says, "I found out then that I did not like dealing with machines, I prefer people."

Road to Eastern Market

(Ms. Little at her stand at the Flea Market at Eastern Market)

In the late 1970's she took a pottery class, and it was suggested to her that she sell her pieces at a flea market. Like many of us exhibitors, on her first time out showing her art work, she did not sell a piece. But she did learn about vintage items and realized that she had grown up with antiques and had a house full of them; so she started selling. In the early days she sold at flea markets, church bazaars and various local thrift shops. In the early 1980's, she (with a partner) had a store at 1315 Pennsylvania Ave., SE called L & M Thrift Shop (Little and McCray). The store sold vintage and collectible glassware and the like. It stayed open for almost two years. Then fate interceded; at another flea market she met exhibitor Darnell Jones, antique dealer, and he told her that she should give The Flea Market at Eastern Market a try.

Doris Beeks Little came to the Flea Market at Eastern Market in 1985 and has been there ever since. I asked her about her first impressions of the Market; she said that it was delightful to be under the farmers' shed. It was a learning experience and it was warm. "It just seemed family like. Everybody was very open and very concerned."

( shopping at The Button Lady's stand)

Becoming The Button Lady

Doris Little is one of the Eastern Market classics; her stand at the Flea Market at Eastern Market is internationally renowned. She was featured in an article entitled "Pushing the Right Buttons", in the Washington Times in April 1998. In 2009 she made international news and was featured in a newspaper from Denmark. Two well known Eastern Market artists have used her buttons in their work: Zoey March gained a reputation for a line of sterling silver and mother-of-pearl button jewelry, and Jenea Michelle (Range of Emotion) used Ms. Little's buttons as closures on her textile hand bags for years....

...because Mrs. Little sells buttons. Buttons from all over the world. Antique buttons, glass buttons, plastic, wooden, metal, mother of pearl, name it- -if it is a button she has it or has had it. How did she become the button lady? Ms. Little laughs about this, telling me, "when I came [to the Market] I was selling vintage glassware, china and a few vintage clothing pieces." About twenty years ago, one of her elderly neighbors named Ida (who knew that she sold at the market) asked her about selling buttons. Doris Little was not interested, but because the woman was so much older than she, Ms. Little was unable to tell her no, and ended up buying Ida and Ida's mother's collection of at least one thousand buttons. In remembering the initial purchase Ms. Little says, " I thought I had to be out of my mind to buy that many buttons. I put some in a large bowl and brought them to the market." She goes further in saying, "It has grown from there. I never thought I would be called the 'Button Lady.'"

In later conversations with one of her daughters, Shelia Little gave me more of the story of her mother becoming "The Button Lady." Shelia said that it was after her mother's second bout with breast cancer in 1990, and in returning to the Flea Market, her mom could not handle moving and carrying the heavy glassware. So, over time, she made the transition to lighter items like buttons.

(Pia, Mavis Jackson(vintage jewelry) and Ms. Little-flea market folk)

I think I remember her first button doll. Mrs. Little is the only maker of button dolls in America. In 2002 a young customer at the market(from Rhode Island) suggested that she make dolls out of buttons, but she did not know how. She says, "I was guided spiritually how to make the dolls. Man makes his plans but God directs his steps." The buttons are what has made her famous at Eastern Market, but it is the community that has formed with her at the center that makes her "Ms. Doris."

(two of "Ms. Doris's" four daughters Angie Barnes and Shelia Little)

Doris Little and her community at the Flea Market at Eastern Market

Jesse Dunham (produce merchant) and Family

(Russel Dunham [I can when remember when he was six and short] "Ms. Doris" and Jesse Dunham)

When I came to the market on Sunday's and stared sitting up my stand across from Mrs. Little, one could not miss hearing Jesse Dunham. He is boisterous, and loves to make rowdy (sometimes raunchy) jokes and laugh. He is also from West Virginia; at that time he and his family lived in a trailer. He chewed tobacco and he raised his children to work hard, respect their elders and to look out for (his name for her) "Ms. Doris" and Mr. Booker (he is another story). I can still hear him yelling at his sons (Russell and Daniel Barker) to bring Ms. Doris some fruits or vegetables from his stand (these were always gifts to her) or to make sure and help if need be as she backed out of the parking space, or to move the crates he would put there to save her space or to... And at Christmas time, while he as a produce merchant had the ability to displace all the exhibitors under the farmers shed so that he could fill it with Christmas trees, he always made space for "Ms. Doris", and later Mitch and Pia Phulsuksombat.

(Cleveland Barnes[Ms. Little's son-in-law] and Russel Dunham hang out, sell fruit and male-bond under the farmers shed)

(Mitch Phulsuksombat, Daniel "badass" Barker(Jesse Dunham's oldest son) and Shelia Little acting up at the Flea Market)

The Dunham family and "Ms. Doris" and her family have set up beside each other for over twenty five years. I have been know to call Ms. Little's son-in-law Cleveland Barnes--Mrs. Dunham's oldest child. Cleveland and Mitch Phulsuksombat(importer) are always joking and often help Jesse (now Daniel and Russell) and his crew sell produce. To see this is to witness male bonding at its finest. In the last ten years or so, two of Mrs. Little's four daughters (Angie and Shelia) have set up a stand of vintage items for sale right next to hers. Shelia Little wrote of her mother,"she is amazing at her age, she continues to be a wife and mother on a full time basis to an adult dependent child (Mrs. Little's oldests daughter), as well as a great mom to her daughters who no longer live at home."

Pia and Mitch Phulsuksombat(importer/artist)

(Doris and Pia, friends, cuttin' up at the market)

Pia and Mitch are Thai-Chinese. Originally they imported porcelain pots from Thailand. Now their stand is fulled with wonderfully made crocheted jewelry(made by Pia) and imported jewelry, scarves and wooden wind chimes. Pia has said on numerous occasions that she loves Doris like a mother. Pia said, of Doris Little that " she is my idol; when I am getting older, I want to be like her, she never angry." They are dear friends and are not above a bit of gossiping, story telling and the lively joke.

Sonda Allen and Ms. Little

The first couple of times, I don't think I really noticed. See, it was the time of year when dark comes early, and I was taking forever to pack up my stand. Most folks had left the market. But I had these lights shining right on my stand, so I was okay. I was not alone. Then it hit me. I realized that Mrs. Little was sitting in her car watching over me, making sure I was okay, waiting for me to finish packing. She had stayed to wait for me. Because I was there alone, because it was getting dark. Because...

She did not do this just once, or just in one season. Over the years, when I was running late with packing my stand, there would be these lights shining on me. I would look up and she would be there sittingm quiet and patient in her car, making sure I was okay. Later she told me how she admired the fact that I had my own business. She admired that I was an artist, she admired that I was going it alone, she admired...me?

What I realized long since is that Ms. Little is one of my momma's people. You know them! The ones who shaped and transformed America, through forbearance, dignity, actions and faith. The ones who made the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights mean something, by demanding that the words on paper apply to all. The ones who held, watched over and shaped me, instilling in me a fire of self respect, dignity and love for humanity.

Yeah, them--our people--you know, flea market folk.

The ordinary extraordinary Eastern Market community member:

Mr. John Johnson

At the market, " we", the exhibitors, all have our people who come by and check on us; some are clients, but most are friends. One of Mrs. Little's favorite folk is John Johnson. John was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1962. He came to Washington, D.C. in 1987 for an internship in the Presidential Management Program and now works at the Government Accountability Office as a program analyst; and he loves "The Button Lady" at Eastern Market. In conversation with Mr. Johnson, he told me he started coming to Eastern Market in 1988. What attracted him to the market and keeps him coming back is "the creative energy that exists in the environment. Everybody is interdependent. It is a microcosm of the way you would want the world to work."

I remember noticing Mr. Johnson around Ms. Doris's stand about ten years ago. He would come and sit down, this very young guy, and start taking notes of conversations he was having with Mrs. Little. I asked him about all that. He told me that his goal at that time was to document their conversations. He is a writer and he "wanted people to feel Eastern Market from the point of view of a vendor." Over the years, John has introduced and had dinners for Ms. Doris and his mother. I asked him what it was about Mrs. Little that brings him back to visit her at the Market. He said, "what attracted me to her was her spirit. We are good friends. We have a lot of things in common. We have a love of family, sense of humor, love of fashion, buttons, love of kindness, a love of curiosity."

John Johnson has taken the measure of the exhibitor community at Eastern Market. If asked, he has good things to say about Quest Skinner (painter), Jenea Michelle(textiles), Mike and Jean Buryznski (antiques) and Rachel Boozer (mother of Donna-painter) just to name a few of his favorite exhibitors. I wanted to know from someone from the community who has been coming to the market for years and who knows the exhibitor community - what he sees when he is at the market hanging out and shopping with us? Mr. Johnson went straight to the heart of the exhibitor community; he said at the Market "...at bottom, everybody gotta go to the bathroom. Everybody needs someone they can trust to watch their stuff. You have to put aside childish things like bigotry and racism. At bottom, it's all about trust and by building that trust you build a relationship..."

(Ms. Little and Mr. John Johnson at "The Button Lady's" stand)

I asked John what he gets out of coming to the Market. He says, "it gives me juice." He said that coming to the market hits "that inner chord" in him. He notes that, "either you are open to it or you are not. The people who are open to it, you see them every week"...at Eastern Market.

Mrs. Little on Eastern Market:

(a world famous button doll)

In conversations with Mrs. Little over the years about her openness to the world, her experiences have given her wisdom to go beyond the superficial and physical. She has said to me on more than one occasion that she has had to set folk straight. Ms. Doris has told folk that, "you might be my color, but you are not my kind." "Ms. Doris's" folk--Pia and Mitch Phulsuksombat, Mavis Jackson, Daniel Barker, Charles Ellis, Russel, Dunham Arlene Hawkins, Tom Rall, me, Jesse Dunhman, and hundreds of customers from all over the world that send and buy her buttons--we are all "her kind." Doris Little does not suffer fools. I asked her about life and growing up, and not being in church on Sundays but at Eastern Market instead. She responded"...you give a sermon every Sunday, I try to live one everyday. I keep the church in me." She says, "your experiences make you strong. All the things I did on the farm, that I did as a housewife, all my experiences come together."

Like so many other exhibitors, one of the things that Doris Little has appreciated over the years at the Flea Market at Eastern Market is freedom. She said, "I prefer controlling my own time. When you are doing the Flea Market, it gives you the opportunity to control your own time. I do something that I enjoy but have freedom to control my own time." Ms. Little ended our conversation by stating, "I would not exchange the knowledge that I have gained from the people that I have met at Eastern Market. I would not exchange it for money."

Witnessing,

Sonda Tamarr Allen

Turtle's Webb

Many elements and factors come together to build any community. Yet, there is this one element that is vital. It binds people together. Makes them look out for one another. Encourages understanding, forgiveness, and peace. It is precious, but has no price. One can see, feel and be apart of it.

Dr. Martin Luther King spoke on it...

"Agape is creative understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love that seeks nothing in return. Theologians would say that this is the love of God operating in the human heart." (1963)

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Demented Decoupage: BoxBoy Paul Alan Bierman at Eastern Market

Coming to Eastern Market is an adventure. You never know what you might find. And often one must pose the question (hopefully not to the artist, exhibitor, farmer, or merchant who's selling the art work, object, fruit, or vegetable etc), "what is that?"

In creative expression, I cut my teeth on the Jazz age, i.e. the Harlem Renaissance, and later was introduced to the European Renaissance, impressionism, fauvism, postmodernism, abstract expressionism, and more ism's then one can shake a stick at. On the whole, this art was not humorous. In fact, I was first introduced to "humor in art" at Eastern Market. I was somewhat appalled at the time (a deadly serious feminist and ex-academic in my early 20's, I wanted to taken seriously and I made "art jewelry. Forgive me; I was a pill) .

Humor in art, during the artistic renaissance at Eastern Market, was epitomized by the work-- from the nose up--of Jonathan Blum. In the early 1990's when I started, and years before and after. Mr. Blum had the largest following of any artist at Eastern Market. The folk loved his work. Why? because it was familiar--Sesame Street(i.e. Bert and Ernie), took them back to childhood, and it was funny. Blum's mono prints simply made folk happy. Not to mention that Jonathan had a schtick--he knew and knows how to work a crowd. Does any one remember his 'battling Rabbi puppets' and his dog, a cocker spaniel, the most endearing and pathetic-looking animal ever seen around the market? Her name was Eleanor; once she ate my peanut butter/chocolate chip cookie, right after I had taken the first bite! I tried to kick her. Beast!

The next Market artist of the 1990's artistic renaissance to tickle the funny bone was painter Daniel Kessler, with his "folk art styled" paintings of dogs and cats with very expressive facial features and large popply eyes. The double-entendre of one of his paintings, "FAT CAT" was irresistable to the D.C. political crowd. Kessler kept folk smirking and smiling for years. There are others, later at Eastern Market, who have created a niche for themselves with satire in their work--consider for example the political wit found in the fine drawings and watercolor paintings of Joseph Harrison Snyder.

Thus, we have art at Eastern Market that is funny, humorous, satirical, wacky, whimsical and...just plain WRONG! How does one define "wron"g? Richard Pryor could tell you; so could George Carlin. But then you would have to dig 'em up'. Plus they would use certain words (in Carlin's case, five; and Pryor would start with the N word and...)

that would cause folk to say "pardon my French." WRONG: is humor that is noire, words, images, and actions that are so funny they make you "wanna slap yo' mamma". WRONG- is low down, gut bucket, belly laughing, dirty, cutting, mean, not for the tea party nor country club set and funny as hell.

(image used in the creation of "BOXBOY"-boxes and an original BOXBOY best selling box)

What is so funny? Can you believe... No, she/he didn't, ooh! "I'm gonna tell!" This is just "so wrong", I love it!"

You want humor in art, at Eastern Market, that is funny, that will make you smile, that is satirical, wacky, and at times just plain WRONG? check out Demented Decoupage. Eastern Market's own BoxBoy: Paul Alan Bierman.

(a portrait: Paul Bierman)

Mr. Bierman like many "great American artists" comes from the south. He was born in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. He grew up in a town of less than six thousand people called Covington, Tennessee. He lived on a dead end street. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, with a focus on communication and advertising. His first career, like many at Eastern Market(for example painter Mary Belcher, photographer Steven L. Miller and founder, manager The Flea Market at Eastern Market and antique dealer Tom Rall) was in journalism. His first job was as a sports and features writer for The Covington Leader 1980-1983. Later, he left Tennessee for Phoenix, Arizona where he wrote for the trade publication : U-Haul International for seven years.

Mr. Bierman was a bit of a gypsy for a period of time, moving to San Diego, California , in 1988, where he worked in an antique store. There, he says that he was a "dogsboy," doing a bit of everything and learning about antiques. Later, 1991-1995, he moved back to Tennessee and opened a gift shop, selling cloisonne jewelry, rosewood furniture, Chinese reverse paintings, Chinese four- and six-paneled screens and Chinese blue and white porcelain. However, clients for these items were not plentiful in East Tennessee. In the spring of 1999, a friend offered him a job at an antique store on King Street in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, and he moved to the Washington metropolitan area.

He calls the years between 1995-1999 his unproductive period, "years of waste," a stagnant period, and unfulfilling.

On Decoupage:

However, he started decoupaging in 1993. He recalls a Guatemalan chest that he had and just decided to decoupage. In conversation with Mr. Bierman I asked him how

he got started decoupaging? Had he studied art before? He said, "it just came to me to do it. I had a

bunch of art magazines. I cut out a bunch of funky pictures and applied them haphazardly and it turned out good."

(Paul Alan Bierman: BoxBoy at his stand at The Flea Market at Eastern Market)

The same friend who had hired him to work part time at his antique store in Old Town told him about Eastern Market. He came to visit the market during the best time of year for a future exhibitor (winter) in February of 1999. He recalls his first visit to the market with feeling, "it was not fun. It was twenty-five degrees and the wind was howling." Sounds like a beautiful winter day to be set up outside for ten hours to me! He started coming to the Market in May of that same year and has been there ever since.

Paul Bierman's business BoxBoy a demented decoupage, is know for small and

medium sized decoupaged boxes and l'objects d'art.

( an assortment of BoxBoy boxes)

.

(BoxBoy: Paul Bierman works on a "demented box")

I asked Paul for his definition of decoupage. He replied, "to me it's just color with a flowing purpose. It has to tie in somehow, it has to flow and it has to merge. It can't be haphazard, to me it can't be." At one level from a technical perspective he stated, "it really is just paper, glue and varnish, that is all it is."

In closely examining his more elaborate pieces--for example, decoupaged heads, chests, etc.--one is amazed by the seamless joining of paper as well as the attention to detail of the images and colors. The viewer is left sensing that there is a

meaning or message hidden in the imagery that is used in the work. In further reflection Paul revealed that he, "had been drawing pictures, I guess since I can remember,

I use to draw pictures of the two thieves in Jesus's crucifixion."

(detail of decoupaged head top and back view)

(small decoupaged chest)

Paul Bierman loves what he does. In conversation he told me, "I knew decoupage was what I was meant to do. From the beginning, the experiments, it was just second nature to do it. I don't know where it goes it is just inert. I just knew. I wish I could explain it." Decoupage, as a technical process, from the outside looking in, appears tedious, without a defined end point. Yet, Mr. Bierman is clear, "I know when its finished. I know when it is done. I just know."

I asked Paul where he got his images, If he made them himself or...? I also asked about the use of the computer in the making of his work. In response he told me that his images are drawn largerly from the internet. In fact he wrote, "I don't know what I did before I got a co

mputer five years ago...Initially, I used old National Geographics and a few art magazines for images. Newspapers and calenders also provided a wealth of images." As for the technical dexterity to mix images on the computer, he admits to being old fashioned, preferring to cut and paste by

hand. "I do decoupage the old fashioned way...I cut and I paste and I glue and I varnish etc., etc., etc. Part of the satisfaction when doing collages is piecing the whole thing together like a puzzle or a patchwork quilt. You have a general idea in your mind, you go with it one piece at a time and you build upon your foundation layer by layer by layer. It is very frustrating, extremely time consuming and more than maddening. It causes curse words to fly out of my mouth. But when it's done right, it's akin to a holy experience."

Paul and technology are not fast friends. He loves doing custom boxes for folk and states that on the computer, "I can do what I need to do but not much else."

And as far as computer manipulated decoupage, he gets a touch controversial, writing, "computer generated art is nice, but to me it can be somewhat impersonal and robotic...not that there is anything wrong with that."

Lastly, I wanted to know about the humor in his work. I asked him what causes /happens when he sees an image he likes. He replied, "I laugh and usually out loud when it's something outrageous. The light bulb idea goes off in my head and I silently proclaim. "Aha... now THAT'S a BoxBoy if I ever saw one." Paul Bierman is very aware that some of his images are "wrong", and he would like them to be even more so. He wro

te, "there are so many politically incorrect images I would love to use, but don't. We are getting too sterile, and so mundane that it makes me sick to my stomach, and that affects everything...including art."

A visitation: Paul Alan Bierman at Work:

Starting last year with abstract expressionist painter Shelia Crider(former Eastern Market artist), I have visited artists and others at Eastern Market in their work spaces. In the artist's studios, workspaces, basements, or attics, one notes first the silent solitude in which they create. I am t

here to witness. There is a rhythm to their movements. It is orchestrated to be con

tinuous and efficient. There is intense concentration, and there is this sense of peace. These are the acts of creation not seen. They are inherent to the work being done. Can you feel them as you walk through the market, a gallery, a museum or a festival?

In Mr. Bierman studio, like in many other artists studios there was music that augmented his process. As he worked he moved and in that movement there was timing, rhythm and this... this... grace. The day after my visit I emailed him to ask him about music. I asked him about the music that we had listen to the day before-about how music and working come together for him. Paul has over one thousand CDs. He wrote, "yesterday we were treated to G.F. Handel's baroque opera, "Ariodante". Handel is my absolute favorite composer and my goal is to own every opera/oratorio he composed." In terms

of the effect of music on him personally and artistically he wrote, "I can't imagine life/work without music. Music is my personal hallucinogen..., My mind races with a bombardment of memories while working...good, bad, nostalgic, fantasical." Mr. Bierman has two passion in life art and music. He wrote, "I adore music of all types and I am truly blessed to be able to satisfy my two passions in life simultaneouly...art and music...what a perfect world for BoxBoy as I lose myself in almost tranmeditational bliss while at work."

(a visitation Paul Bierman at peace with art and music in his studio)

(Paul's studio with music collection as the background)

On Life at Eastern Market:

Paul Bierman speaks with a lilting soft candence of fried green tomatoes and southern comfort that can mute his sharp wit, and cutting humor. In our conversations many times Paul has puncuated a "remark" with a flash of smile that says' "oops, did I just say that". He loves coming to the Market to sell his work, but more than that, his friends are there. On Eastern Market he said simply, "I love it, the people there are family. It is the only social network I have. The people who are around are the best people in the world, Sola Ope, Tom Rall, Anjum Hasnain, John DeFabbio, Ron Manigan." Like many Eastern Market exhibitors he is a collector of Art, from where Eastern Market of course. It struck me, that his living spaces are just chalked full of Art. In his collection of art are well know present and former market artists, for example, photographers Daniele Piasecki, John DeFabbio, Avner Ofer and Troy Plair. Paul has prints and paintings by Mark Cottman, Tsolmon Damba, Rolando Perdigon, Kazem Shirazi and Sergio Olivos. He has pottery by Paul Gruner.

(Paul in his living space surround by art work from artists at the Market)

I asked him about selling to the public at the market. He ,like many, is not at ease with that particular "art form". He told me, "I have to play salesperson. I don't do people well at all so to do what I do is a challenge for me personally. But I love it." Lastly I asked Paul about the name of his business: Box Boy, a Demented Decoupage. I wanted to know where or what caused him to come up with it. He said, on BoxBoy, "maybe it came to me before I went to sleep one night." and on Demented Decoupage, he replied, "I love to play word games. So I knew I wanted decoupage and another word that began with a 'd' ,and I thought 'demented', and that worked." Several times in conversation, Mr. Bierman stated in regards to the Flea Market at Eastern Market, "I love going there on Sundays. I love the people."

Witnessing,

Sonda Tamarr Allen

Turtle's Webb

It was and is artists like Paul Bierman, with his humorous, irreverant joie de vivre, that make a place. Artists transform, change, enliven, challenge and raise the standard of life. We make a place. We give it a name. A reputation. We give it pieces of ourselves, our lives, and we make it home.