Studio an inspiration to local artists

Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch traces her recent artwork back to the Wonderbra.

''When they first came out, I once tried one on, and it was so stiff it felt like wearing metal; it was so uncomfortable," said Bloch, who is one of more than 70 artists participating in ArtSpace Maynard Open Studios this weekend. ''So, when I first started working on art, I welded a bra out of steel, and that sort of kicked off this whole thing."

The ''thing" is what you could call this Needham artist's shiny underwear period. For the last several years, Bloch has fashioned the most feminine of items of lingerie from what she calls ''the most masculine hardware supplies," such as nuts, bolts, and gutter screening.

And now, a walk on a littered beach has inspired her ''trashy lingerie" series, a collection of undergarments woven from cut-up soda cans, her light-hearted comment on waste.

''What appeals to me is the irony and the humor and the fact that women will wear very uncomfortable things at the expense of looking fabulous," she said.

ArtSpace Open Studios will mark the debut of Bloch's latest metallic unmentionables, titled ''A Clean Pair for Every Day of the Week." This set of soda-can undies is matched thematically to each day of the week. Keeping Sunday chaste, she used Diet Coke cans. Monday is woven from Pepsi cans in a football design. And so on.

''Grape soda alone comes in numerous shades of purple," she said. ''I wound up going to New York to search for the right cans. Other people go to New York and visit the Met. I was scrounging around convenience stores for Dr. Brown's celery soda."

But Bloch is used to searching in unusual places for her art supplies. ''I've always been fascinated with trash and hardware store supplies," she said, explaining that a favorite source is Harvey's Hardware in Needham. ''They call me 'the nut lady' there because I bought 2,000 steel nuts, and they always know that when I come in I'll ask for something unusual."

Harvey's is also the source of the vinyl plumbing tubing Bloch uses to weave elegant urns and sculptures.

Her ''possibilities" have been shown in museums and galleries nationwide, but Bloch said her success has a lot to do with the ArtSpace studios.

''It's so important to have a place to work and be in a community of artists that inspire each other," said Bloch, a career counselor and mother of two young children who has only been working as an artist for four years.

According to ArtSpace gallery director Jero Nesson of Concord, the four-year-old ArtSpace studios have played a similarly pivotal role for other area artists. ''It's a place where they can come to with no distractions and be with like-minded people, and my experience is that every year people's new work gets better and better because of it."

This weekend's open studios features artists working in a wide range of media including paints, fibers, metal, and No. 2 pencils, which Jennifer Maestre of Concord crafts brilliantly into prickly sculptures. In addition to pottery wheel work, demonstrations will include hat felting by Denise Shea of Maynard, whose whimsical handmade hats will be featured on HGTV this October. Acme Theater also will offer backstage tours, and classical guitarist Berit Strong of Acton will perform an end-of-event concert at 5 p.m. Sunday.

ArtSpace Maynard Open Studios runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at 63 Summer St. in Maynard. Admission is free. Call 978-897-9828 or visit www.artspacemaynard.com.

CLASSICAL CONCERT AT PERKINS -- Every month, the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown hosts a free public concert. For about two decades, these shows have featured greats such as the Boston Pops, newbies such as their own students, and the unusual, such as Queen Elizabeth's personal brass band fresh off her visiting yacht.

And once a year, since Polaroid executive and Perkins donor Sheldon Rothstein of Framingham died in 1997, a special concert in his honor is held with renowned classical musicians.

This year's free Rothstein concert will feature violinist Danielle Maddon of Brighton and pianist Leslie Amper of Sharon. Between them, their resumes span the likes of the Handel and Haydn Society, the Boston Pops, and the Pittsburgh Symphony, as well as many of the great halls, including Carnegie.

Tonight, the duo will perform a selection that will open with Beethoven's Sonata in D Major. ''It's very valedictory and starts with almost a fanfare," Maddon said. ''It's youthful. It's vigorous. It has a gorgeous low-movement variation, and a very jokey last movement that's a rollicking rondo."

Bizet's arrangement of Camille Saint-Saens' Opus 28 will follow, a piece that Maddon explained is ''sort of a Frenchman's take on Spanish love and lore. It's very free and romantic and will remind people of matadors and 'Carmen.' "

The program then will move east with Bartok's ''Six Romanian Dances." And to finish, no whimper here: The pair will conclude with Schumann's passionate Opus 105.

The behind-the-scenes guy who has been making the series happen all these years is Arnie Harris of Needham, music director at the Perkins School.

''There's a lot going on at the school musically," he said. ''We have three choruses and an orchestra.

''But this series has been great fun. It's my special little thing."

Maddon and Amper will perform at 7:30 tonight in the school's Dwight Hall at the Howe Building at 175 North Beacon St. in Watertown. Coming up: Oct. 24 -- Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Nov. 9 -- Perkins Faculty concert, Dec. 5 -- Chorus Pro Musica. All are free. Call 617-972-7583 or visit www.perkins.org.

COOKING FOR KATRINA -- With two family members stranded by Katrina, Don Yovicsin of Jake's Dixie Roadhouse in Waltham figured his restaurant had the goods to help out. On Oct. 6, he'll serve up Big Easy-style eats, live music, and some choice auction items to benefit Red Cross relief in New Orleans.

A la carte tidbits at The Big Easy Disaster Relief Fund-raiser will include gumbo, red beans and rice, po'boys, and those famous hurricane cocktails.

Working the bar will be Yovicsin's displaced stepbrother, Barry Williamson, a longtime bartender at Tipitina's night club. ''He's going to be our real live New Orleans bartender," Yovicsin said. ''Right now he's living up here banging nails doing carpentry until he can go back."

Area businesses and restaurants donated gift certificates for auction, and Yovicsin rounded up autographed guitars from Joe Perry and Joe Walsh and a signed Boston Celtics basketball. Rising stars Waltham the band, recently signed by Rycodisc, will perform, as will fellow Waltham-based rockers Red Vinyl.

''We've got to see that vibrant city come back to life," Yovicsin said. ''There's nothing like it in the US."

The relief fund-raiser is scheduled for Oct. 6 in Jake's Dixie Roadhouse at 220 Moody St. in Waltham. A la carte dinner 5-10 p.m., music from 10 p.m.; $10 cover. Wear Mardi Gras beads and get a free Pabst. Call 781-894-4227.

NOVICK AND VAN DUSER IN FRANKLIN -- Those who don't recognize the names Billy Novick and Guy Van Duser probably could recognize their music in just a few notes.

For more than a quarter-century, this soulful classic jazz duo has performed worldwide, playing often on NPR's ''Prairie Home Companion" and recording numerous movie and TV soundtracks (''Antiques Roadshow," ''Out of Africa," etc.)

The key to their popularity: a gleeful, easy, front-porch sound that makes you want to kick your feet up and relax as well as tap to the beat all at once. Van Duser's sweet and nimble finger-style guitar picking paired with Novick's soulful clarinet makes every tune from an Ellington to a Jelly Roll sound fresh.

This Saturday, they will open the fall season at Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Franklin. Though they are known for favoring lesser-known works from old-time jazz, Novick said this show will feature a few surprises.

''We've finally decided it's OK to play big-band. We used to dig for obscure pieces, but we finally realized we can play anything and make it sound like it's ours," he said.

Considering this comes from a man known for his outrageous rendition of ''Rhapsody in Blue" on pennywhistle, their take on the classics is sure to be interesting.

Novick and Van Duser will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse, at the First Universalist Society Meetinghouse, 262 Chestnut St., Franklin. Tickets are $15. Call 508-528-2541 or visit www.circlefolk.org.

News of arts-related events may be sent to westarts@globe.com.