Celebrating 10 Years

It's hard to believe we opened our doors 10 whole years ago.  Where has the time gone?  And I know for sure I personally haven't aged that much.  These rites of passage seem to lend themselves to some strolls down memory lane, so here we go.

Before opening our gallery, I was busy making jewelry and selling it at every opportunity possible - at craft fairs, farmer's markets, trade shows, through sales reps, and online.  It is rather exhausting work, but it definitely had its rewards.  But I was getting weary of lugging a tent around every weekend, only to be at the whim of the weather.  And we all know, we NEVER get rain here in Seattle....

But in the meantime, I had made many new artist friends.  Friends who made all kinds of beautiful things like pottery, glass, silk scarves, candles, and other kinds of jewelry.  I realized it was time to open up my own permanent art show!  Besides, I was fully devoted to helping others surround themselves with beauty and creativity.  What better way to do so?

Arizona artist Scott Johnson

And thus began the journey.  We started out representing only artists from Washington State.  But there are so many lovely things made in other states, that eventually I couldn't resist.  We now have works by over 100 artists.  About half are from Washington, and the other half come from other states, as well as two from Canada.

Manya in clothes from Bellingham

We have also expanded our wearable art selections, especially lately.  If you know me at all, you know I loves clothes.  I suppose it was inevitable that I'd find it irresistable to expand in that way.  We've had scarves, jackets, shawls and wraps for quite a few years now.  But this year, I got to add two new lines of my favorite type of clothing to wear - comfortable, attractive, drapey, and washable.  Just doesn't get any better than that!  One line from Bellingham enjoys eco-friendly fabrics.  Her T-shirts are a blend of organic cotton and a soy protein fiber - also known as the cashmere of the vegetable world.  They are the softest T-shirts in my closet.  And so pretty, too!  Her "posh pants" are organic cotton and hemp, and are very good looking and extremely comfortable.  I have to force myself to wear something else from time to time!

So here's to another 10 years!  Who knows how we'll grow and develop in that time frame.  It certainly is remarkable to think that when we opened in 2000, the economy was so rosy.  Then 9/11 happened, and the market for art shriveled up so much.  It sort of leveled out, but has never been as easy as we've heard other gallery-owners describe in the pre-9/11 years.  Now we're struggling through a recession, and doing our best to offer affordable, colorful, unique items in a very wide price range.  In fact, over the past 18 months we've increased the number of things under $40 quite a bit.  You should see our choices under $20!

Well, I'm sure I'll have more musings along these lines over the next few days, so stay tuned...

Manya

November 2010

ManyaVeeSelects.com

I'm a fairy godmother?

Yesterday, an artist came into the gallery to say hello.  Cheryl Waale paints lovely impressionist paintings inspired by nature, with lots of texture and intense colors.  Several years ago, she submitted an application to our Third Thursday Art Walk.  It was near the beginning of her career as an artist, as she had recently left behind the hectic and soul-killing life of the corporate world.

She was quite flabbergasted when first one, then two, and then more and more of her paintings were sold to Edmonds Art Patrons.  She found a home at the downtown Edmonds shop Housewares, where you can still see and purchase her paintings. 

Just recently, she decided to submit a proposal to the Edmonds Mural Society to see if perhaps her work might be chosen to be one of the 5 murals they plan to mount this coming summer on the many blank walls of downtown Edmonds.  And much to her amazement, her proposal was indeed selected.

Stunned at this exciting turn of events for her, Cheryl reflected on her growing career as a fine artist and asked me if we ever felt like the fairy godmother of artists, because of all the emerging artists we've nurtured over the years as the founders and directors of the Third Thursday Art Walk, now in its 9th year.  She told me about the April 15 Art Walk, which she was attending as a patron.  A visit to Bluefish Designs, an Art Walk participant, had another emerging artist showing colorful and whimsical paintings of cats.  This artist, Fran Downs, had just sold one of her paintings.  In fact, Fran had told me of this exciting sale.  What Cheryl added to the mix was that this was the very first painting of Fran's to sell!  The sale of an artist's first piece is one that remains in their memory forever.

On that same April 15 Art Walk, we got to hear about the two photographs sold at the Resident Cheesemonger by Finn Gaaras.  And Howard Frank came by to thank us because he sold one of his impressionist landscapes while being hosted by Edward Jones Financial Services.

And not least, Joel Patience has found great satisfaction and joy over the success of a painting career that began as art therapy following two car accidents.  After nearly a year of encouraging him to participate in the Edmonds Third Thursday Art Walk, he finally took a deep breath and dove in.  Since that time, his art career has flourished with many paintings sold, a recent TV exposure and news story, and one of his paintings chosen to be the cover of the Daniel Smith Art Supplies catalog.  He regularly comes into the gallery to thank us for believing in him and his art.

It is both exciting and humbling to hear about how these artists are encouraged to get back into their studios and continue painting - all because they took that scary step of putting their work in front of our Edmonds art patrons, and sold something!  Art requires an energetic exchange between the artist and the patron.  What more wonderful result can be had when those two things come together!  The artist continues to grow and expand.  The art patron continues to evolve in their tastes and exposure to a wide variety of art.  It's truly wonderful!

I feel so happy and honored to be the fairy godmother of all those artists!

Now, where's my wand...

Manya