Gale Franko's Dichroic Glass Jewelry

After 30 years as an Emmy-award-winning television producer, writer and editor, Gale Franko had had enough.  Along the way, to combat stress, Franko began making jewelry from glass beads.  It was not only therapeutic, it was addictive.

Determined to learn how to make glass beads herself, Franko invested in a torch, glass rods, and other necessary equipment.  The first attempts were exciting, but a final element was missing.  In order to prevent easy breakage of the glass, the beads must be held in a kiln at a specific temperature in a process call annealing.  This ensures that all the glass molecules heat and cool at the same rate, preventing the glass from cracking after it has cooled.

In the end, it was the kiln and it's multiple possibilities that won over Franko's heart and lured her into glass fusing.  The magical sparkle of dichroic glass was irresistable.  Thus began her part-time business of Looking Glass Designs, making pendants, earrings and other jewelry.  She began to build up some wholesale accounts, developing relationships with boutiques and galleries that sold her jewelry.

Dichroic Glass pendant by Gale Franko

The high stress of the job finally got to be too much, and a few years ago, Franko took the plunge into being a full-time artist.  Always a big leap, this required a big move into growing those wholesale accounts.  That means doing wholesale trade shows, and coming up with new and clever ways to get in touch with galleries and boutiques.


Selection of dichroic
glass rings

The recession has been a particularly difficult time for artists.  The most resilient ones continue to grow and innovate.  Franko is among those, and came up with a line of home decor objects to expand her potential sales and potential gallery representation.  Fused glass votive holders, spoon rests, cheese trays, picture frames and more are now a regular part of her line.

Glass cheese tray

To differentiate herself from the myriad other artists doing such work, Franko creates the glass designs herself, by melting powdered glass and thin glass rods onto clear glass, and making things out of that.  Check out the gorgeous lime-aqua-purple cheese tray pictured here.  It's a wowzer!  And because she creates the glass, no two will ever be exactly alike.

Franko now shows her work in  34 states around the country, plus the Virgin Islands.  The sparkle of the dichroic glass, combined with the simplicity of her shapes, has an ever-growing group of collectors always on the lookout for her latest colors and shapes.

Come see Franko's jewelry and home decor items, and meet the woman herself!  She'll be our featured artist at the December 20 Art Walk in Edmonds, and on hand to answer questions from 5 - 8 pm that evening.

"Rain Forest House" pendant
of dichroic glass

The Wearable Art of Pam Wells

Pam Wells in 1958 in front of her grandparent's Dry Cleaner Shop

Rewind to the mid 50s, and see a 12-year-old Pam Wells standing behind the register at her grandparents' dry cleaning business, ready to help customers. Surrounded by fabric, steam, and seamstresses doing alterations, she attests that sewing and fabric have always been a big part of her life. As the oldest grandchild, she was tapped for the job and enjoyed earning some money that way. Far superior to baby-sitting her three younger sisters!

The "Leaf" costume - 1955

She worked there until she was 17, and graduated from the cash register to pressing men's slacks, shortening pants' hems, and finally – the big deal – pressing silk dresses. Meanwhile, she was surrounded by a mom, a grandmother, and others who sewed, along with an industrical sewing machine at work and a treadle machine at home. “Back then, everybody sewed,” Pam exclaims.

Her mother encouraged her to try new things, too, so she altered patterns early on, and just created her own fairly soon. Her favorite things to make were Halloween costumes and prom dresses! Both allowed for some experimentation, which continued to increase her skill and proficiency.

Some background dye has been
applied to silk.  A stamp is ready to
add its shape and color to the surface.

In the 70s, she took a class in precision dying. “While the precision part didn't stick, the dying part was great fun”, she says. Pam began adding her own dyed fabrics to the mix and continues to this day. Of course she experimented with that, too, and now has a unique dying style that creates a subtle, mottled background for the surface embellishment she applies next.

Pam's large collection of wooden
stamps from India and Indonesia.

Having an avid interest in ethnic fabrics of the world, Pam began collecting wooden stamp blocks from India and Indonesia, used in the batik industry there. For batik, the stamp would be dipped in wax to stamp onto the fabric, preventing dye from seeping into it. Pam, instead, dips the stamp into dye and applies that to her already hand-dyed fabric. She has her own hand-made stamps as well, along with stencils and all manner of things to apply surface design.

Pillows are a nice canvas to show off her skills.
These include unique Korean wovens,
Japanese dyed pieces,
and her own stencil designs.

The combination of her own surface design, along with her love of unusual, handmade fabrics, has made her a collector of them too. Intricately woven silks with the pattern woven in with gold wire (“yes, it's really gold, too”, she points out), or Chinese silk embroidery and applique, or vintage Japanese kimono fabrics, and so much more. “I usually can only afford a tiny piece of these things, so walk out of the place with these little 6” strips of amazing cloth,” she says.

The design process - a little of this, a little of that...

All these fabrics and embellishments, along with her own surface applications, result in one-of-a-kind pieces of wearable art such as scarves, jackets, and now pillows. The design phase is her favorite part of the process, and she takes an intuitive approach. Some background fabric is laid out on a big table. Perhaps it's a solid color, or perhaps it's one of her dyed pieces of silk. Her studio is bursting with all these amazing strips of cloth and ribbons. 

Pam Wells models one
of her unique scarves.

 She'll lay some things on top of the fabric and decide if it works. No? Take one thing away and add something new. “Yes, that's it! But not that other thing... “ And so on, until all the components are gathered. Now, the pure technical phase of sewing everything together, and onto the surface, completes the picture. “That's the boring part,” she says.

Those of us who get to see the end result find each piece anything but boring! Each is unique, and comes with a story, too, of where each precious piece of surface embellishment came from, whether Pam's own hand or some far-off land.

Pam's signature "Dragonfly Wrap",
so named because of its shimmer and
movement, enjoys myriad
incarnations from Pam's imagination.
Here she's used black silk and silver metallic
fabric paint in the shape of dragonflies.

Because of her emphasis on surface design, the Japanese kimono lends itself beautifully. As many of you have come to expect over her years of representation at Manya Vee Selects, she has modified that shape into a very fluid and contemporary jacket that wears well on so many body types.   

Her simple scarves are another excellent canvas for surface design, and when worn over a simple top or dress, turn even a plain T-shirt into wearable art.

A new source of enjoyment takes the form of dying socks made of bamboo fabric. Ultra-soft, with naturally built-in antiseptic and moisture-wicking properties, Pam transforms a utilitarian white sock into something very colorful and fun – and affordable at $15 per pair! Her clever husband engineered her “sock machine” so she could dye a pair at the same time to get a good match.

Dying socks

New socks, wraps, jackets, scarves and pillows arrive on Thursday, August 16, at Manya Vee Selects when Pam is our featured artist. We hope you can join us!

And if you have a story of a special event to which you wore your Pam Wells wearable art, please share it with us! We'd love to hear it – especially Pam!

Artfully Yours,

Manya Vee

The Hat Makes The Woman

Two summer hat styles by Pandemonium Hats

It is a series of happy coincidences that has brought Leigh Young to her current place in life as a successful entrepreneur of handmade hats, made under her Pandemonium Hats label.  Currently based out of her home studio in Burien, Washington, she has experienced the strange phenomenon of having her business explode during these recession years.  So, how did it all happen?  Let's find out!

"Grace" hat

I asked Leigh when she started sewing.  She said, "I don't completely remember.  However, my mom once showed me a rather hideous-looking doll which she said I made when I was 7.  I made a few things back then, but was mostly messing around.  I'd lay down on a piece of fabric and cut it out around me.  Then drape it together and sew it up.  None of it was any good."

Unable to get a class she wanted in high school, she ended up in a sewing class.  Happily, she liked it enough that after graduation, Leigh went on to design school at Seattle Central Community College.  Their program is quite excellent.  "I really developed excellent technical skills there."  After graduating in the early 90s, she developed a line of 1920s-inspired clothing with an edgy feel, and thus was born the Pandemonium label.  She sold these at retail shows and fund-raisers, but it was tough going at the beginning, so Leigh held down three other jobs to make ends meet, including loading trucks for UPS.

Acrylic "patterns" for various
hat styles

One day, she got a call from the owner of We Hats, an independent hat maker in Seattle, who was looking for help making hats, and started working there.  And thus, another happy coincidence occurred.  When that owner retired, Leigh took over the label and continued making and selling the line.  At this time she was still working on her clothing line on the side, but getting buried by the costs.  She noticed how much fewer capital costs were involved in making hats, and gradually switched her focus to this.  By 1998, it was all hats.

Bolts of fabric waiting to become
hats, scarves and handbags

Happy coincidence #3 happened here, when she did the large wholesale clothing trade show in Las Vegas.  While the show itself didn't go so well, she got her first sales rep - which led to other reps, and ultimately sales to boutiques all across the US and Canada.  And then, just a few years into it, came 9/11.  Like so many other small businesses, her sales plummeted.  But she just hung in there and kept at it.  Business grew ever so slowly, but followed an upward trajectory.  As things grew, she gradually added scarves and handbags to the line.

Leigh Young herself
in a new product for 2012,
the fur collar!

So now here we are in 2012, and still feeling the effects of an economic recession.  Yet for Leigh Young, the past two years have seen explosive growth in her business.  Why?  The luxurious faux fur fabrics she added to her line back in 2000 suddenly took off.  "The demand for these faux fur products is just crazy", she says.  The orders have come rolling in so fast!  With more orders coming in than she could possibly make by herself, she had to suddenly become an employer.  Finding workers with the necessary technical skills to get the quality results for which she was known proved frustrating.  For the 2011 winter season, she had thirteen sewers working hard at the peak.

Two women hard at work in May, sewing the
faux fur products in preparation for
the many orders soon to come in for winter.

In preparation for this third winter with many and large orders for the faux fur, Leigh is preparing well in advance.  Rather than waiting for an order to come in, and then begin making it, she is looking at order history to determine top sellers.  Many of her sewers are hard at work creating a nice back stock supply!

Faux Fur finished back-stock

Leigh's spring/summer hats are also quite wonderful.  With lovely fabrics and easy-to-wear styles, she describes her customer as a woman between 18 - 50 who has a little more confidence and style than the masses.  She's not afraid to stand out a bit.

Leigh is looking forward to continued business growth, but wants to stay with small stores and boutiques.  No big box stores for her; she prefers working with small independent business-owners like herself.  She loves the freedom of working for herself, despite the many hard knocks along the way!  I think we'll be able to enjoy many more years of casual yet fun hats from Pandemonium.

Enjoy this video of Leigh herself, showing the variety of ways to wear another new product this winter - a 3-button scarf!  And then, look forward to getting one for yourself this coming winter!  Click on the link below...

Demonstration: the 3-button scarf

Join us Thursday, May 17, 2012 for a trunk show featuring Leigh Young's Pandemonium Hats for spring and summer!  We hope to see you that evening from 5 - 8 pm.

Cheers,

Manya Vee

www.ManyaVeeSelects.com

Be The Best Gift-Giver On The Planet - Part 2

We talked about gifts for the home or office before.  Now it's time to turn our hand to personal gifts - gifts of jewelry, accessories or clothing.  

Here are three tips that can help you get outside your own personal taste and focus on the person receiving your gift.

1.  What is your friend's style?  Is she conservatively tailored?  A northwest jeans and fleece gal? A jeans with tops and jackets that enjoy drape and flow?  A bohemian style with lots of movement and color?  Knowing the answer to this question can also help narrow down the options drastically.

Simple T-shirt and khakis, small earrings,
no necklace, only a watch.
She's also wearing warm tones - brown and tan

2. what is your friend's favorite color(s)?  This question often stumps people, so start paying attention now.  If you're not sure, just close your eyes and see the person in your head.  What color clothing do you see most often on her?  When you think of her, do you see blue-purple-aqua?  Or brown-orange-moss?  One of those means she prefers cool colors, and the other warm.    Maybe she's an all-black-all-the-time person.  These important clues will help narrow down a gift choice in the jewelry or accessory category quickly.

Flowing clothes, a bit Bohemian.
Can't tell in this picture, but she loves colorful, long, fun earrings.
There's a big, wide bracelet too.
Also notice the colors - pinks and purples, so in the cool tones.

3. What pieces of jewelry and/or accessories have you seen her wear?  Not everyone enjoys necklaces, for example.  I have several customers who were given a necklace by their children, and it is the only necklace they will wear.  This rules out necklaces for this pal!  Alternatively, she may enjoy earrings.  Okay, what kind of earrings?  Short ones with bright colors?  Long dangly ones?  All silver?  If she wears bracelets, notice if she prefers the stiff, cuff type, or a more flexible chain or beaded type.  

A more tailored look on the right - button up shirt and jacket.
Hair pulled back and - oh no! - no earrings!
But and lovely, simple, feminine necklace looks perfect.
The pretty blue means she wears cool tones.

And of course, we must consider a scarf.  A scarf can turn a simple top and pants into an outfit with a simple twist of the wrist!  If you have seen her wear scarves at all, not only do we have a wide variety of scarves, but we also have an entire shelf devoted to scarf toys!  

And in the post just before this, there are three great ideas on how to wear your scarves more fashionably and with greater versatility.  There's even a video of me showing our favorite way to tie scarves!

And here's me, in my comfortable, drapey, sexy clothes.
Also I like jewelry to be pretty showy, too, so I've got on some big earrings, necklace and bracelet here.

These three simple tips will make your gift selection process so much more effective, and give you much more confidence in your choices.  It's all a simple matter of paying attention, which is rather fun anyway.  So take a few minutes to think about those with upcoming birthdays, or those on your holiday gift list, and make them very happy this year!

Manya Vee

www.ManyaVeeSelects.com

Visit us today!

Manya Vee Selects

409 Main St

Edmonds, WA  98020

425-776-3778

Hours: Daily 11 - 6, Sunday & Tuesday noon - 4

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

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