Join Us!

Every couple of months we will be holding an opening reception for a new show. Tomorrow July 23rd will be the opening for Plastic Fantastic: The Art of the Toy Camera. I am as excited about this show as I was about our grand opening show with Michael Sprouse. I hope I am this excited about every show (to tell you the truth I get excited when any package shows up containing jewelry, cards, etc. so I don't expect that to change). Carol Dronsfield and I had a nice visit when she came to drop off her photographs. We talked about all sorts of things in our brief visit- cost of living, freelance work, making big changes. Right now I am waiting on Kevin Brusie to drop off his work. Sounds like he needs to get on his way to Bangor but it looks like he will be able to attend the opening reception which is awesome. Then this afternoon, Dave Engledow will arrive with his work. At that point I need to work on labels, printed materials and eventually hanging the show. I am expecting a couple of fun and full days.

In the spirit of the show I purchased a single use red flash Lomolitos to take pictures with during the reception. I am also going to be giving away a Diana camera to one of our customers. It is the type of camera Dave Engledow used for all of his photographs for this show. There are a few people who stop in regularly to say how much they want to win the camera. I guess the camera give away is doing its job in building excitement for this show. I hope you all can join us or at least come by while the show is hanging.
Ok...so back to work!

Creating Opportunity

I am enjoying talking with artists and craftspeople, especially those who haven't shown their work in stores or galleries. Yesterday, my sister Kate put me in touch with a woman who makes jewelry. She has been selling her jewelry through house parties. Monkitree will be her one and only retail location. Often new craftspeople will need more guidance than a larger retailer has time for. No catalog, no price sheet? Well a large retailer can't take that on. Having worked for a craft retailer with five stores, I know that no matter how talented someone is there just isn't time to help someone along. Fortunately for me, I have the time. I can work with talented people new to retail and I can't wait to introduce them to my customers!

The Move to Maine

So why Maine? I lived in Washington, D.C. for 20 years. I love D.C. but in Washington I would always be a renter. We couldn't afford to buy in a decent neighborhood. And what we could afford would have been tiny! When we started searching for the commercial property we could call home, it was the buildings in Maine that spoke to us. What were they saying? Two things, "I can be something if someone would just take care of me" and "I am reasonably priced." It was an excellent combination.

Now, we thought that we would buy the building and within six months have someone renting our second floor office space. Almost two years later and we have no one in the second floor and I still haven't opened a gallery. We do have a sprinkler system. I've removed drop ceilings, painted, etc... so now we are close. And we better be! Because and income preoperty with no income is just a money pit. We have some more money to spend before we can call the 1st floor space a gallery. Not sure where that money is coming from but my new mantra is "we will get there."

Big Dreams

For several years, Peter and I wandered around Washington, D.C. talking about our dreams. Some were fairly simple, like finding a place to live large enough for his kids to spend time with us in the summer (one visit was all we needed to realize four of us in a one bedroom apartment wasn't going to cut it). Other dreams were a bit larger and more complicated to figure out, like how to get Peter to work less and enjoy life more. During our wanderings we hit on one thing we both were keen on- buying and living in a commercial building. Not everyone's dream, I know, but surprisingly a dream we wanted to share.

In the summer of 2008, we bought our building. The very building we had tracked online for two years. When the price dropped, we jumped (a bit faster than we were prepared to). And now we own, what his kids call "Dad's disaster house."