Monroeville Musings. . .

Marbles that have washed up on the beach of Lake Erie in Cleveland.

I am back from Pittsburgh in one piece, so to speak, although some of me is still protesting. . .Not 15 any more and on most days I am really glad, the body doesn't always come back like it did back then.

My friend, and co-conspirator, Deby Cowdin, shared expenses on this out-of-town venture to the Monroeville ExpoMart. The name of the show was the Spring Fever Festival. I do have to say that the show promoters, Family Festival Corporation run by Dan and Debbie Stoner, did a wonderful job with the show. It was extremely well organized, well run, and there were lots of people coming through. I learned a few things about out-of-town shows in general and this show in particular.

I need to have something that people will want to find on my website later. The show needs to be marketing for me as well as sales. I will be working on that over the next few weeks. At the next out-of-town show, I will be promoting my online gallery and gift registry.

The crowd was not really interested in buying what I had to offer. They were much more interested in country crafts. My price points were extremely low and my booth looked great, so neither of those were the reasons for the limited amount of buying.

The vendors were really very friendly and helpful. We met a lot of great people, that were fun, and wonderful business connections and references for future shows. The first person we met was Kevin Castle from a company in East Liverpool, Ohio that sells herbal products called Ohio Valley Herbal Products, Inc. http://www.wilderb.com/ Kevin was great and introduced us to several other people that I look forward to seeing again.

The most important thing I learned this weekend was that Deby and I can drive together, haul together, pack and unpack together, eat together, and room together and still stay friends. That was really good to know as we will be journeying to some other shows together in the future.

Don't think that I will go back to the show again. Not really my crowd. But all in all, it was a good experience.

First of Many

Tomorrow I will be traveling to Pittsburgh for the first of many outside shows this year. I will be spending my weekend at Pittsburgh's ExpoMart for their Spring Fever Festival. This will be a first for me in many ways. First time doing a show out of state, first time spending so much money on gas, hotels, etc without knowing the result. First time at this particular show. This will be one of many firsts of this type for me this year. I will be out there spreading the word about Lake Erie Artists Gallery all year long in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and who knows? Maybe in your neck of the woods?

Another first for me is wholesaling my own jewelry. I am going to be making a very large effort to that effect this year. So if you know a boutique or gallery or gift shop that you think would be a good venue for me, please pass the word along and I will look into it. So its to the Spring Fever Festival I go! TTFN!

An Inauspicious Beginning to the Day. . .Have you had those?

Eeeek! Who has had one of THOSE mornings?! Well, I have today. Besides the fact that it is MONDAY, and I always seem to have a little trouble keeping up on Mondays (psychosomatic probably), I missed an appointment this morning and in the midst of getting up and dressed realized that I couldn't find my brand new (really cool retro) glasses. I am blinder than a bat without them so I had to find another pair of older glasses to search. I remembered hearing a clang in the nighttime, and figured that they had fallen off my night table. Logically, they had most likely fallen right into the trash can next to my bed and WAIT A MINUTE! Today is trash collection day at the Atwell household. Someone had dumped out the small trash can into the very large trash cans outside for pickup! Soooo. . .needless to say, I threw on a robe, put on my clogs and proceeded to search through the trash for my new glasses. Were they in there? Of course, they were. Had I waited another hour they would have been gone forever. (Whimper). So I rescued them and disinfected them so I could wear them.
I am spending the rest of my day tidying up some loose ends for taxes and entering stuff in my new QuickBooks program (which I am in love with). So hopefully, I have used up my bad luck for the day.
Lots of new stuff coming out from Lake Erie Artists Gallery. Our newest venture, bridal registry and custom wedding services is in the works. Look for updates on our website as they develop.
Here's hoping your day started out better than mine.

Cleveland+---A Rebranding of the Region

This morning I had the privilege of hearing Carin Rockind, of the NEO organization, talk about the 1 year old branding of the Northeast Ohio region, called Cleveland+. Now bear in mind, that I have been one of the people who hasn't been that excited by the brand itself, although I am excited about the positive marketing of the region. It goes hand in hand with our mission at Lake Erie Artists Gallery, and I am definately a proponent of promoting our wonderful city.

What I learned today was an overview of why the brand was chosen, and what has been happening in the year since NEO's inception, as well as some interesting statistics about Cleveland and the area.

Part of what I learned is regardless of what you read in the paper or hear on the news, there are many great things about living here in Northeast Ohio. That our standard of living is comparable with many other cities and we are in the top 3rd of of the country when it comes to income. That is not to say that we do not have a lot of work to do to make things better. The city itself needs to improve economically and more jobs need to come here, but we have a lot to offer companies especially in the medical, scientific, and service fields.

And Cleveland+ and NEO has already succeeded in bringing new jobs and businesses here to Northeast Ohio. So inform yourself about this venture, and help the cause. For more information, you can start by going to www.clevelandplus.com

It's So Nice Being Green. . .

Remember this guy? Always telling us how great it is to be green? Well, these days not only is it great to be green on St. Patrick's Day, it is great and totally in to be green all of the time! So in, in fact that being green is one of the movements all over the US and it is not going away!
What am I babbling about? You mean you haven't caught up to the green bandwagon?! Well, what I am spouting off about is being ecologically friendly in as many ways as possible.
Some of these ways you may have already heard of:
Recycling plastic and glass, using lower energy florescent light bulbs. . .
Well, what you may not know about is the green movement in the art industry. Artists look at going green in an entire different way--and I am not just talking about the many shades of the color green. Here are a few examples:
From the Blue Bag http://www.fromthebluebag.com/ Deby Cowdin has launched an entire business around the recycling of alcohol bottles. And these bottles are not just pretty, they are functional as cutting boards, cheese trays, and other bottleware.
TL Champion--TL also uses recycled bottles in her work but she turns them into VESSELS. These vessels are prayer bottles, wish bottles, and much much more, and they are just gorgeous!
The Art of XAN www.artofxan.com Alexandra Underhill is a clothing and costume designer. All of her designs are made using recycled fabric and textile materials. In her latest ventures, she is making all sorts of items out of old neckties, including skirts, vests, wallets, and purses. Most recently, she has co-authored a book called Alternation with another textile artist, Shannon Okey.
These are just a few of the types of green artwork that is available and all of them are carried in our store in downtown Cleveland. For more information, go to our website http://www.lakeerieartists.com/ or contact me via email paulaatwell@sbcglobal.net.

Our New Birthday Club! :)

Happy Birthday Everyone! Lake Erie Artists Gallery is celebrating your birthday with a special gift.

In order to find out what it is, email paulaatwell@sbcglobal.net with your birthday. We only need the month and the day, not the year. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone your age. When your birthday rolls around, you will get a special gift. Real simple.

So Happy Birthday!

AFTERMATH

With every event, there is always an aftermath. First of all, the exhaustion from the planning, setting up, the event, meet and greet, and the tear down. Then you have to look at what went right and how to improve it for next time.

The elements of the event went off perfectly. All but two of my artist participants were here and ready to go. Very classy artists, with some great works to show both large and small. Two of the artists became gallery members. Tower City got the tables and chairs to me early yesterday and they were set up and ready to go by noon. Our band, FireSide Symphony, was here and played throughout the event.

Food for Thought was our caterer, and they did a just amazing job. Not only was the food beautiful and tasty, their staff was extremely professional and courteous. Heartland Vineyards was also here doing the wine tasting. That went very well and we went through about 5 bottles of wine.

Some of the questions that arose last night:

Would it have been better to do it when the Film Festival was not going on? I thought we would get traffic from the festival but we did not. We have been getting regular traffic and sales during the day, so that was odd.

Attendance was lower than expected. Why? Was it the traffic issue with the Film Festival going on? Was it the fee to get in? We had a lot of PR and the cause, Habitat for Humanity, is very popular and a great organization, so that wasn't the reason. I think we will change our strategy next time to get a greater attendance. I am pretty sure that I will have the artists sell tickets to get a table instead of paying a straight out fee next time. And lower the price of the tickets. I will probably offer one or two prizes to the person who sells the most tickets and to anyone who sells over a certain number.

The number of artists that we had was good, so I will most likely limit the number to 17 next time. And artists sold their work. Not all of them and not in the abundance hoped for, but there were several sales.

Our next Artist/Designer Showcase is scheduled for Thursday October 2. So mark your calendars now.

THE BIG DAY :)

Photo by Fuchs and Kasperek

Today is THE BIG DAY! The event will go as it will no matter what else I do. I have marketed, networked, talked and invited. Our caterer, Food for Thought, is here right now, setting up. In an hour, we will be full of people, artists, musicians, and guests, eating, drinking, and just having a good time.

People will come to see what a great gallery we have and help raise money for a worthy cause all at the same time. Not a bad day's work!

Getting Ready--Major Prep Time

Got a very nice mention in today's Cool Cleveland newsletter (www.coolcleveland.com). Here it is:
HOT Designer Showcase Meet local artists, enjoy food, wine provided by Heartland Winery, and music provided by FireSide Symphony, and shop the divine Lake Erie Artists Gallery Thu 3/13 beginning at 4:30PM. Reservation includes food, music, and one wine ticket. Guests may purchase additional wine. A raffle includes a prized gift basket valued at $250! Proceeds are being donated to Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. Call 664-9920 for more info or if you are an artist and would like to participate. Applications and RSVP info at http://www.lakeerieartists.com.
It's 8:53 on Wednesday morning, and I have already taken my younger daughter to school, stopped at Starbucks for a dose of the daily elixir--I will probably need at least one more today--and am sitting typing this before I have to take my older daughter to her friend's house so that she will get to school on time at 11 am. They have OGT's today and she doesn't have to take them this year. So she gets a mini break.
Most of everything is ready for tomorrow night's event, though I am still awaiting the temporary liquor license. I hope to get that resolved today. Today I will be rearranging the gallery to make room for the artists coming in tomorrow. Probably will answer a lot of phone calls today because another email blast went out this morning as well as press releases yesterday. I have one more opportunity to promote the event personally tomorrow morning. I will be checking people in at the Heights-Hillcrest Chamber of Commerce Pre-Expo Breakfast at Champps in Lyndhurst.
Then tomorrow the tables will show up in the am so that I can get the space ready.

On the Road Again. . .the Journey to Our Event

To the left--Award winning wood carvings by Edward Hrncir.

Planning an event is a study in patience. There are so many little things that go into getting an event in place, as well as the stress of the fact that people wait until the very, very last minute to sign up.

My job today is to smooth out the bumps of getting things together. First on my list today is the most difficult, making sure our temporary liquor liscense is in place for Thursday night. Without the liscense, the winery cannot pour the wine for us. That would not be fun. For some reason, every time I have an event with a temporary liquor liscense, I run into problems with the bureau. No matter if I fill out the form with the exact same things as the last time, they always find corrections to the forms that need to be made.

Since we are having several vendors at the event, I like to follow up with all of them to make sure everything is in place and on time. For this event, I have already confirmed that the donated coffee will be on time, and that the food will be on time and what we ordered. The winery is waiting to hear from me on the head count and the license.

And I am getting tables for the show from Tower City, so I need to make sure that those are ready. And lastly, the artists, who are never rule followers, need to organized to get here on time, and to get set up on time.

This event is planned to be a more upscale event so everything must look like (appearance is everything) it is going off without a hitch.

My wonderful publicist, Linda Bloom, has already called me today to let me know that all of our PR is out so here we go. Hope to see you on Thursday between 4:30 and 8:30 pm.

A Great Big Plug for our EVENT----

How often do we really appreciate what life has given to us? Well, this Thursday from 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm is the chance to help those less fortunate than ourselves by attending our benefit for Habitat for Humanity. Reservations in advance are only $15 per person which include wonderful food by Food for Thought, a glass of wine by Heartland Wines, and live music by FireSide Symphony. We will have many local artists here selling their work and a raffle drawing of a lovely basket of goodies. Please take time to come and lend your support to this worthy organization. To make a reservation call 216-664-9920 or email paulaatwell@sbcglobal.net

Snow Joke, The Tower City Arts Festival Was A Rousing Success. . .

due to the hard work of LIsa Nemeth of Northcoast Promotions and the rugged perseverance of our artists. They were there all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through rain, sleet, hail and 2 feet of snow. Even the mail wasn't delivered on Saturday, but the Festival went on and we had sales all around. Definately a repeat for next year. We had a great time too.

It Will Soon Be Known as the Cleveland Blizzard of 2008. . .

Once upon a time, two women planned a little known event called the Tower City Arts Festival, during the time of a great gathering from around the country and the world called the Cleveland International Film Festival. Because they did not have the ability to predict the future, these two women (Paula and Lisa) were not aware that there was a great snow storm due to come to Cleveland right during their planned event. So they went on as planned and 11 tables were set up around the fountain of Tower City for the Arts Festival. Artisans came from far and near to sell their wares at the Festival with hope in their hearts.
At 11 am on the morning of the Arts Festival, snow began to fall in abundance on the city and the streets, faster and faster as the day went on. Bravely, Lisa and Paula decided to continue the Festival as planned. Citizens of Cleveland were warned by the Weatherman to stay home and protected from the snow, but the Arts Festival continued. And Lisa and Paula were astonished at the amounts of people who cast off the warnings of the Weatherman. . .and came to the great gathering of the Film Festival and the smaller event of the Arts Festival. The artisans exclaimed in pleasure, "We are having fun! We are selling our wares! We can feed our children tonight!" And Lisa and Paula were happy, because they followed their instincts.
The moral of the story is: Don't let some bad weather get you down! and Even if everyone else is closed, we are still open! Come and see us!

Film Festivals, Art Fests, and Snow. . . .Who Can Keep Up With It All???

Good Morning everyone! Cleveland is a place of excitement, weather, craziness and more weather! Yesterday, an 110 year old water main broke right in the middle of our Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. I guess if I was 110 years old, I might break down too. They said it was put in during the time of President McKinley. Definately before my time. It upset traffic and caused the water pressure to go down in some buildings as well as some flooding but recovery is on the way.

In the meantime, as usual, life went on, and the Cleveland International Film Festival is in full swing--those fearsome film buffs are not bothered by a little storm warning. Films will be playing now through March 16 from morning until late evening at the Tower City Cinemas. Last year the festival drew 52000 people during the week's time. Yep, 52K. Not joking. Some people camp out here for the entire week and see as many films as they possibly can.

To make things even more interesting, of course, our fair city is having lots of snow and ice which is a typical Cleveland type of weather situation. Of course, we Clevelanders just take the snow warnings in stride, dig out our boots, snow plows, and snow blowers and get the stuff out of our way as we go to our next event.

To enhance our lovely film festival, Northcoast Promotions, Tower City, and Lake Erie Artists is hosting a small Tower City Arts Festival today, tomorrow, and Sunday all day with local artists at tables in the main fountain area of the mall. Lots of really cool stuff to buy and browse.

And I would be doing my job if I didn't mention our Artist/Designer Showcase on Thursday March 13 from 4:30 to 8:30 pm. We will be filled with wonderful artists, great music, and yummy food and wine. Reservations are only $15 and we are raising money for Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. I hope that we are overflowing with people because it is going to be a truly fun event.

Reservations are Starting to Come In :)

I am very excited to say that reservations for our Artist/Designer Showcase are starting to come in this morning. The phone started ringing at 9 am this morning. This will be an event to remember! So. . . what are you waiting for??

I am still getting artist reservations but we are just about full. I am checking all of the plans this morning, finalizing the menu, etc., etc., etc.

To the left is a beautiful stained glass suncatcher by Kerri Frech, one our resident artists, who is also half-owner of Fusion Studios, the wonderful studio in our gallery.

Speaking of the studio and classes, one of our artists, Alexandra Underhill, would love to teach classes here but in order to do so, we would need to have some portable sewing machines. If you know of anyone who can donate one to the cause, please have them contact me at the gallery.

For Alexandra's work, check our online store, which you can reach from our website. I will be adding some new items in the next few days.

See you all at the Artist/Designer Showcase--Thursday March 13 4:30 to 8:30 pm.

Sunday Afternoon at the Gallery. . .

Yep, it is another Sunday afternoon at the gallery. I passed a lot of Cavaliers fans as I came in today. I am here today with my teenage daughter who unbelievably wants to spend the afternoon with MOM. I guess we must be doing something right as parents. One never knows.

(Photograph by Angelo Vlahos)

Today seems like it will be another quiet Sunday, which will be good for me because I have a million things to do. March is here and starting this week, I will be extremely busy. Show season starts this month, and I am really just about ready for it. I have redesigned my booth, and am going for ultra simplicity. I think it will make it both easier on me, and on the customer, when they are shopping.

The Cleveland International Film Festival starts this Thursday night, and I hope that when you take in your films, you will stop by our wonderful gallery. Anyone who shows a ticket stub or pass gets 10% off any one item in the store. (One per customer)

The gallery is continuing to grow. We have new cards and jewelry. I am expecting to have some new ceramics in March as well. And we are adding new artists every couple of weeks.

This month I will be traveling to Pittsburgh for a show there to start spreading the word farther than just here in Cleveland.

Please do not miss our Artist/Designer Showcase on March 13. It will be a great event!

Not so Patiently Waiting for SPRING!

Have I ever mentioned that I am NOT very patient? Winter has kept me very cold, and cooped up this year. And that is true of other people as well. What that has meant for business is that it has been SLOW for walk ins. I am reallly looking forward to March which starts today! My month is really filled up.

(Necklace by me!)

Just this week alone, I am attending a benefit for Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital on Thursday night, helping host the Tower City Arts Festival Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and participating in a PTO Ladies Boutique at B'nai Jeshuran synagogue on Sunday morning. How do I do it, you might ask? Well, I can only do it with the help of many family members and friends. No matter how agile no one person can split themselves into that many parts.

Don't forget to make your reservations for our Artist/Designer Showcase on March 13 from 4:30 to 8:30 pm. It will be fab!