Been Trying to Decide What Hours Make the Most Sense

Image is Dichotomy by Paula Atwell (watercolor)

I am about to post our newest newsletter via email announcing all of our classes for July and some for August, and I am trying to decide still what our hours are for the summer.

It seems like we will be open on Sundays for sure, because we have been getting traffic on Sunday, but might be closed during a weekday possibly Wednesday. I will go another week before I decide. Our busiest times seem to be Friday afternoon, all day Saturday, and the evenings that we are open. Of course, as the classes start to fill up we will be open more evenings. What a dilemna! The decisions to make being a store owner.

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

Summer Solstice Festival in Shaker Heights

Spent my evening with my daughter, Bryn, at the Shaker Arts Council Summer Solstice Festival next to the Shaker Heights Library on Lee Road in Shaker Heights. It was a really windy evening, but the music was great, and I got to meet a lot of new people. Bryn and I passed out flyers for art classes, and listened to the music all night.

There was a juggler, magician, and stiltwalker there too. Definitely something to do again next year.

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

Partnering with Dewey's

Blue Bird Abstract by Donald Swann (photograph)

Just talked to one of the owners at Dewey's coffee shop this morning, and she is allowing me to hang some of our art on one of their walls. This is totally exciting as Dewey's has just tons of customers. I just need to get signage up for each piece. Have you been to Dewey's yet? If not, you are missing one of the best coffee houses in the entire city!

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

Meeting the Locals

This afternoon, I just met Dewey from Dewey's coffee shop which is just two doors away from my new store, and that is one of the best things about having the Shaker Square location. Each store and restaurant has a great personality. Okay, I am a bit biased, but I have to say that Dewey's is such a great place to hang out, and they have great food too. So far my favorite is the banana bread. It goes great with my morning coffee. And the coffee is excellent.

Today for lunch I am having Hungarian cucumber salad from my next door neighbor, Balaton. Just about time to go over and buy some from them. And Sunday was my mother's birthday, so I bought her a gift certificate from Sarava, the Brazilian restaurant around the Square from here.

If you haven't been to Shaker Square lately, you are really missing something.


Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

Yay! Painting is Done

Our painting is finally done, and the entire store looks great. This picture is of our classroom featuring art by Brian Jones.

The store has been busy every day this week, and more and more people are discovering us. Today we were at the North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square and ran out of postcards and class lists to give people. For an up-to-date list of classes, check this page. If you are an artist who wants to teach, we are looking for teachers right now.

Shaker Square is such a fun place to be. I love the Farmers Market and the free concerts on Saturdays. Tonight the group is Band of Thunder, an R&B and gospel band.

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

Had My First Class Last Night

Last night was the first class in our Shaker Square location. It was a PMC class, which I taught, and it went really well. We have several more classes scheduled, including a chain maille class on Tuesday evening. (Picture above)

If you are interested in taking a class, please follow this link to more information.

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

Starting to Feel Like Home

It finally feels like we are just about moved in. I have been spending this week hanging pictures, sorting through our inventory, meeting customers, and getting our classroom ready. The photo on this post is from the register in the middle of the store looking towards the front windows.

I have already found that Shaker Square is a great neighborhood to be in. People have been in just about every day welcoming us to the neighborhood. The store is almost completely painted. We just have to finish about one wall in the classroom and some woodwork in the front of the store. Should be done this Saturday.

Already had several sales this week, and lots of people interested in our class list. For an online version you can go to this page Lake Erie Artists Gallery at Shaker Square. Tonight a large group is coming in for a meeting here.

I have even climbed the extremely high ladder to replace some burnt out lights (and I am not fond of heights). Today I am going to start working on getting our signage up.

This has been a labor of love, and I am thrilled to be in a neighborhood that is welcoming us so much.

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

Baby Steps, Baby Steps

The week has been very full so far. Other than struggling with the phone company to get all my services turned on, everything else is going well. I have cleaned about 75% of the jewelry in the store, met a new artist, and am slowly unpacking, and putting things away.

Had quite a bit of traffic this week since Monday. People seem very excited to have us in the neighborhood. This weekend we should get most of the classroom painted and cleared out for public use, so that will make the entire store space usable. My first class is starting on Monday to introduce PMC. I am still looking for teachers to teach this summer, fall and winter, so contact me via email if you are interested.

My internet connection is intermittent, so I am trying to get a lot done before it goes down. We will be at the Shaker Square Farmers Market tomorrow and the store will be open during the market hours from 8 am to 12 noon, so stop by and say hello.

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

Today I am Polishing Jewelry

Today is Day 2 for the new gallery being open. Each hour things look a little more together. Last night my husband and I figured out why some of the lights weren't working, so now we have lights in the windows. I hung some more pictures yesterday, and today I am polishing all the silver jewelry a bit at a time. Since everything sat for a month, it is a bit tarnished, and I like it to be very shiny. Today is a short day, and we are closing in about 15 minutes.

I couldn't find my tumbler to polish the jewelry, so I just kept unpacking boxes until I could find it. Now all of the cool wood carvings by Ed Hrncir are out, and all of the kids kits have been found.

If you stop by in the next few weeks, we have some kids craft items 50% off because we are selling them out, and won't be carrying them at this new store. A few ceramic pieces, prints and art supplies are also on sale.

Tomorrow I get a new phone, new DSL line, and my computer will work much faster here. Right now I am using Shaker Square's WiFi, which is okay but not as reliable as having my own line.

By tomorrow I will be sending out an email blast with our new classes, so look for that. I will be here from 8 am to 8 pm tomorrow waiting for the phone guy, so I should get a lot more done.

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.

We are Open!

WE ARE OPEN! Today is the first day of our new store, and I have already had more customers here than I did on a typical day downtown in the last few months. I think that bodes well for this store. I don't even have any signage up yet, and people are walking in.

I will be hanging pictures today. I still have a lot of that to do. We are not even close to full of product although I still have some unpacking to do. Even so the store is bright and cheerful inside and has big lovely windows to advertise our products. I am very excited.

At this point we have three terrific new artists in the store. Today I will just talk about one of them--a group of artists/woodworkers--A Piece of Cleveland. For those of you unfamiliar with A Piece of Cleveland, they are a taking wood from deconstructed houses and other buildings, and reusing the wood to make great furniture and other wood accessories. So far in the store we have a glass topped wood writing or display table, cutting boards, two types of lamps, and nesting tables. Stop by to see them.

Follow the progress of our move to Shaker Square as we make changes Lake Erie Artists Gallery | Transformation to a Fresh New Look at Shaker Square.