Supporting local artists is more important than you might think. Here's why...

Updated: Nov 21

As you know, last weekend was the big Memorial Day weekend, commencing the San Juan Island summer season. With the exception of the rain on Saturday, it was absolutely gorgeous. I spent Sunday and Monday out at Roche Harbor and it felt like we were already in the mid-summer swing. Roche was packed, and many of the Village artist were there, even though we don't officially open the Artist Village until the June 22nd. From then until Labor Day, we are open 7 days a week. It’s a crazy, intense, but relatively short season, and for most of us it is our busiest time of year. For many, it is the only venue in which their art is even available.
The exception being the Studio Tour, which is happening next weekend (June 1-2). The Island Studio Tour has been planned, produced and organized by local Island artists since 1991. The island can be a reclusive place, it is an island after all. And prior to the tour, many artists were tucked away in their private studios where no one could see the amazing things being created.
This year there are 22 studios on the map, many of which host at least one other artist. I will be in Studio #5 with Alisha Merrick!

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am a huge advocate for all the local artists, makers and entrepreneurs. Being a part of the island artist community is not only important to me personally, but it also inspires a lot of what I do. I encourage all of you to support your local artists, wherever you are. There so many reasons why it is important, but here are a few of my favorites.
I hope that one (or more! ) resonates with you!

• For starters, if you’re the practical type, local business, artists and makers generate 70 percent more local economic activity per square foot than big box retail (i.e., Amazon, Target, etc). So by supporting local artists you are supporting the whole local economy as well as the artists themselves.
• If you are more motivated by green reasons, shopping locally decreases your carbon footprint by cutting down on processing, packaging and transportation waste, just to name a few.
• Those of you who appreciate small batch, one-of-a-kind sorts of things, likely feel that the simple fact that local artists bring variety and originality to a world that is increasingly homogenized, is reason enough.
• For the humanitarians out there, it’s more about the feeling that there is a real person behind it all. Someone who is pouring their heart into what they create for you, and who really cares about providing quality over quantity.
• Perhaps my favorite reason for buying local art, for all my fellow dreamers out there, is best summed up by this quote:
• “You get to be a contributor to the realization of someone else’s dream!”

- Lotta Nieminen (illustrator, graphic designer, art director).

The last one is just so true for me. It really is the support of all of you who make my dreams possible.

So, pat yourself on the back for that one. You are already here, so you are already a part of the story.

If you are on the island, come to the Studio Tour!
I will be at Alisha Merrick’s studio: 495 Treeline Drive. She is an enamelist, a painter a jeweler and my dear friend:) Wherever you live, there is probably a studio tour of some kind, and I encourage you to see what’s happening in your art scene.

Can't make it this year? Here are a few of the things I will have with me! Order now, before they get snagged up on the Tour! Shop Limited Edition and One of a Kind...