New Gallery Opening

Last night I attended the opening of Fluff Rentals’ new gallery, Fluff For Keeps. As galleries go this one is a bit different. Fluff Rentals offers interior design services and up until now only rented the necessary furnishings. Their target market for the new retail section is professional designers and customers of their design services rather than the public at large. That being said, the emphasis is on fine furnishings and to a lesser degree, art that compliments their style: enter – the woodturner. The owner, interior designer Patti Houston, saw my work at the Mind and Matter Art Festival in July and vowed to have one of my pieces in her newly renovated home – which I am working on right now. She recently branched out into her new retail addition, selling furnishings and art (hence the “for keeps”) and asked myself and a painter, Nicole Carrie to exhibit our work in her new retail section.

Throughout the evening there was terrific interest in my work.  As I was taking off my jacket I was approached by a woman asking about my work, stating that she wanted a piece but in a specific colour, so the evening seemed promising right away. Throughout the evening I found myself explaining my processes and generally discussing turned wood art to several very attentive people. It was no surprise that none were even aware of the depth of our craft and  were further blown away with the use of colour in my work. It was an ideal opportunity to educate some very influential people about turned wood art.

Vancouver Sun reporter Lucy Hyslop submitted an article in today’s (November 26th) paper reporting on the opening, and I quote (ahem :)) “Houston tries to represent local artists such as ceramicists and painters and cites her showcasing of the “stunning” woodturner, Ed Pretty and the “to-die-for” paintings of Nicole Carrie…”

Considering the clientele, this may be an unexpected break for not only myself but turned wood art at large because in  an email this morning Patti requested as many turning as I could produce.  It seems that in spite of a snow storm that kept many attendees (read: designers) away, there was still an overwhelming interest in woodturning.

As you might expect, the piece for Patti’s new home is going to be very special.

As always, I encourage your comments and questions, so please refer to the tag line at the bottom of the article to post a comment.