Time for a little Co-op-eration

About a week ago, I took some of my glass pieces into my favorite yarn shop, Chix With Stix in Forest Park to see if the bead shop up the street might be interested in my work.  During the conversation, Kelly mentioned that the gallery next door was an artist co-op.  My ears picked right up.

I'd been to an artist co-op in P-Town in 2005 and would have joined that one, but didn't live in the area.  Finding one in my area was exciting and I went next door to see what they had and if they would be interested in my work.

At the American Artworks Gallery, I met Lisa (one of the owners) and Gabe (another glass artist).  The really liked my work and were excited about having my heart pendants in the shop for Valentines day.

Valentines!  I hadn't even given that a thought and I had quite a bit of hearts since I'd found another box of them in my basement.  Yikes, I have a lot of glass art sitting around!

The race was on to get retail labels designed and printed (got a new printer at Christmas, fortunately) hearts inventoried, priced, labeled and back to the shop by Wednesday.  It was a busy couple of days, but I got 20 hearts completed and packed for retail sale. YEAH!

Wednesday evening after work I officially joined the co-op and turned over my hearts. Lisa is very enthusiastic about my work and I'm thrilled to be showing in such a cool and eclectic place.

Yesterday, I stopped in to see the hearts on display.  It was wonderful.  They're shining there in the window as well as in a lovely display case.

I'm anxious to see what the response from their clients are.   If you're in Forest Park, IL sometime, be sure to stop in and say hello and check out the gallery and support some local artisans!