Eight years ago when I decided to start a small creative business there was one regular craft show that happened a couple of times a year.  If you wanted to get your wares into stores through either consigning or wholesale accounts you had to do all the leg work yourself.  First, you researched which stores might be a good fit for your product, pounded the pavement, set up appointments, hoped the store owner was available and best of all, they would want to carry your work.

That is why last night’s I Heart Art Mixer Match was so incredibly cool.  Think speed dating for artists, except instead of trying to get a date the artists were attempting to woo wholesale accounts with local store owners.

Artist (left) receiving feedback from local business owner Nicole Prevost, owner of Union Rose (right).

The event was put on by I Heart Art, which is a group devoted to advocacy, education and support for Portland’s vibrant community of makers.  This is a collaborative group between Etsy, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Museum of Contemporary Craft, and the Portland Etsy Team.

Store owner (left) meeting with Lea of LeaK Arts (right)

One thing that I thought was really interesting about this event was that there was a wide assortment of artists all looking to pitch their products to stores.  There were many new faces and many people who have been making and selling their product in stores for years.

New faces that are unknown to me.

Ordinarily pitching your work to anyone, especially a stranger, is a nerve-wracking experience.  As you can see this was practically a party.  I’m sure there were butterflies in the stomachs of some of the artists and yet this was an incredible opportunity for artists to connect with store owners, practice their pitch and grow their businesses.  This is one of the things I LOVE about Portland’s Crafty/DIY community – unique ideas and collaborations turning potentially painful situations into a good time.

More new faces.  I liked this shot because you can see the frenzy of store owners digging through this artist’s product.

In a perfect world artist walked away from this event with new stores to sell their wares, but in many cases it was just an initial contact.  A great way for stores to see what new locally handmade products are out there and for artist to have the opportunity to receive feedback about their work, their pitch and their overall presentation.

Left to right, Torie and Cathy owners of Crafty Wonderland meeting with the owners of Burdy Fly Away.

Not every artist had product that was a fit for every store owner.  In some cases when the store owner wasn’t interested in the product offered by the artist, so store owners gave constructive criticism with the goal of helping artists land that next wholesale account.  You could think of this as an opportunity for artists to have many informational interviews and brush up on their pitching skills.

Devi (standing) makes necklaces with bread tabs for charms, which are made of gold and silver.

In case you are wondering why the atmosphere is so unbelievably cool at this event, it was held at the Design Within Reach, which has some incredibly cool furniture.

Owner of  Moxie , (left) a local boutique in Portland, meeting with an artist looking to find some wholesale account love.

If you want to read more about this event check out  The Etsy Storque, Handmade in Portland, or The Garden of Leah.

by: Jen

So Richard gave you all the facts of the event, but I wanted to add my own two cents . . . two words:

Super fun!

When we walked in we were shocked at how many people were there.  At first we saw lots of people that we didn’t know, but looked very familiar  – possibly other artists that we don’t know, customers or craft fans.  Then all the crafty peeps we know started to appear.  It was nice to chat with people and talk about creativity.  Richard and I passed out a ton of biz cards.  It was so crowded that I lost Richard and it took me a while to find him again, but I didn’t mind I had plenty of other folks to catch up with.  When I did find him he was making crafty love to a crowd of women (this is what he does).  I tried to make it through the crowd to visit with my friend Cathy Pitters.  She was working the craft table and was gocco-ing her little heart out with a crowd of people waiting for their turn to make a gocco print.  On two or three occasions I tried to make it over to her, but swarms of people around her and her project made it impossible.

Richard and I were there to see the happs and to promoting our new TV show concept that we are working on with Patrick Cummings. We found some great artists who we want to feature in future episodes.  One of them is Rachel of Lucky Looloo who also moonlights as an art therapist.  Here she is pictured with Richard Fox.

I had to leave early due to prior commitments, but when I did Richard makin’ crafty love to all the ladies again and passing out more cards.  He was in his element – all smiles and charm.  What a fun night!  As if it weren’t enough to see all the craft kids, talk about common goals with the I Heart Art group and generally just hanging out, I must say that beer that costs the price of  a smile was pretty rad too!  It sorta felt like a crafty gala or something.  Everyone was dressed in their crafty best.  I am looking forward to more opportunities to participate in these types of events.  I would say that not only was this a productive gathering, but the I Heart Art event was a good time was had by all!

by: Jen

There’s nothing like a good mixer, especially one with great people, interesting and dynamic content and free beer.  Did I just say that?

Jen and I attended I Heart Art: Portland, a collaborative effort between Etsy,  PNCA ( Pacific Northwest College of the Arts), Museum of Contemporary Craft, and the Portland Etsy Team on Friday, February 26th. This was a meet and greet affair introducing this collaboration to the denizens of the Portland Arts and Craft scene.

To me this seemed to be measurably different from many of these events.  You felt a strong sense that the goal was to bring together the myriad amount of makers that navigate in this creative and crazy city.  Many faces familiar to me were in attendance but so many that I had never met were also there.  It was a great excuse to break out of the box that we often find ourselves in our respective communities as well as a way to increase my growing business card collection.

I’d be hard pressed to shed any new light on their goals which include some amazing workshops at PNCA as well as more events yet to come.  Please spend a little time visiting their respective sites to find out more about this amazing collaboration.

Cheers,

Richard