Exciting News - Woolworth Walk!

I actually have two pieces of exciting retail news, but I'm going to take them one at a time. The second part comes tomorrow.

But for the first part - I now have a space at Woolworth Walk selling my botanical beeswax candles! Funny aside about Woolworth Walk - it's in the building that housed the Woolworth department store many, many moons ago. And lo those many moons ago, when I was a little girl, I can remember my mom taking me shopping in there. My main memory is that the toy department was downstairs - and now so are my candles. Something about that appeals to me.

Here are a few examples of said candles:

Violas - more of these coming soon, now that it's gotten cold enough to grow them again.

Maple leaves.

Ferns and larkspur. Probably one of our most popular combinations.

I got the big idea of trying to get in to Woolworth Walk because my friend Jennifer (Kung Fu Clay - super cool, slightly twisted stuff) got a space there and I went to check it out. So I was walking around and it hit me that not everything there is totally fine art, there's a fair bit of artful craft as well. So I inquired with the (very nice) management, and they gave me a list of what I needed in order to submit my work.

The most interesting requirement was an artist bio. WTF?? How am I going to come up with that? I definitely don't consider myself an artist - an artisan perhaps, but definitely not an artist. And I don't exactly have the "I got my BFA in 20xx, and am represented in the following galleries." My bio's a little more like "here are all of my degrees that in no way pertain to this endeavor," and my one overriding attribute is probably curiosity - I like to know how to do things, or make things. Which means I can pretty competently ride a horse, run hurdles, ride a mountain bike, make pizza dough from scratch, cut a little boy's hair, knit a coat or grow flowers. All of which entertain me, but none of which imply I belong in an art gallery.

So after thinking about it for a few minutes, I took the bull by the horns and decided there was no point in trying to fake it. Here's the first paragraph of the bio:

Sumner Smith is the owner and operator of Spotted Dog Farm, and these botanical beeswax candles are the answer to one question: What happens when a corporate lawyer returns to her family farm, starts growing organic flowers, and then wonders how to preserve their beauty once the growing season is over?

Not the usual artist's bio, for sure, but apparently it worked - because I was expecting to be on the waiting list at Woolworth for approximately ever, but it turns out there aren't that many people making botanical beeswax candles, so they got me in within the week. (yowzers! wasn't expecting to be moving in quite so quickly) And so far it's fabulous.

Stop by and check it out if you're walking around downtown - and if you're hungry I'll also highly recommend the soda fountain. Good veggie burgers, and Sam (the family carnivore) was highly impressed with the hotdogs.