4 guys art

Introducing the guys! and other stuff

I took one week off of blog writing, and it feels like a month. That kind of makes sense, though. I never seem to know what day it is any more. Worse than before. Or better, I guess, if you want to get philosophical about time. But that’s for another blog.

This is the JAK Designs blog, so we talk JAK, American artists, Maine, and food…so far.

We did hear from many of you last week when we asked what you wanted to know more about. Scarf tying and capelet wearing got a bunch of asks, so we will be putting together some videos and photo arrays with tips and ideas about how to wear your JAK gear.

Several of you want to hear about the trails and nature adventures we take (and that you can try, too) all around Maine and the northeast. If you can handle stories about the black bear family we spotted on our first day away, the steep waterfall scramble we accidentally happened upon, or the bobcat that leapt onto the stone wall of the narrow path on our arches hike, then stay tuned in the coming months!

In the last blog post, we talked about the artisan women we work with that make our shop so special – more than 30 of them from all over the country! And I promised to let you know about the guys, too.

Well, I like to keep my promises, so here goes:

Jon Wye ~ Eric Silva ~ Peter Brown ~ Drew Graham ~ Rex Nockengust ~ Gene Allen ~ Thomas von Koch ~ Fred Kaemmer ~ Tom Davin ~ Jim Dowd ~ James Stanford… and we’re always looking for more.

When we opened our brick and mortar shop in 2015, we knew that we wanted to showcase the work, and tell the stories, of artists that we love. I can still remember the first three that we agreed upon: Karen Klinefelter, Fred Kaemmer, and Meghan Patrice Riley.

We committed to buying all work outright (consignment can be agony for artists – rent and mortgages never wait until money is in the bank), so we started calling each one and figuring out how to order for a shop that never existed before, in a town that didn’t know who we were.

Over the years, we continue to call and email artists we have met along our journey. Each time, hoping this will be a good fit, and that we can share their work with you. Apparently, we need to meet more guys – particularly ones who make super cool jewelry (there’s not a lot of room for craft and fine art in our little shop).

But the ones we have right now make our hearts happy. As you can see from the photo today, these guys have probably made you happy, too!

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