Artwork by Bara
SHOP WITH US Tuesday - Friday 11am - 4pm Saturday 10am - 3pm
Imagine That! Artisans’ Designs 251 Craig St., Downtown Duncan
imaginethatartisans.com I 250-748-6776
Loving Local! Rose Wagner welcomes you to drop by her gift shop in downtown Duncan - Little Bird.
I
t wasn’t the plan to open a gift shop with the idea of becoming a hub of sorts for local artists and artisans, but the events over the last couple of years have seen this become the case at my store Little Bird. Customers regularly ask where we find all our cool things that they haven’t seen before? Having a business based on high quality greeting cards and gift giving, it is only natural that local artists gravitate to us. People who create to sustain themselves, financially and personally frequently need somewhere to sell their work where the customer - the appreciator, can come, see in person, touch if necessary and make a connection with the creator. The beauty of this connection is that the customer’s dollars stay hyper local in the Cowichan Valley and surrounding areas. Since opening the store in late 2017, we’ve gone from
carrying the work of just a couple to at least 30 local artisans or more. I’d estimate a full half of our suppliers are now small, local independent makers. I find this astounding, and really gratifying! In my experience, independent artists are best to deal with as they’re easy to connect with, able to drop by quickly with a selection of their great designs and creations to pick from, are flexible and cheerful. They have less of a footprint on the earth and can get paid what they ask for as there’s little downward pressure on them to try and compete with big box stores or the monolith Amazon.
Fall in Love with our Valentine’s cards, stickers, chocolates & gifts!
The variety of local artisans we work with includes paper artists, photographers, fine graphic designers, oil, ink and watercolour painters, fabric artists including felters, weavers and dyers, potters, jewellers, up-cyclers, and more!
www.theainslie.ca
Since the arrival of the pandemic, even more artists have found their way to our shop. Normally their venues in which to sell are organized studio tours and craft fairs but suddenly those avenues closed to them, due to safety regulations.
161 Kenneth St., Duncan 250-597-3695 We’ve held several pop up shows in our new gallery featuring local artisans who’ve loved having the space to show and sell their art and crafts in person, and not just online.
Little Bird Gift Shop & Gallery 163 + 165 Station Street Downtown Duncan
So my message is very simple - support local and everyone wins!
31
