Who's Behind Blue Elephant?

As some of you already know, I've started to give monthly Golden Moth Intuitive Card Readings (like tarot readings, but using my own deck of cards) at Blue Elephant in Richmond. This months readings will take place on Sunday, October 21st from 1-4 pm - coinciding with their weekend Sidewalk Sale which starts tomorrow! 

Blue Elephant is a fantastic boutique that sells vintage housewares and artwork by local artists, and I always feel inspired after I visit. I've gotten to know Patsy and Jessica, the owners, but thought it would be neat to interview them to find out a little more about the mysterious women behind Blue Elephant. Enjoy!

Here's Patsy on the left and Jessica on the right.

Hello Patsy and Jessica! Would you please tell us a little about yourselves?

J: I was raised in Northern Virginia, and came down to Richmond to attend VCU. I definitely wasn’t thrilled to move here at first, but now I can’t imagine living anywhere else! I have a cute row house in Oregon Hill that I share with great roommates and one fat cat, I ride a scooter everywhere and refuse to get my driver’s license, and I love all the great local shops and restaurants. The amount of creative talent and friendly people make Richmond one of my favorite places. It’s a beautiful, but unpretentious, city.

P: I come from a military family, and moved around often while growing up. My mother (Jessica’s grandmother) is Japanese, so my father would take assignments in Japan so my mom could be close to her family. I’ve lived in Japan twice in my life, and been back for visits several times. Japan and all things Japanese hold a special place in my heart and soul.

I worked in Northern Virginia at a large telecom company for almost 20 years, while Jessica and her brother, John, were growing up. When I first started working in telecom, I had no idea that I would do so for so long. While working in a corporate environment has its good points, it certainly didn’t make me feel fulfilled in a creative sense.

How did you become interested in vintage items and what made you decide to open a shop?

J: My mother, Patsy, was the one who always wanted to try her hand at owning a store. When she decided it was time to give it a try, I talked her into opening in Richmond, because I thought a vintage housewares shop in Richmond would make a great fit. She was still working in Northern Virginia, so she asked me to help set up the store. And things kind of just went from there!

P: As time went by in my telecom job, I found myself thinking more and more about leaving my current life behind, and doing something totally different. So in 2010, I took a large part of my savings, and opened Blue Elephant.

Jessica is a huge part of why I opened the store in Richmond. She loved this city, and, in all my visits to it, I found that I loved it, too. As I was still working in NoVA in 2010 and 2011, I also needed someone in whom I could trust to be my business partner, and whom better than my own daughter? J

It’s hard to say how I became interested in vintage items, as it seems like I just always have. I like things that have a history to them, and I like wondering about who owned them before me. I like new things, too (well, some new things), but given a choice between a new couch and a cute vintage one, I will almost always choose vintage!

How do you acquire your items, and what sorts of things are you particularly on the lookout for?

J: We take things on consignment from people and we also source things from auctions, estate sales, etc. Generally speaking, we look for things that range from the 1940’s through the 1970’s or vintage inspired pieces. Small pieces of mid-century furniture are always popular. I’m forever searching for dressers, side tables, etc. Things that fit into small Fan apartments.

P: When I go shopping for the store, I just look for things that I like. End of statement! I think people sometimes think we’re experts or curators and know a lot about this period and that particular designer and whatnot, and, over the past couple of years, that certainly has become more of a true statement as we’ve learned a lot. Jessica especially spends a large part of her day researching items, and can generally give our customers a much more informed history of an item in our shop than me. But as for me, I just look for what pleases my eye and what strikes a chord inside me.

What are some interesting/non-traditional ways that customers use objects from your store?

J: just had a customer that bought a wooden crate and mounted it to the wall for a shelf. He also came back and bought a giant wooden spool to try and turn into a side table. We also sell vintage luggage and people do all sorts of things with them; tables, storage, pet beds.

P: We’ve had people buy mid-century china cabinets and sideboards to use as dressers, and people buy dressers to use as sideboards. I think non-traditional uses of furniture and accessories make a space interesting.

What is your favorite item currently in the store, and why?

J: My favorite piece of furniture is probably the gray mid-century sofa that we had reupholstered at u-fab. It has the greatest lines with wide arms and original brass tapered legs. I’m also a sucker for tiny animal figurines. I have a lot of bookcases at home and I like to add the animals in with the books. I tell my little sisters they come alive at night to have tiny animal book club meetings. 

P: I love the gray sofa, too, but just recently someone brought in this blue clay bowl with three blue clay heads inside. It’s odd, it’s whimsical, and for some reason, it just delights me. I think I’m going to buy it for myself and take it home! 

  

You two are the main owners of the shop, but other members of your family are also involved. Can you tell us how each of you helps in the running of the business and what it’s like to work with family?

J: My brother, John, is a senior Crafts and Materials major at VCU. He comes in frequently to do the windows for us. I assist him when we do them, as there’s usually a lot of work that goes into our window displays. John also will come and rearrange the store for us. He has a great eye for visual merchandising.

My mother’s husband, Ron, also helps us. Unfortunately for him, it’s usually the un fun part that he helps us with. Delivering furniture, helping us with the accounting. He’s a good sport about it, thankfully!

P: As Jessica said, John has a great eye for arranging a space. Have you ever watched that show on HGTV where a designer comes into someone’s apartment and rearranges all of their own furniture and makes it look like a thousand times better? Well, that’s John! I love when he comes to the store and rearranges everything!

I don’t think that without the support of my husband, Ron, I would have been brave enough to venture out and start Blue Elephant. It’s true that he does help with a lot of the un-fun things, like moving furniture and fixing things. But for the past two years, he also played a really important role as our bookkeeper, and helped us make sure all our accounts and taxes were in order. 

What is the best part of running your own business? The most difficult?

J: The best part? I like when I have someone buy something that I know they are excited about. Most everything in the store is something I would like, but I am not a hoarder. So it’s the next best thing, finding things for other people that make them happy!

The most difficult part for me is the stress of owning your own business. When things don’t work out, or something you are trying to do fails, you have no one but yourself to blame. I think people have a misconception that what I do is fun all the time. I love what I get to do for a living. But it is hard. There are a lot of responsibilities involved, and I put myself last.

P: One of the best parts for me is that I get to work with my kids. I like that we have a common goal, and I feel it has brought us closer. The relationship between parents and their adult children is a lot different than when they’re little. I really like where I am with them at this point in their lives. J

One of the most difficult is exactly what Jessica said. It sometimes seems that we sacrifice a lot to maintain the store.  It’s not a job that you work 9 to 5, and then forget about when you go home. It’s integral to us, and it’s really important to us to be fair to our consignors and our artists and crafters.

What has been your favorite experience with a customer?

J: Recently, we sold a beautiful blue mid-century sofa to a young couple that had just moved to Richmond. They were both very kind and I knew the wife had her heart set on the sofa. When her husband came in later after work to see it himself, I worked with him to get to a price we could both work with and had it delivered for free. It made my day when they sent a text telling us how thrilled they were with the sofa and thanked us again. When people appreciate the things we do, it makes everything worthwhile.

P: I have so many it’s hard to choose! Generally speaking, I just love when someone buys something that they’re super excited about, and that’s a good deal for both them and us.

How do you like your current location in the Fan?

J: We just recently moved from Strawberry Street to Robinson Street. The old location was smaller, and when the opportunity to be next to Halcyon Vintage Clothing opened up, I couldn’t say no. And so far, it’s worked out great! The space is larger and brighter, all the ladies next door at Halcyon are wonderful, and having Deep Groove a couple blocks down is awesome too! We’ve kind of made a little trifecta of vintage stores.

P: Ditto to that!

What kinds of items do you think will be popular this coming holiday season?

J: The things that I think make great gifts are vintage items like aprons, books, embroidered linens, and cute kitchen items. I also think work by local artists such as yourself make wonderful gifts. Small prints, paintings, or pottery by local artists are great one of a kind items that support the creative community within Richmond.

P: I think anyone who has someone they’re getting a gift for who appreciates something not mass-produced and that’s different and unique as well as thoughtful, will be able to find something special at Blue Elephant!

Anything else we should know?

J: I can’t think of anything else. Just, thanks!

P: You ask a lot of questions, Aijung! I’m tired now. ;) But thank you so much for taking the time to interview us!!

Thanks, ladies!

What I Did This Summer

This has been one of my busiest summers yet. Here is a recap of how I spent my time from spring through the end of August.

This Spring, I took an Intro to Watercolor class at The Visual Arts Center of Richmond, taught by the lovely and thorough Susan Quinnild. I have done watercolor all my life, but never received formal training for it. Getting all the basics was a great experience for me. After the class, I wanted to test my skills in glazing and layering color and contribute a piece of art to the People's Portrait Project at the VisArts - a project where anyone could donate a 5 x 7" portrait. My boyfriend buys and sells records for a living, and I was inspired by an Art Blakey record that he brought home one day:

 

Thinking this would be a "test," I used paper that I had previously painted on which you can see a bit in the right side of the paper during the early stages. I really enjoyed the process of creating this painting. However, there are a few things I learned from it. One: I need to map out my composition better before painting! I left out his ear and didn't fix it because I didn't want to have to re-do my drawing. Also, I rather liked the looser, low-key (not as much contrast) version right before the final version. Next time, I'd like to build my painting so it incorporates more of the looseness and color blossoming. But overall I'm happy with it.

I created this small watercolor for a friend's baby shower. I think of the dog as a guardian, protecting the little one on his long and adventurous travels.

From May to July, I was busy assembling Golden Moth Illumination Decks for my Kickstarter backers. This took an incredibly long time, and stretched into mid-June when I started teaching classes to children during VisArts' ArtVenture summer art camp. I was hoping to have decks for backers finished before then, so it was a busy time for me with teaching and assembling decks during every spare moment. Luckily, I received a lot of help from friends and my boyfriend, and my dad single-handedly corner-rounded 50 sets of decks when I visited my family in Rochester! Here is the mess that was my kitchen:

It was physically and psychologically draining to have hundreds of unfinished cards in view for months on end. I have since put them away in a big box and only take them out when I need to assemble more. There are still over 100 decks to assemble.

On June 16th, I had a Golden Moth Release Party at the Blue Elephant, a vintage and home decor boutique. Friends visited, people bought decks and artwork, and I gave several Intuitive Card Readings (similar to tarot readings). Patsy, owner of Blue Elephant, and her daughter Jessica, manager, provided refreshments and a colorful array of tasty donuts. They are awesome people, and so is their store which has relocated to 119 Robinson St between Grove and Floyd Avenues in Richmond, VA. The new space is even bigger and better than the last. It is such a fun experience to sift through all the treasures in their shop. There will be a similar event at their shop coming up on Saturday, September 15th from 1-4 pm. I will be giving readings and selling decks and art.

As I mentioned before, I began teaching art workshops to children in June through the end of August. Here are some images from my Paper Toys class for youth ages 6-8.

This student spent all class working on his elaborate pop-up card: "Ryan Lochte crushing Michael Phelps." I myself did not follow the Olympics, so it was fun hearing the kids talk about it.

A student came up with this cute paper turtle. Note that the mouth opens to reveal a tiny pink tongue.

I also taught a Paper Bead Jewelry Workshop at the VMFA Studio School.

Some cool jewelry made by students in the class. The paper beads were made using recycled magazines, comics, and maps.

Most of you probably don't know that my parents have their own Paper Bead Jewelry business. They sell at craft shows and in shops around the country. As the story goes, my mother was inspired by me - when I was a child she saw me creating paper beads for fun. She and my dad took the craft much further and have a multi-step process of selecting papers, painting them, rolling beads quickly using a special drill that my dad created, applying several layers of varnish, and creating jewelry designs. I am proud that I can spread knowledge of this craft through my classes. Most of my students find the process of rolling beads to be soothing and even addictive! Here is a picture of a student rolling beads during a spring workshop at The Visual Arts Center of Richmond.

In July, I visited my hometown of Rochester, NY. One of the best things about going home is how accommodating my family is. They understood that I was utterly spent from The Golden Moth Project, and they helped me assemble decks and encouraged me to do some heavy relaxing.

It was perfect timing to be able to see art exhibitions featuring my sister Olivia Kim and her boyfriend Dario Tazzioli. Olivia had some sculptures and painting in a group show at Nazareth College. 

 

Here is an example of the new direction in her work - a more gestural approach to figural sculptural. Olivia is currently investigating the intricacies of the human body and how it moves. I have trouble enough drawing a moving figure, let alone trying to sculpt it! But Olivia has never taken a challenge lightly.

Dario had a solo show, The Inner World of Dario Tazzioli, at Ock Hee's Gallery in Honeoye Falls, NY. He is a stone carver, in heart and soul. I learned so much by reading descriptions of his process and inspiration for each piece. At the age of 16, he apprenticed with a stone carver who told him that a pyramid was the most challenging form to carve. So of course he went ahead and secretly carved a pyramid.

Dario draws inspiration and design from the stone itself - allowing the striking forms, color, and individuality of each piece to reveal itself in the artwork.

He also created fresco portraits of people from the small village where he lives in Frassinoro, Italy. The process of fresco painting is much different than traditional painting. Pigments are mixed into wet plaster, creating an image that is embedded permanently.

And here's Greg outside of Ock Hee's Gallery, communing with a stone buddha.

On August 2nd, I had the unique opportunity of giving Intuitive Card Readings at the Artist's Reception of two woman who I greatly admire, Robin Kranitzky and Kim Overstreet, at Quirk Gallery. Their elaborately-detailed assemblage jewelry was based on the concept of Rorschach Tests. You can read a great article about Quirk Gallery and their show here.

As you can see, their work is just amazing.

And finally, on August 11th I took a Greyhound bus to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to attend a one-week workshop in Embroidery at Arrowmont School of Art and Craft. I have lots of photos for this one, so I'm going to end this entry now and start a new one about my amazing experience there.

Moth Screenprint

Last Wednesday I made use of my summer membership to Studio 2 3 and completed a 2-color screenprint! I really enjoyed using the studio, hanging out with other printmakers and seeing them create their artwork while I created mine. I am now inspired to make more screenprint editions. I enjoy the process because I can paint with ink directly onto a sheet of mylar or acetate and then create the screen using the drawing. I might post a little step-by-step to show you what I mean for further editions.

Here is the completed screenprint! I used gold and brown ink. I actually editioned two versions. The first version is on the left, and it shows my original intended image. Version #2 on the right shows a slightly off-register image - I printed the brown slightly to the left of the gold moth. You can see it a little better in the detail photo. I made an edition of 29 for Version #1, and then halfway through I decided I liked how it appeared off-register because it made the moth look more like it was fluttering in motion. Version #2 has 20 copies.

 

This past Saturday was The Golden Moth Release Party at the Blue Elephant. It went well! I was very nervous before the party, even though most people who came were friends who I had no reason to be nervous over. But it was the first time I publicly released the deck for other people to take home with them, so there is always some anxiety before presenting my artwork to an audience. I will post photos and write about the event in more detail very soon.

Today I went to the post office and sent off 24 packages! More will keep rolling through the postal system throughout this week and next. Whew! I can't believe that it's really going out into the world! I feel relieved, as if I am finally coming to the end of the road. But I know that putting this deck out into the world is just the beginning. It is a way of reaching out to others, and I don't know what other surprises await me. While the process has been difficult in some ways, it has taught me a LOT. I plan to write more about what I learned from it all, and also share some advice for people who want to start their own Kickstarter campaigns.

That's all for now. More soon, I promise.

love,
aijung