NORTHAMPTON – Like many artists, Hilltown metalsmith Cristine Levitre admits that selling her handmade jewelry can be hard. Supplies are expensive and marketing is a challenge, among other issues including finding a retail space to sell her wares.
One of the best ways to sell art is through craft shows, but they can be a gamble, said Levitre, 64. Artists must invest in jury fees to apply, show fees and various travel expenses, as well as determining which craft show is appropriate, she said.
At 11, Levitre was offered a table at a craft show and sold out, and at 16, she started her craft as a silversmith and opened up a small shop. Today, Levitre uses vintage stones dating back to the 1890s to 1920s. She has earrings for $25 and more expensive pieces such as hand-woven silver and stone bracelets.
But after decades of making and selling jewelry for a living, Levitre thought of a stress-free way for artists to sell their work while also increasing profits – a pop-up shop.
That’s why in late November, Levitre opened Pop-Up Artisans Collective at the bottom floor of Thornes Marketplace. The temporary retail space features art made by local artists. The shop is planned to run through Jan. 11.
“As a small temporary shop, each of us could make maximum amount,” Levitre said.
The space was used for a computer store for several years and, recently, Herrell’s Ice Cream rented the space for six weeks while its main location was being renovated.
Jody Doele, marketing director of Thornes, said the company understands how challenging it is for artists and equipped the artisan pop-up shop with resources to help them start up.
Levitre gathered the work of artists using various materials from felt to forged iron. The artists involved assist in assembling, staffing and promoting the store themselves, with items ranging in price from as low as $2 to as high as $4,000.
Among the items for sale are furniture and home goods from wine and whiskey barrels made by Tony Derricotte, of Greenfield, and intricate jewelry boxes, cutting boards and $12 wooden bookmarks created by Al Ladd and Marilyn Beal, of Colrain. Many of Ladd’s and Beal’s pieces incorporate a night sky landscape with various types of wood.
“The sky is macassar ebony, with genuine silver stars, and a holly moon. The mountains are two shades of Hawaiian Koa, and the border is cherry, and the whole scene is framed in macassar ebony,” reads the description for Ladd and Beal’s moonrise box states. Laura Bundesen, of Huntington, creates patchwork belts and handbags as well as paintings with embroidered features. One of her paintings is of a silhouette of a head with a brain of various fabrics and patterns embroidered on the canvas.
Deb Boyd, of Charlemont, creates needle-felted characters and critters, selling some ornaments and felted Santa Claus decorations for Christmas time while her husband John forges ironware.
Watercolor artist Lois Barber, of Amherst, created a collection of bird paintings using watercolor and ink pen, inspired from an old testing strip of paint blobs Barber had doodled on with pen, transforming the blobs into birds.
When selling art for a living, Levitre said many artists find their craft and discover a way to market their wares. Some pieces are priced in the hundreds and thousands, while other items, such as Ladd and Beal’s $12 bookmarks and Levitre’s $25 earrings, sell more readily.
“It’s hard,” Levitre said. “We would all prefer to just make art for art’s sake, but we’re not in a world that supports that.”
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.