Virtuarte.com

As I have stated before one of my ongoing objectives is to have you get to know the artists and artisans whose products you see on our website. I have hosted a couple of "Meet the Artist" Events here in Washington, DC which a number of you have attended. For those of you who do not live in Washington area, I have been informed that a couple of our Artists will be participating in Trunk Shows in cities around the United States in March and April.

One of the reasons I started VirtuArte was to introduce unique, high quality arts and crafts not widely seen and/or available outside of the locations they are made in to an international clientele. As most of you know I love looking for such items to add to the VirtuArte collection. Over the past year jewelry made from tagua nuts has caught my eye.

Over the last year one of the organizations I have gotten to know is Vital Voices. Vital Voices Global Partnership is a non-government organization that identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs arond the world. They provide these women with the capacity, connections and credibility they need to unlock their leadership potential.

On the 12th of September in collaboration with the National Museum of Women in the Arts I hosted a "Meet the Artist" event with Carol Cassidy, the textile designer and weaver from Laos. Different from the first "Meet the Artist" event in February, I asked Carol to give a presentation about her work. I heard Carol speak before and thought she had a wonderful story to tell, one I wanted to have her share with others.

As you know, VirtuArte.com was launched in early May and the initial reactions were quite positive. I loved receiving your response to the site, particularly how much you enjoyed the Artist profiles and their link to the products. As with every site, now that VirtuArte.com has been up for a few months I realized it needed a few adjustments. I am thrilled to announce those adjustments have just been completed.

Looking for that unique gift for the Holidays ... then VirtuArte is the place. The VirtuArte collection includes jewelry, scarves, shawls, serving pieces, tableware, handbags, vases and other decorative arts. A purchase from VirtuArte gives you a:

- beautiful, handcrafted piece of art;
- peek into another culture; and
- way to contribute to the preservation of traditional craftmanship.

Too many times we get bogged down in the minutiae of our daily lives, trying to get things done and thinking about all the things that are not going the way we want them to go, we forget why we took the job or started the project. Over the past few weeks I had been so focused on getting ready for the Meet the Artist Event with Carol Cassidy, thinking about what I was going to blog about, making sure I tweeted and obsessing about the things that are not going right I was losing sight of why I had started VirtuArte. Then I was reminded.

The next Meet the Artist Event has now been set. VirtuArte and the Museum Shop at the National Museum of Women in the Arts will host Carol Cassidy, Textile Designer from Laos. So make plans to come on ....

Saturday, the 12th of September

National Museum of Women in the Arts

1:00pm - 4:00pm

Presentation - 1:30pm

Trunk Show to follow

Last September I wrote a post about Carol Cassidy, the textile designer who moved to Laos in 1989. While working as a advisor on a United Nations International Labor Organization project she was impressed by the technical skills of Lao weavers. This, in combination with her discovery of extraordinary antique textiles in local markets prompted her to establish Lao Textiles, an independent weaving studio in 1990.

On Sunday, the 8th of February, a day that felt like Spring was here, VirtuArte hosted its first "Meet the Artist" event featuring Elhadji Koumama. Elhadji is the patriarch of the Koumama Family and the ninth child of Mohamed Koumama, one of the most famous Tuareg silversmiths.