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.

The first Meet the Artist Event for 2010 has been set. VirtuArte presents Pauline Lewis, owner/all-in-one-boss of oovoo. So make plans to come on...

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.

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.

One of my ongoing objectives is to have you get to know the artist and artisans whose products you see on the website either through blog posts, artist profiles, artist updates and/or in person events. As in February with Elhadji Koumama, the opportunity has arisen for me to introduce you to another one of the VirtuArte artists.

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.

When I was in Vientiane, Laos a few years ago I asked the concierge at the hotel I was staying at where I could go to buy Laotian handmade products. The first place I was told about was Carol Cassidy's Lao Textile Studio. It is located three blocks from the Mekong River in downtown Vientiane.

During this start up phase of VirtuArte, I have had the opportunity to meet a number of people and organizations working with artists, artisans and cooperatives in the developing world. I have heard some great stories about why they got involved, how they found the individuals and/or groups they work with and their experiences along the way. Pauline Lewis has one of those stories. She is the owner and "all-in-one bag" boss of oovoo, a unique wholesaler of hand-embroidered handbags. I first met Pauline at the New York International Gift Fair in February.