First Day of Business!

We had a wonderful first official day of business. Following up on the success and excitement of last week's grand opening reception, Lori sold a painting in the first few minutes of being open! We also had several visitors ask about framing services. We are still a week or two away from being able to do framing, matting and mounting, but interest is building.

A CARD FOR ANY OCCASION…
We will start offering custom made hand-printed cards! They are made using woodblock printing. We have a few designs already created, with more on the way. We are selling those for $2/card. Other designs can be special ordered.  We even offer classes so you can learn how to design and print your own! Contact us for details!!!

Any occasion is made more special with a card, and a card is all the more special when it is custom designed and handmade. Don't you agree?

GRAND OPENING SHA-BANG!

 There was a cold snap that lasted three days. (Check out the icicles on the sign!) Everyone went crazy. Atlanta had a traffic catastrophe. You would think no one knows how to act when it dips below freezing around here… and you would be right.

Luckily, it doesn't stay cold very long around here and it was warmer by the night of our opening. Thank goodness!

 We had an AMAZING turn out for our Grand Opening Reception. Many thanks to Sandi Shaw and Ann McCrickard for their PR prowess. Our unofficial estimate for attendance was 150-175! It was better than we could have hoped for.

Equally amazing: Mr. and Mrs. Curtis (Rich's parents) and Mrs. Davis (Lori's mom) made the trip down from North Alabama. They brought food and serving pieces, helped set up, serve and clean up afterwards. Mr. Curtis stood at the door and greeted every guest that walked through the door. Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Curtis mingled and met everyone too.

We cannot thank our parents enough for their unconditional love, support and devotion. They are amazing people!

 This is what the main gallery looked like before the reception. We were so overwhelmed by the response, we couldn't stop to take photos during the event!

We had such wonderful responses to our artwork, and the beautiful work of our featured artists.

 Several people brought house warming gifts. Flowers, wine, a piece of pottery, and a gift card. We have the best friends! It means so much to receive the outpouring of support from the community.




We had lots of food and punch, as you can see...

 This is Rich- exhausted and over-whelmed after the reception.

This is Lori- also exhausted and overwhelmed.

We look forward to many more events!

Grand Opening Exhibit!

The artwork is in! The folk art creations of Kathy Kimmel and Martha Beadle will be the first exhibition at The Boardwalk. Both artists work with found materials, composing them into delightful and colorful designs. All of their work is reasonably priced and make fantastic gifts. 

Kathy lives in Thomasville, GA. She collaborates with her husband to design wall hanging and stand-alone sculptural pieces from wood and antique remnants.

Kathy's work has been exhibited nationally and is represented in several galleries. The Boardwalk is very fortunate and excited to represent her work in this area!

Martha Beadle lives in Florence, AL. She works in the traditions of embroidery and needle-point to stitch fabrics, buttons and bobbles into colorful patchwork designs. She often embellishes these pieces with quotes, poems and scripture.

Like Kathy, Martha has exhibited widely. She is a regular fixture at Folk Fest in Atlanta and major regional festivals like Kentuck.

Here is a window display of Kimmel's sculptural work.

Grand Opening Reception

Official Opening! Drum Roll Please...

We have been hard at work over the past month, putting the last touches on the space. It took much longer than we anticipated (isn't that always the case) but, finally the time to open has arrived! We are so excited to get the doors open with art on the wall. It has felt, at times, like it would never happen.

On Saturday, February 1, 2014, we will have a GRAND OPENING PARTY! Until then, we will have the doors open on the weekend, and start offering some after-school classes.

Meanwhile, we have gotten a new AC unit. Plantation Propane will be hooking up a tank for our heat. Can't wait to have central heat/air. Climate control is a big issue in our huge, old building. Mold and mildew are a constant threat. The new unit will take much of the worry away!

Look what else we have been up to:

Prime Time!

The walls are primed and ready to paint. We have picked out a nice neutral off-white, called Foxtrot. Can't wait to put on the final coat!!!

Here are some current images from The Boardwalk. This is a long counter that was left in the space. We had a portion of it removed because there was dry rot. The dust from cleaning all the walls made for some interesting silhouettes. I call them "shadow stains". They remind me of the impressions of bodies that were flash-burned into the walls of Pompeii.

 Ann, who owned a neighboring building, sold it this week. The word on the street is that they will make a pizza shop! Dangerous (for our waist lines) to have that so close, but SO glad the building will be renovated. The pile of stuff pictured here is stuff we found in the building as Ann was cleaning it out. Wire baskets, metal shelves, a stool, vases, glass, a roadside reflector, and two hay forks were just a few of the items. We LOVE to go pickin'.

 Our gallery space is prepped and ready for occupancy. We have decided that renting the space will off-set some of the costs of upkeep on the building. We will have a new air/heat unit installed at the first of the year. But, the space is ready to go!

This is a panorama shot of the studio side of the building. On the left (which is looking toward the back of the building) we plan to have framing equipment. In the middle and right (looking toward the front of the building) we will have space for both of us to create our own work separately and collaboratively. There are so many things we are looking forward to doing!

We had such a great reception to our block print card making class. We plan to offer it again. We even have the idea of offering make-your-own greeting cards. Anyone can come in, learn how to design and carve a print block, make a print and leave with a handmade card!

This is a card with a woodblock print version of our logo. It is our business greeting card.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 

from Rich and Lori at 

THE BOARDWALK!

Deck Them Halls, Y'all!

"Tis the season," as they say this time of year. Boston is gearing up for a holiday parade and tree lighting. All the businesses in downtown have decorated their storefronts.

The Boardwalk has joined in the fun! We strung garland and lights along the side rail of the front walkway and hung wreaths on the doors. Red and green ball ornaments dangle at the front entrance.

 In the evenings, the streets are all aglow. We are still working on the inside of the space, but we wanted to make the outside warm and inviting. We still plan to put something in the windows to cap off our decorations.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

In the spirit of the holidays, we held a woodblock printing workshop on Tuesday evening. Six people participated. They printed their own holiday cards and learned a new art-making skill. There were some really cool designs! We plan to offer that class again in the future. It was a lot of fun.