Ruth Conklin Gallery hosts tenth annual Sticks Trunk Show
From staff reports
Ruth Conklin Gallery, Glen Arbor, is celebrating a decade of Sticks trunk shows Wednesday, August 3 through Friday, August 5, with guest artist Sarah Grant, Sticks creator/owner, and design staff from Des Moines.
The tenth annual Trunk Show will offer ideas for combining Sticks Object Art & Furniture with individual decorating styles, as well as creating heirloom custom pieces with Sticks handcrafted designs.
Sticks, a premier Made in America design house, has enjoyed a loyal following since 1992 when Ms. Grant, an artist with a master’s degree in fine art, was asked to create holiday pieces for a national interior decorating magazine.
Driftwood, poplar and birch now are integrated with hand-drawn imagery, personal phrases, paint, metal and leather to become one of a kind accessories and furniture. All of the 1,000-plus designs by Sticks can be customized and personalized. Custom pieces take about six weeks for artisans in the Iowa studio to complete. “We have a commitment to quality and creativity,” Ms. Grant notes.
Ruth Conklin Gallery, the Sticks founder says, is Number One for distinctive imagery, with its focus on the Up North lifestyle. The Glen Arbor gallery for the past 10 years has won awards as a Top 10 Sticks gallery in the United States. “Ruth and her customers really get the location,” she observed in a telephone interview from the Des Moines studio.
A Sticks dining table is Ms. Grant’s personal choice as the Number One design product. “Whether that table is custom or not, it remains the place where we gather as family and friends. Life and its experiences come to the table,” she observes.
Sticks is surviving the national economic downturn, Ms. Grant believes, because “we are creative and imaginative” in business. “We are seeing a small up tick. Customers who say they have wanted a Sticks piece for a long time are making room in their budget for it this year.”
Hours for the tenth annual Trunk Show are 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 3, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, August 4 and 5. Contact Ruth Conklin Gallery, 231-334-3880, to make appointments with Sticks design staff during the trunk show, open to the public.
Customers who want to create a custom Sticks piece can bring fabric and paint samples, family photographs and souvenirs to the trunk show. Combining work with beach vacation, Sarah Grant is bringing her yellow Labrador retriever, Angel, to Glen Arbor for a swim.
Website for the gallery, www.ruthconklingallery.com. The gallery at 6632 M-109, Glen Arbor, also is on Facebook.
