Like so many other people, professional artists are facing tough financial times during the pandemic. In-person art fairs aren’t happening now, but the good news is that many of those regular shows have moved online and offer a variety of ways to shop from your favorite artists and discover new ones.

Rain Spark Gallery usually has a seasonal gallery from about the middle of October until late December in the heart of downtown Lake Oswego, Oregon. The location has moved from year to year, but every year our amazing curator Jan Rimmerman transforms an ordinary shop into a magical space with art works from more than 30 artists. The artists of Rain Spark Gallery work in a wide variety of techniques and materials: potters, jewelers, painters, weavers, felters, woodworkers, and more. This year Rain Spark Gallery is virtual, at rainsparkgallery.com. The site includes a shopping cart for pieces from some artists. Other artists have links to their own websites or Etsy shops, or just a phone number or email address to handle sales less formally. It all works!

I hadn’t expected to sell anything this year but had a referral via Rain Spark Gallery’s website. A local customer came to look at handwoven dish towels on my driveway, where I had set up a table and a big suitcase full of towels. My suitcase of towels can travel to other locations in the Portland area, or I can show my wares in a Zoom call if someone is interested.

Besides dish towels I have four colors of huck lace dessert napkins and three styles of large dinner napkins. I also have warm wool scarves using a mixture of commercial yarn and my handspun yarn, and fashion scarves in tencel, silk, and cotton.

Please check out rainsparkgallery.com and support your local artists!