Artist Janet Olney

Janet Olney was first introduced to basketmaking in 1984.  She immediately fell in love with this age-old art.  Most of her baskets begin as traditional shapes into which she weaves something of herself.

Her material of choise is reed which grows in the jungles and rain forests of Indonesia and malaysia.  Cut from the rattan or cane palm, a fast-growing, vine-like plant several feet long, reed's strength, flexibility and uniformity make it a perfect material for basketmaking.

Because reed takes dye well, color can also become an important element in Janet's finish product.   Janet's tapestry baskets have an inner basket woven "good side in" which becomes the mold for the outer, tapestry backet.  The tapestry baskets are woven with a vairety of materials such as reed, yarn, pine needles, seagrass and philodendron sheaths.

New Artist At Kaleidoscope!

We are excited to announce that a new Artist is now displaying her work at Kaleidoscope - Amanda Raetzman.  Stop by and check out her beautiful and unique handbags!  They are absolutely fantastic! 

A Fresh Look

Here is a look at the gallery just before the grand opening... looking pretty!

A taste of setting up

Communicating with the mothership!! You just can't walk by one of Paul Reller's chairs without sitting down... how good is that.
Doug doing the photo thing, while Dave puts up his pots.
The set-up in full swing, controlled chaos at it's best!

We are open!!

Ah, here is the very first post about a new artists' co-op gallery in New London, MN. The gallery is an activity of the Willmar Area Arts Council. There is currently a mix of work from 11 talented artists that display here.
We quietly opened on Thursday the first of July and are planning a grand opening on the 24th of July.