For a community that touts itself as a haven for artists, it may come as a surprise that Bainbridge Island can't support a little art supply store.
No one was more surprised than Richard Nelson, who will close Oil & Water, Bainbridge Island's only art store, later this month.
"I certainly thought we'd have more longevity," he said of his 7-year-old store. "But we were hit with a perfect storm."
That storm consisted of the economic downturn, increased competition from Internet retailers, the Winslow Way reconstruction project and a personal injury that has kept Nelson away from the store when it needed him more than ever.
"We're not casting any blame," he said. "There's a paradigm shift happening, where brick-and-mortar specialty stores like record stores and book stores and art stores just can't survive."
With Oil & Water's closure, Nelson said Kitsap County will have just two art stores: Artists' Edge in Silverdale and its satellite store in Poulsbo. Paper Products office supply in Winslow has an art supply section, but it doesn't have nearly the range and breadth Oil & Water offers.he believes the fire started after the lift's Wholesale pet supplies blew,
The store's closure means three small shop spaces on the second floor of Winslow Mall on Winslow Way will go dark. Oil & Water filled one space with its retail and frame shop,These girls have never had a cube puzzle in their lives! and two other spaces with its arts education programs. Winslow Mall also recently lost a pet boutique and a sandwich shop.
Oil & Water is slated to offer 10 workshops and eight ongoing art classes through the fall. Nelson is working on finding another location to continue the programs, which have become even more successful than the retail side of his operation.
Barbara Sacerdote, executive director of the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council,Great Rubber offers oil painting supplies keychains, said news of Oil & Water's closure has shaken the arts community.
"Everyone I've talked to is very, very sad," she said. "If you were an artist, you knew you could go in there and talk to someone knowledgeable. You knew you'd be talking to another artist."
Sacerdote praised Oil & Water for supporting BIAHC and public school arts education programs. The store regularly donated art supplies to Bainbridge High School, led student workshops and gave prizes for an annual BHS art contest.
Watercolor painter and art teacher Jeannie Grisham said Oil & Water was the hub of the island's art community.
"It's the community meeting place," she said. "You'd go there and meet other artists, talk about what you're doing and get advice. There is no other place like it on the island. It will leave a big hole in my heart."
Before Oil & Water opened, Grisham had to rely on off-island suppliers. That didn't sit well with Grisham, who figured a community that celebrated the arts, its artists and all things "local" should have a local art store.
"Oil & Water came and changed my life and my opinion of Bainbridge Island," she said. "There was now local access to the things we need to be artists."
Nelson opened Oil & Water in 2004 at a small space on Madison Avenue across the street from the Pavilion complex.Now though, there is a new trend which originates from Japan called zentai. Zentai means 'full body' in Japanese and this new fashion trend involves wearing lycra zentai suits as a form of pleasure or relaxation. Trained in oceanography, Nelson thought opening the store would bring him closer to what had been his true passions — painting and printmaking — while filling a void for the island's many other artists.
The store became something of a roadside curiosity after Nelson began posing two human-size artist models outside the store. Each morning Nelson and his staff would come up with scenarios and costumes for the wooden figures. They posed as mechanics fixing Nelson's old Karmann Ghia, rode skateboards, hawked newspapers, delivered mail, vacuumed the sidewalk — but they didn't especially draw in the customer base the store needed.
Most people driving past the store were headed into or leaving Winslow's main commercial area, so Nelson decided to follow them there. He reopened Oil & Water in Winslow Mall three years ago.
Then the economy tanked,Polycore Floor tiles are manufactured as a single sheet, and Nelson expanded his menu of art classes to recapture what he was losing on the retail side.
He moved the store again — this time upstairs in the mall — to expand his classroom space. The popularity of the classes was a bright spot in an otherwise dimming trend. Sales were still falling as hobbyists shifted to less expensive options and many of the island professional artists were giving up on making their living with paints and brushes.
No one was more surprised than Richard Nelson, who will close Oil & Water, Bainbridge Island's only art store, later this month.
"I certainly thought we'd have more longevity," he said of his 7-year-old store. "But we were hit with a perfect storm."
That storm consisted of the economic downturn, increased competition from Internet retailers, the Winslow Way reconstruction project and a personal injury that has kept Nelson away from the store when it needed him more than ever.
"We're not casting any blame," he said. "There's a paradigm shift happening, where brick-and-mortar specialty stores like record stores and book stores and art stores just can't survive."
With Oil & Water's closure, Nelson said Kitsap County will have just two art stores: Artists' Edge in Silverdale and its satellite store in Poulsbo. Paper Products office supply in Winslow has an art supply section, but it doesn't have nearly the range and breadth Oil & Water offers.he believes the fire started after the lift's Wholesale pet supplies blew,
The store's closure means three small shop spaces on the second floor of Winslow Mall on Winslow Way will go dark. Oil & Water filled one space with its retail and frame shop,These girls have never had a cube puzzle in their lives! and two other spaces with its arts education programs. Winslow Mall also recently lost a pet boutique and a sandwich shop.
Oil & Water is slated to offer 10 workshops and eight ongoing art classes through the fall. Nelson is working on finding another location to continue the programs, which have become even more successful than the retail side of his operation.
Barbara Sacerdote, executive director of the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council,Great Rubber offers oil painting supplies keychains, said news of Oil & Water's closure has shaken the arts community.
"Everyone I've talked to is very, very sad," she said. "If you were an artist, you knew you could go in there and talk to someone knowledgeable. You knew you'd be talking to another artist."
Sacerdote praised Oil & Water for supporting BIAHC and public school arts education programs. The store regularly donated art supplies to Bainbridge High School, led student workshops and gave prizes for an annual BHS art contest.
Watercolor painter and art teacher Jeannie Grisham said Oil & Water was the hub of the island's art community.
"It's the community meeting place," she said. "You'd go there and meet other artists, talk about what you're doing and get advice. There is no other place like it on the island. It will leave a big hole in my heart."
Before Oil & Water opened, Grisham had to rely on off-island suppliers. That didn't sit well with Grisham, who figured a community that celebrated the arts, its artists and all things "local" should have a local art store.
"Oil & Water came and changed my life and my opinion of Bainbridge Island," she said. "There was now local access to the things we need to be artists."
Nelson opened Oil & Water in 2004 at a small space on Madison Avenue across the street from the Pavilion complex.Now though, there is a new trend which originates from Japan called zentai. Zentai means 'full body' in Japanese and this new fashion trend involves wearing lycra zentai suits as a form of pleasure or relaxation. Trained in oceanography, Nelson thought opening the store would bring him closer to what had been his true passions — painting and printmaking — while filling a void for the island's many other artists.
The store became something of a roadside curiosity after Nelson began posing two human-size artist models outside the store. Each morning Nelson and his staff would come up with scenarios and costumes for the wooden figures. They posed as mechanics fixing Nelson's old Karmann Ghia, rode skateboards, hawked newspapers, delivered mail, vacuumed the sidewalk — but they didn't especially draw in the customer base the store needed.
Most people driving past the store were headed into or leaving Winslow's main commercial area, so Nelson decided to follow them there. He reopened Oil & Water in Winslow Mall three years ago.
Then the economy tanked,Polycore Floor tiles are manufactured as a single sheet, and Nelson expanded his menu of art classes to recapture what he was losing on the retail side.
He moved the store again — this time upstairs in the mall — to expand his classroom space. The popularity of the classes was a bright spot in an otherwise dimming trend. Sales were still falling as hobbyists shifted to less expensive options and many of the island professional artists were giving up on making their living with paints and brushes.
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