New Online Art Gallery Gives National Exposure to Annapolis Artists

Maine Cottage® is a lifestyle brand and multi-channel retailer with an online store, direct mail catalog and Flagship Store. The Annapolis company is best known for its colorful painted furniture, signature fabric patterns, lively upholstered furniture and growing line of home accessories.

Maine Cottage® has launched a national online Art Gallery featuring six Annapolis area artists. The collection contains over 100 original paintings, giclées, photographs and posters filled with color. Images include landscapes, abstracts, floral and pop art with a heavy focus on nautical and sea inspired art. Featured artists include Gail Higginbotham, Ramon Matheu, Kellee Wynne Conrad, Kim Hovell, Liz Lind and Sheila DeLaquil.

Last year the Annapolis store began featuring the work of local artists in our dramatic retail space. The store hosted art openings which were reflective of the featured artist’s style. Cathy Newman, Store Manager, explains “Annapolis is filled with so much talent and we are always in search of opportunities to partner with other creative and entrepreneurial people in the community. Hosting galleries in the store seemed like it would not only be a fun way to meet our Annapolis neighbors but would also be a way to better merchandise our store. It is exciting to be part of a simple concept that is blossoming into a much larger national initiative for the company.”

Creative Director and Vice President, Lauren Russell commented, “We use original artwork in our catalog photoshoots, fine art has always been a part of our creative processes, it just made perfect sense to make it part of our product offering as well. Once we realized how successful it was in the store, we wanted to make it bigger and better. By elevating the in-store gallery concept to an online version we were able to tell more of the back story behind each painting and offer a broader selection. I think the most exciting aspect of the new gallery is the interactive search tool with color, price, subject and size parameters. This is just the beginning, we are looking forward to adding more artists, more art advice and of course, more shopping tools.”

Featured artist, Kellee Wynne Conrad, is a contemporary painter whose work in the gallery includes dream-like landscapes and bold floral paintings. She chimed in to say, “I knew I had found a perfect match for my art when I first walked into the flagship store and I was so warmly welcomed. The new online and showroom galleries have raised the bar for how art and artists should be presented in a rapidly changing creative field and I am thrilled to be represented by such an amazing company as Maine Cottage.”

The Annapolis Flagship Store, which opened in late 2012, is within walking distance of the Lowes and Westin hotels on West Street. The building is a converted century old brick livery stable that serves as the anchor store to Uptown Annapolis. Permanent fixtures such as painted maple flooring, large sliding barn doors, and shiny nautical accents blend the equestrian roots with the modern mari- time location. The always present scent of sea salt candles and upbeat sound of familiar feel good songs playing in the background create an overall feeling that is airy and therapeutic, intentionally reminiscent of a summer breeze intended to make people happy.

CONTACT: Lauren Russell
p: 866-366-3505
e: lauren@mainecottage.com

where color lives 

visit the online gallery at MaineCottage.com/gallery.html