Hello there and thanks for stopping by! We are currently closed until further notice. Please stay safe and we can’t wait to see you (hopefully) in 2021!
A note from the Owner…
Thank you everyone for your messages, questions and support as I navigate my way through a new “normal” (though you will rarely hear me use that word!) during these trying times. Every single one of us is impacted and trying to adapt to new ways. I sure hope this finds you well.
I have been meditating on what Fig Tree will look like this summer (as tourism is still very much happening in the Lakes Region) and haven’t had the clarity I was seeking until this week. As a full time working mama (like many!), I dropped everything this past spring to homeschool for 3 months and have been using summer as catch-up. I have been working to both make ends meet AND on my next creative moves, but Fig Tree has gotten moved to the back burner. I posted a while back that I would open “in July for safe shopping” but still hadn’t announced that, trying to push through an unsettling feeling in my gut.
Fast forward to two days ago, when annual cleaning and organizing of the gallery finally began and a woman with a small child walked into the barn (right past the 3 closed signs and construction.) No masks. No social distancing. No concern for anything other than her “really wanting to show her child that you can make art out of anything.” (Her exact words.) Part of me was elated, as this has been my mission, my thing, and I LOVE to share the creativity and my ideas with the world. Rather than passionately talking about painting and crafts, I just started to wonder what state they were from, shift my body language to show discomfort and began to step back in distance. I scanned the room for sanitizer and kindly told her we were closed, but to check back in on Facebook.
In that moment, I got my answer. I do not want to live and run my business in fear. But I do want to run it in a respectful way that keeps everyone safe. So to that wandering stranger: thank you for giving me the answer I was looking for. I don’t feel ready to open Fig Tree this summer.
I just had to sit in the space, look around the big, beautiful barn and see it though a new lens. And in that moment I realized we need to look at EVERYTHING through a new lens. The way we purchase, interact, socialize, have gallery openings and even sell art. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing; chaos is an invitation for change and I say bring it. I still plan to deliver great content (through Fig Tree and Veggie Art Girl), but in a new (and exciting!) way.
So we are not stopping, but rather taking a pause to clean that lens, reboot and share with you my newest ideas for Fig Tree as they come to life in 2021 and beyond.
We ARE all in this together. Please stay safe and be well, my friends.
Xo,
Stacey
