THE STORY OF PRIMITIVE KOOL GALLERY
Lynne Bolton, Paul Bolton, July 2007 HOB for City Beat Awards Event
In
1998 , my husband Paul and I began this adventure in art dealing.
The bulk of our friend's amazing art collection would soon be
on it's way to auction( of our friend and predecessor, Martine Parmentier had committed suicide)when we made a quick decision to proceed
in her footsteps and buy her art collection.
After securing funds,we suddenly found ourselves in the presence
of almost 500 pieces of assorted "outsider art" works. As we unloaded the rental truck, my Mother shook her head in disbelief at the things we unloaded. She kept her doubts to herself as we perused our bounty, not knowing where to begin.
Before this, we had collected outsider art for a little more than
a year, having stumbled upon a few pieces at a local antique shop...and although we had amassed a nice group of paintings,
we had focused on only a few artists. The pieces we now unloaded were works by artists who were completely unknown to us. We were novices. The task fell to us to research these pieces
and artists as we wanted to be informed before
we tried to sell to the public. Inside, we also wondered if we were the only people on the planet who liked this stuff!
We poured over outsider and folk art books for the
better part of two months, all the while, packing up and heading
for the L.A. flea markets every other weekend to find our client
base.(as Martine had done)We were weary and worn from those grueling trips and a friend
suggested an alternative....a website! What a marvelous idea,
except we were both slightly computer illiterate.
Well
with a couple of weeks of training (a friend, Jodi, came over
my house and walked me through the steps) our website was born....and
remains pretty much the same format as it was in the beginning.
I subscribe to the adage, "if it's not broke, don't fix it".
And so it stays consistent. Only the art work changes, and fortunately
for the artists and for us, it changes pretty frequently.
Our
physical gallery co-exists with our hair salon (THE
ELECTRIC CHAIR) on a funky little street in hippie-dippy"OCEAN
BEACH" in San Diego. The town itself is worth a visit, even
if you're not looking for outsider art!
Our
goal is to continually turn the art over, keeping our income steady
and on an even happier note, keeping the ARTIST'S income steady.
When things sit around, we simply lower the price and have a sale. We like to
keep things moving and the artists working.
This
gallery means many things to Paul and I. It has been a means for
me to stay home(I run the site from my home office) and be here
for our son. It has been a great adventure and learning experience.
It has taught us to appreciate art that is born in the soul.....maybe
in some backwoods town in the deep South.... that has a purity and beauty that
can not easily be found in any other art genre.
We
love what we do and we thank you for allowing us to continue!
Lynne
Bolton
PLEASE
NOTE:We are a small business and we pay our artists promptly so
we ask that you contact us immediately to let us know if you'd
like to exchange a piece of art. We give gallery credit for anything
returned within 14 days of delivery to you, but the piece must
be returned in the condition in which it arrived and you are responsible
for return shipping costs. We do NOT ship glass, even if a piece
is framed as there is potential for damage to the art. Most of
our art is rustic wood anyway so that policy seldom applies. Sale items are NOT returnable.
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