Rising Stars: Meet Edith Pair

Today we’d like to introduce you to Edith Pair.  

Hi Edith, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and graduated with BFA in 1996. Worked as an assistant buyer for Montgomery Wards in Chicago until I decided to move back to Charlevoix in 2005. 

Opened “Ellair Gallery” in 2006 despite the terrible economy and remained open for 6 years before pulling the plug and concentrating on custom orders, freelance, and opening the Mushroom House Tours. 

Since then, I am proud to have been accepted into ArtPrize for first 4 years, having artwork in numerous local galleries and working on custom orders. 

I ran an art gallery out of the Weathervane Restaurant in 2006-2008, and everyone would ask me about the mushroom houses (the gallery was located in Earl Young’s former office). 

One day a lady came in and begged me to show her where the houses were and stated, “I can’t believe no one does tours of these houses”… and an idea was born. 

I started doing walking tours of the Park Ave. houses in 2009. We got tours but only saw 1/2 the houses as it’s too far to walk to all of them. We tried everything from trolley tours to horse and wagon, and nothing really stuck. 

In 2015 we rented a GEM car, and it was a hit. We ended up buying one of our own in 2016 and never looked back. We now have 3 GEM carts and a small retail store. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest struggles are just balancing my artwork (as I am a freelance artist) with running the mushroom house tours. The great thing is I can do all my artwork in the winter months in my studio and get any custom orders done along with artwork for the next season. 

We have struggled with how much to do the tours, too… how annoying are we to the homeowners vs being sold out and wanting to add more tours on the schedule. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I do mixed media paintings, wall hangings, and functional artwork. I started out with hand-painted furniture, but it’s so specific for people with colors, etc., and so bulky… that now I focus on larger custom-order paintings for people and my “funky fish” wall hangings and functional art. I also make all the items we sell as souvenirs for the mushroom house tours, so I do hand-painted ornaments, small paintings, and prints, etc. 

I have a specific contemporary style that seems to fit well with clients who have houses here? 🤷‍♀️ 

I am most proud of being accepted into ArtPrize for the first 4 years… I haven’t done it since before Covid because I just don’t have the time… but it was a true honor being in ArtPrize and around all those amazing artists from across the country. 

I use a high gloss coating on my pieces that sets me apart from the crowd. A lot of people thing my pieces are ceramic… they are just wood with acrylic and my special “coating” at the end 👍 

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I feel successful when the person I least expect gives me a pat on the back… I know I am doing a good job. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ellair.com
• Instagram: @edithpair
• Facebook: EdithPairArt