PLEASE JOIN Alison Shaw Gallery and gallery josephine for 4th morning, our impromptu way of celebrating the revitalization of the Arts District in Oak Bluffs, and our newly-installed sidewalk! The highway trucks finished up today, just in time to toast the completion of our safe walkway between the Arts District and the Oak Bluffs harbor.

We’ll be open from 10am to 2pm on Monday, July 4th, serving delicious breakfast beverages, and tasty snacks. It’s a perfect way to start your morning – drinking a latte, sitting in our beautiful garden, and looking at stunning art.

We also just hung Alison’s new photo of her favorite Oak Bluffs jetty (the one on Inkwell Beach) on the main wall. We used our premium framing, with museum glass – I really love this one.

We look forward to seeing you on Monday!

WE’RE OPENING for the 2016 season tomorrow: Saturday, May 28th, between 10am and 5pm. This year promises to be different. We like to shake things up occasionally (keeps it fun for us). To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we’re hosting two parties – one on July 9th, and one on August 6th. Instead of hanging a full “show” each month, we’re going to just hang new (and retrospective) pieces when we feel like it. So the walls will be changing often. If you want to buy something right off the wall, you can take it with you. We’ll just hang a new piece in its place. We love the fluidity of being able to move things around, and hope you will too!

This summer, I’m planning to write a series of blogs about our building, which began as a one-engine firehouse. And by my count, Alison’s been a professional photographer on Martha’s Vineyard for 40 years (another milestone!), so I’ll do some posts about her too. We’re really looking forward to sharing this season with you.

A FEW WEEKS ago, a really nice woman came into the gallery. Well, I didn’t know how nice she was back then. All I knew was that she was from Baltimore (her answer to my query), and since I grew up there, we started talking about our shared home. She asked me if she could bring anything the next time she visits. I got shy (this doesn’t usually happen), and said “Oh no, that’s ok, so nice of you to ask.” She responded, “No, really – if you could have anything from Baltimore, what would it be?” Without hesitation, I answered “Berger cookies. I haven’t had one for years, and you can’t get them anywhere else.”

“Done,” she said, and her friend said “She means it, you know. She really means it.” So nice. And yet, in the flow of spring and early summer, I forgot all about it…

…until today. I was upstairs on a call with one of our Mentorship students, when Toby dropped off the package. For the poor folks who have never heard of Berger cookies, here they are:

Two boxes of deliciousness. They look like hockey pucks (or worse), but they taste fantastic. Apparently each one is iced by hand, chocolate fudge on top of a cakey cookie. It’s not about the cookie on the bottom – you eat these for the fudge on top. Just like you buy Lucky Charms for the little marshmallows.

In case this isn’t clear, I am now six years old, and in Baltimore heaven. Toby, you just made my day!

Oh, and while I have your attention, Alison’s annual opening at the Granary Gallery in West Tisbury is this Sunday, from 5 to 7pm. Hope we see you there!

I THINK I’VE READ ten articles – online, and in local papers – mentioning how fast it’s felt, with Memorial Day weekend already here. New England had a rough winter, so perhaps we’re still reeling from that. I’m still drinking in the sounds and smells of the spring birds and flowers, marveling at the transformation. Or maybe it’s that the island is staying busier in the off-season, so we’re wondering if we’ll be able to fit all the summer visitors onto this rock. All I know is that the college kids are back, heavier traffic is making my errands take longer, and I gave out three of my homemade maps yesterday, showing tourists the way back to the center of town. The 2015 season has officially begun.

Our garden (at the gallery) already looks fantastic, thanks to the team at Working Earth. They’ve been here a few times this week, getting us ready for the big weekend. Our Advanced Mentorship show is up for one last day, and we’re psyched to see our group when they pick up their photos. Tonight we’ll hang Alison’s first show of new photographs, and get ready for our opening reception tomorrow (from 4 to 7pm).

We have a few changes this year, including a new premium option for framing. I found a gorgeous frame that we’re offering in eight finishes, with museum glass. Our largest prints (the 4’s, for our savvy customers) will all be framed in the premium style from now on. 2015 is also the year that our prices are going up. Our costs of doing business go up every year, but I only raise our prices every three years. Claire and I spent months looking at our costs, getting quotes from our vendors, and analyzing how we need to price for the next three years. It’s a painstaking process, but I need to know that we’ve been thoughtful about it. I’ve also changed the structure of our limited editions of 50, so that the price goes up at even increments, matching the structure of our editions of 20. The good news is that the prints people already own have just gone up in value (yay).

So we shift. There’s the weather shift, going from freezing cold and gray days to flowers and blue skies. There’s the seasonal shift on the island, going from 15,000 people to 115,000 at the peak (and all the cars those people bring). And there’s the shift we do in our business, where we constantly evaluate what we’re doing, and how we’re doing it. It’s a roller coaster that never stops (which is a good thing). And this is the day we buckle in, so we can enjoy the ride.

AT THIS VERY MOMENT, our lives are changing. It’s a pivotal time, as you can see from this photo…. Well … I can see it.

Give up?

Leaning next to the card tower are our “OPEN” flags for the gallery, and I just brought them in for the last time this season. You won’t see them flying outside here until next May. Until then, this space will be a teaching space (for our Mentorship retreats and Intensives), a storage space (it can get a little Sanford & Son in here sometimes), a disorganized space (see me at tax time, with my teetering Jenga-esque piles of receipts and papers all over), and an inspiration space for our business. Of course, I’m happy to open the gallery for you, if you’d like to stop by. But the next time you’ll see the flags will be our Advanced Mentorship student show next May.

All around the Island, businesses are packing it in for the season. Of course there are lots of year-round businesses, or those that go through December. But many see Columbus Day as the end of the season. You can get half-priced doughnuts in town today, discounts on clothes and other goods, and the most important commodity – a parking space. The air is cooler, leaves are falling from the trees – just like everywhere else in New England. But here on Martha’s Vineyard, things will slow down a lot. Renters who do the “seasonal swap” have moved to their winter rentals, traffic is manageable, we have stand-by lines for every ferry, and some stores put paper up in their windows, “thank you for a great season!” signs, and lock their doors until next spring.

I always have mixed feelings at this time of year. I’m pretty psyched about having a day off every once in awhile, which I don’t get from Memorial Day weekend through mid-October. Alison and Jesse watched some of the Patriots game this afternoon, and from now on, I can watch too. And I can visit our daughter Sarah at college (haven’t seen her since August), go to New York for Photo Expo in a couple of weeks, and even start back at the gym.

Alison’s been working even more than me, lately. In the last three+ weeks, she taught three workshops, flew to the Adirondacks for a shoot, bought a new camera, and began planning some Intensives. Last night, after the third workshop ended and the gallery closed, we went home and ate dinner in front of two awesome movies, and then slept for a decadent ten-hour stretch. Eli, our workshop assistant teacher, apparently slept a record FIFTEEN hours last night. We’re all exhausted. But it’s good tired. It’s been a fantastic season.

So. What are we going to do with all this flexibility?

Tomorrow we start the first of three Intensives this week. We’re continuing our work with Advanced Mentorship students. We’ll go to Photo Expo and our daughter’s college, as I mentioned above. We’ll start organizing our basement (I’ve actually been looking forward to this) and getting rid of stuff. And on November 3rd, our 6-month Mentorship begins. There are only 5 spaces left, and I’m starting calls and emails to my list tomorrow – over 50 people have expressed interest in those 5 spaces. Call me soon (this week) if you’re interested in joining us!

So thank you. Thanks for a great season. It’s a little bittersweet to bring those flags in.

IT’S SO HARD TO BELIEVE that we’re already past Labor Day, the school year has started, and the Vineyard summer season is officially over. The good news is that September is so amazing here. The weather’s usually mild, the water’s warm, and it’s WAY less crowded. For us, the fall season also means workshops, and our last show of the season – our “Best of” show.

This year we’re so excited that Cathy Walthers will be here for our opening reception on Sunday (yes, Sunday), from 4 to 6pm. Her new book, “Kale, Glorious Kale,” just arrived, and it’s full of fantastic recipes. We’re huge kale fans – Alison makes roasted kale at least three times a week these days, and our whole family loves it. Cathy and Alison will sign books, and Cathy’s bringing lots of great kale treats for you to try. I’ve said this before, but when Cathy invites you over to a meal, it’s your lucky day. She’s a private chef, teaches cooking classes (I highly recommend taking one, by the way), and has published a number of cookbooks. She’s known for her healthy, fresh take on slow food (as opposed to fast food). One of her books, “Raising the Salad Bar,” has sold over 50,000 copies so far. She’s that good.

Hope you can make it on Sunday!

WE’RE HANGING new photographs today, in preparation for tomorrow’s opening reception and Arts District Stroll, which will be from 4 to 7pm. If you’re going to the Moth performance at the Tabernacle, why not get to Oak Bluffs early, get your parking spot, and come to our opening beforehand? We’ll offer you a nice glass of wine or San Pelligrino, and you can sample delicious food from the new Morning Glory Farm cookbook Farm Food. You can even buy the new book, and get it signed by Alison, chef Robert Lionette, and Jim & Debbie Athearn (Jim says he’s got to load a bunch of pigs into a truck first, but he’ll be here as soon as he can). Happily fed, you can take a short walk over to the Tabernacle, and get great seats for the Moth.

We’re looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

IT HAS BEEN a long winter on the Vineyard, and yet it’s flown by for us in some ways. I feel like I haven’t seen flowers in ages (our amazing landscapers just made our garden come alive!), and yet it feels like yesterday that we started our new mentorship program. Back in November, we began our first 6-month mentorship, all mapped out on 6 calendar pages taped together. What we didn’t map out was that Alison was also working on four books. Four. Yeah, she won’t be doing that again. One book at a time from now on.

Our 12 wonderful mentorship students have graciously let us continue with them for a bit. We need the time, to finish all we want to do – we are LOVING it, and loving them. I just posted the 2014-2015 mentorship pdf if you’re interested in joining us this November. I promise the next one will keep to the 6-month plan. And we’re creating a way for students to continue with us after they’ve finished the mentorship. More on that in June.

Alison’s shot some amazing photos this year. She always thinks she hasn’t done enough, and stresses out when it’s time to go through all the proofs and pick the first show. This year she outdid herself. So I went back to that sign I blogged about last year – the one we sit outside the gallery on an easel – and decided to change the wording. No more “NEW WORK” that some folks read as “NEW YORK.” I’m so done with that. It’s time for the 2014 concept. Let me know what you think…

We’re having our first opening reception tomorrow (Saturday, May 24th) from 4 to 7pm. Come see the “NEW photographs” – hope you’ll love them as much as I do.