My Pastiche Story: Marie

Selling my peg dolls at Pastiche has been amazing!

I am so inspired to create new designs just for the local customers, who I love to meet each Friday as I work in the shop.

I've only been a part of this collective for a few months now. Already, I feel I've found a "home", a place that my quirky little peg people and I belong.

I love belonging to this great creative endeavor, and I know Lynchburg would be a poorer place without it.

My Pastiche Story: Kerry

Selling at Pastiche has been a extremely helpful in finding what customers want and don't want.

I've been able to play around with different items and new styles and see what works.

It has also given me the freedom to be as creative as I want to be.

It's been really fun to see how the city of Lynchburg responds to my craft.

I've been so blessed by Pastiche as it is given me the ability to stay at home with my kids while still making some money for the family.

My Pastiche Story: Maggie

We are new to the area, having just moved here a year ago, and needed a way to build our reputation and connect with the people.

Being part of the Pastiche family has given us a chance to share our products with the community in a convenient and welcoming setting.
 
As part of this amazing project, we have been able to meet the inspiring talent located right here in Lynchburg. They offer such energy and support to our growing family business.
 
We look forward to building on these relationships with locals and creative professionals in the future. Pastiche has given us a sense of belonging in our new "home" town.

My Pastiche Story: Leah

 

 

Pastiche at Main has been more than I dreamed it could be:

A physical location for me to showcase my work,

A place to find inspiration and support from fellow creatives,

A place to help me grow my business as a furniture refinisher, a think-outside-the-box repurposer, a chalkboard artist, and a finder of lovely things!

It is a source of income for my family

A chance for my 4 children to see me invest in and chase after my dream

And a rewarding outlet for me!

I am so grateful!

 

My Pastice Story: Adam

Sarah and I started our business taking professional pictures of people when we got married in 2009; but my photography journey started way before that with a Nikon Coolpix. I have always taken pictures of nature and have enjoyed getting out in God's creation and just marveling at His work.  At least half of all Saturdays in a year Sarah and I are off shooting a wedding and a couple days a week we take pictures of families or high-school seniors. Our work is comprised of people, which I love, but there has always been something special to me about sitting silently with my camera and just waiting for God to show me something.
A year ago this Saturday, some of my best friends opened an incredibly unique shop here in Lynchburg and they allowed me to put some of my work on their walls. Before then, my "hobby" work had only been hung on my walls and seen by my own family. I was nervous because it was my private work, my hobby, my creative outlet, now being displayed for all to judge and look at. 

To my surprise, people bought my images, people hung my work on their walls. They saw in my images what I saw the moment I originally captured it. My images are very special to me and so are the frames I make to go with them.  I will often make a frame with a specific picture in mind. I handmake all of the frames out of repurposed wood found here in Lynchburg. Most all of my images are taken here locally as well.

 

Over the past year, I have sold many of my images and frames at Pastiche at Main. I have learned a lot since the grand opening of Pastiche. For one, I learned how to properly make a picture frame. My first frame was made entirely with a circular saw and an antique drill in my basement. Now my frames are handmade in a shed dedicated just to building them. I now use about 10 tools to make every frame and they are much more precise and sturdy. 

 

I am forever grateful for Haley and Adam Pavao and the leap of faith they took opening a small business and allowing me to play a small part in it. If it were not for Pastiche at Main, my images would still be hiding in a folder on my hard-drive. Selling frames and images has allowed me to meet and collaborate with dozens of other local creatives and it has become much more than just a hobby.

 

*Adam's story was originally published on his blog,  Adam Mullins Photo.

My Pastiche Story: Shelby

 

 

Pastiche has meant the world to me and my business.

 

The fact that Haley Pavao believed in me and my work enough to want to include me in the 'hodgepodge of local creatives' was just the boost of confidence I needed to really believe in what I have to offer too. She went on to hire me to do her branding and I got to see one of my designs sit proudly on Main Street - a big moment in my freelance design career! Seeing people love my art prints and display them in their homes and gush over a hand-picked vintage item I'd collected, made my small business owner heart soar!

 

I opened my etsy shop {The Honeysuckle Shop} in 2011 and while I had success selling my vintage items, I was discouraged by the low sales of my art prints. On etsy, I'm lost in a sea of people who are selling their art prints, but at Pastiche I get to stand out and people get to see and feel my work in person and my prints have been my best seller every month! Nothing could be more encouraging to a designer than people loving your work.

 

This year, with the birth of my second son, I quit my day job to go full time as a freelance graphic designer and focus my efforts in Pastiche. It was a scary decision financially, but because of Pastiche, I am finding success in being a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom! This is a dream come true for me.

 

So, to Haley Pavao and her dream of a platform for local creatives and to all our loyal and loving customers, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 

My Pastiche Story: Anthony

Pastiche at Main has been more than an avenue to sell really cool bow ties, it has given us an opportunity to truly start and grow a brand. Before joining the hodgepodge of talented creatives, Twenty23 was really in the infant stages and trying to find its identity. A lot of people didn't know about us or had never heard of us. How could two young men turn a really nostalgic product as a bow tie into something that men could be able to pass down through the generations? Better yet, how could those same young men create a company that would be taken seriously by the apparel industry?

With those questions being in the forefront, Pastiche at Main was God sent. The owners, Adam and Haley Pavao, helped not only answer our questions but our prayers. Of course, we could have begun with an online store, but it felt so much better to have established a local infrastructure for business. Pastiche at Main did that for us; they saved our business.

Besides, its not too professional to meet someone in a dark alley to sell them a really cool product. It's so much better to have a physical store that represents your brand even when you're not present.

~Anthony Andrews