Welcome to the Belle Melange blog site. We hope to fill this space with creative ideas and inspirations for artists and those who aren’t confident enough to claim artist status yet (a position many of us have had to overcome).The concept of Belle Melange evolved slowly between three friends. We met frequently to discuss careers, ideas and possibility holding a show of our work. Of course, one thing led to another and suddenly there was an opening of a shop. In case you haven’t brushed up on your French lately, Belle Melange means ‘beautiful mixture’ and yes, we have been informed that it is grammatically incorrect. Melange, being a masculine word, should be paired with Beau as an adjective. However, since we were all female and not a drop of French blood between us, we gave ourselves permission to appear ignorant about the whole thing.
Being located in Ithaca, NY has an advantage since it’s a town that is incredibly supportive of the arts. Home of Cornell University and Ithaca College, Ithaca offers a wide variety of cultural activities and art, so our challenge was to create a niche for ourselves amid the many other galleries in town. The focus of the shop is to concentrate on artistic home décor and one-of-a-kind items. Room vignettes are created to showcase how art can be displayed in your own home environment. We avoid production art, so you won’t see the same old things that show up in fine craft galleries across the country. Many pieces are “trash to treasure” items and we have an interesting collection of antique chair frames ready to be upholstered with your choice of fabric.
So if you are in the area, please stop by and introduce yourself. Check out our website and visit this blog site often as we share new ideas and inspirations.
Lisa Burns
