After holding a recent book launch, the owner of a home furnishings store is going to expand his partnership with a local artist.
Derek Mason, owner of Mason's Cloverdale Home Furnishings, hosted a book launch party in his store for John Banovich March 29. Banovich, a longtime Cloverdale resident, is an award-winning photographer and cinematographer. He was launching his eponymously-named coffee table book, his first.
Mason was thrilled with how the book launch turned out. The interest in Banovich's book and artwork was enormous and it inspired Mason to start selling the book and Banovich's prints in his shop.
"The launch was great," said Mason. "It had a very good family and community feel to it."
At the launch party, Mason sold all of Banovich's artwork and every copy of the book he had. Now he has a long list of names on standby for when he receives his next shipment of books. Once he fills the back orders, he’ll start selling the other copies in-store.
"I'm going to be ordering more of his artwork too,” Mason said. “That way we can have more art pieces up around here.”
He's excited at the prospect of carrying a local artist's work. He added that customers really enjoy local artists.
"(Banovich) is an accomplished photographer," Mason explained. "His stuff is the kind of thing you'd see in art galleries. So, just to have John's stuff here, to showcase, I think it's really cool. He's a local guy, small town Cloverdale, and he has worldwide appeal."
Getting the prints in and putting them up in the store is the next step for Mason. It just gives customers more options, he noted.
"We're not an art gallery; we sell the art with our furniture and things like that," he explained. "But to have that quality of product, and because he's a local artist, I think it will add a lot to the store."
Right now Mason is in the process of selecting what type of prints he wants to get in and what sizes. He said he’ll have a variety on offer once they arrive.
"I feel that having art in the store is important because it's part of the overall home design," Mason explained. "It's something that we have as an accent. But then to have this opportunity to work with a local artist, which we've done a bit of in the past, it's always exciting. And when you have a story to go with it, and you know the artist personally, it adds a lot more meaning for people.
“And for me, I offer space for local artists and it offers more for the customer. They know they're supporting local artists and getting something unique."
As for the book, it’s a behemoth. The 450-page, 9 lb book is filled with more than 300 pictures of wildlife images, landscape scenes, Northern skies, including stunning images of the Northern Lights, and short essays of Banovich’s personal stories behind the photos and the animals.
“Banovich," the coffee table book, is available for purchase through Mason's Cloverdale Home Furnishings. Prints of Banovich’s work should be arriving by the summertime.
Mason's is located at 5765 176th Street in Cloverdale. Find them online at masonsfurniture.com.
