There's a new place to paint in Western New York. It's called Imagine That Olcott. The East Main street store is an open art studio and local artist gallery.
"You can just walk in an paint so many different objects," Jessica Malloy, co-founder of Imagine That Olcott, said.
There's mugs, skulls, pots, butterflies, and turtles just to name a few.
The Olcott art store was opened by two friends Jessica Malloy and Christine Kelemen just last month.
It's designed to be an open and affordable space, so even if people think they can't paint, they discover they really can. The cost ranges from $3 - $25.
They see creative discoveries all the time. One of Kelemen's favorite moments so far is when a 14-year-old girl came into the store and found instant happiness.
"When she saw that she could do it, she literally just looked at me and said 'this is the best day ever,'" Kelemen said.
Guiding customers through painting gives Malloy, who has her masters in art education, a way to feel like a teacher.
"I definitely still look at myself as a teacher because I'm still trying to foster that same ability I would be if I was teaching at a school," she said.
The store is more than just a open art studio, though. It doubles as a local artist gallery. Currently, there are 16 Western New York artists featured ranging from authors to jewelers.
It's not always obvious that the studio is also a gallery.
"Sometimes people walk in and say 'oh this isn't a store at all.' But oh no it is. Please come in," Malloy said.
Imagine That Olcott takes an original approach to featuring its artists as well.
"Every penny they make comes back to them," Kelemen said.
That means the artist gets 100 percent of the commission, which isn't how most galleries operate.
"It was really important to me to be able to represent other people and not take away their livelihood," Kelemen said.
It's a way of giving back to the art community that both Kelemen and Malloy have been apart of for years.
Also on sale is CBD oil. It's a member of the cannabis family but, but it doesn't contain any of the psychedelic side effects.
"I have tons of people who walk in simply because we have the sign that says we sell CBD oil," Malloy said.
She started using CBD oil in leu of the "90 pills" she was taking a month. Malloy said it has helped her tremendously, so she began to sell it as well.
