Windows of opportunity

Isaac Smith’s current favorite quote is: “Only dead fish swim with the stream.”

Smith, one of a handful of full-time stained glass artists in the Spokane area, appreciates the idea of striving to be different.

He and his wife, Mina, moved their company, Glass Creations, to Spokane from his native Anchorage last fall. If you expect to find Smith in his studio, toiling away day after day on his latest piece, that’s a stereotype he’s trying to break.

Smith has embraced the networking-builds-contacts philosophy.

He spends much of his time going to meetings with homebuilders, architects and other small-business owners. He’s also joined business groups like the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce and AHANA.

Networking and finding buyers will take time, Smith has already figured out. “I had a hard time in Alaska selling pieces,” he said. He hasn’t made a sale in Washington or Idaho yet. But that’s why he’s networking.

“The main thing is to keep at it and persevere. I know it will grow,” he said.

Smith, who’s 35, grew up in Alaska, did odd jobs and eventually worked for another Anchorage glass artist for about 10 years. When that mentor, John Dobbs, moved to New York, Smith took over and ran the glass studio. He’s been on his own now for about four years.

His works have been bought by customers in California and Japan.

But the business struggled in Anchorage, and in October Smith and his wife took up a friend’s invitation and cast their lot in the Spokane-North Idaho market.

So far, Spokane-area homebuilders and architects seem more eager to work with him, Smith said. “I don’t know why, but in Alaska, they mostly felt like their home designs were complete. They didn’t sound interested in looking for what I could offer.”

The best year he’s ever had, in Anchorage, resulted in sales of more than $25,000. Smith said he’s expecting to top that in 2005. If business picks up, his wife would take on more of the bookkeeping and manage accounts.

He’s finishing a few pieces commissioned before he left Alaska. One 10-foot-by-30-inch stained glass piece is being sent this weekend to an Anchorage customer.

That work, which has taken close to 100 hours from design to completion, will cost the buyer about $7,000, Smith said.

Smith said he appreciates a flowing, non-symmetrical style of combining different elements for each piece.

“I don’t like to do something that’s representative (of something). I just want my work to be unique and stand out,” he said.

His workshop in his South Hill home holds dozens of sheets of glass patterns and styles. Most of his finished works combine larger sheets set off by smaller, beveled pieces. The beveled edges catch light and add dimension to the total work, Smith said.

In addition to meeting homebuilders, Smith has tried other marketing approaches to build the business. He plans to attend nearly every home show he can find over the next three months. He buys ads in area home-and-garden publications. And he’s also tried leaving brochures door-to-door in upscale area neighborhoods.

“It’s a crapshoot. You have to go out and get your name out,” he said.

What he needs, he admits, is to find a customer who’ll display one of his pieces prominently in a home or office. “It would be somewhere where the owner likes to have people come over and where visitors can enjoy the artwork there,” he said.

Ben Cabildo, executive director of AHANA, has worked with Smith, introducing him to business leaders and encouraging him with his business plan. Cabildo predicted the Spokane market, where high-end housing has been soaring, eventually will find Smith and provide him with a decent living.

“I’m just trying to be sure he connects with others in the community. He’s got a small business but he’s also an artist,” Cabildo said. “I don’t want to lose him.”