Velvet Elephant Art Center & Fair Trade Emporium — Local services in Mount Shasta

The two owners act as if anyone in their store are theives and or are just too used ti traveling hippies using a five-fingered discount. As a local, i dont appreciate not being recognized as a common shopper and local artist. Any questions about art or ideas I have are met with lackadaisical stares and muted hums and has that make me feel as if whatever my reason for entering their store was already a nuisance and was a waste of their precious time. In all my 30 years of art making, going to an art store has always been the highlight of mt day. I act as if a kid in a candy store often spending well over 300 in each visit. In this place I overspent intentionally trying to evoke a conversation and establish a dialalogue with the hisband and wife duo. To no avail, the happiest I've seen them is when I am ready to leave. Do not bother with this place, everything is about 50% cheaper online. If you go to an art store for the experience and to share with fellow artisans, this is not the place for you. To the owners; learn your customers and treat each one as if, like myself, we have a huge voice in the digital community as well as the art...

I have shopped at the Velvet Elephant for many years. I do graphic art, oil painting and decorative painting on wood. I have never had to shop anywhere else! I have bought everything from "Gold leaf" to gouache paints. They are well stocked with a great diversity of supplies as well as lovely Fair Trade gifts , coloring books, art books and jigsaw puzzles. They have a diverse stock of tablets of all sizes, papers, paint boards, canvases, mat board, brushes, several brands of oil paints, water colors, pastels , colored pencils and the list goes on. The owners are extremely accommodating and knowledgable and always willing to order something they don't happen to have. Moreover they have monthly specials and their regular prices are very well priced not inflated because of the location as one might think. This is a very small rural town and to have such a nice store as this is something I feel really grateful about everytime I go in! Thank you Velvet Elephant~ we appreciate...

The Velvet Elephant is my go-to for a safe (masked because of close family members and friends who suffer from autoimmune diseases), stimulating, captivating, and educational environment! There is yet nothing that Iris does not know about Art Supplies, and she is so sweet that she would help you find the answer. The quality is amazing, and her prices are more than fair.

The gift shopping is never a problem here - from babies to those in their 90’s, there is something unique, beautiful and stimulating, There are clothing, games, toys, handbags, and mobiles, hand-made Fair Market items that support Third World countries.

Hats off to you, Iris, for this wonderful shop you have created for the Siskiyou community and tourists alike! And so brave in this Age of Fear and conspiracy theorist to require a mask for...