Unlock Your Creativity at Aravensvoice

SEELEY LAKE – Art has always been a stress reliever and creative place for Constance Zollo. She looks forward to offering a quiet place of escape in Seeley Lake at Aravensvoice Art Studio, in the Filling Station mall. By offering a place and the materials, Zollo hopes to leave a legacy in the community by training others artistically.

Zollo fell in love with art when she was nine years old.

"I was able to use my imagination. It is a great escape and you get something physical out of it too," said Zollo.

Zollo won an art scholarship for school when she was 13. The only time she was paid to do art was when she worked for Keys Art Company where she was trained to do yellow page ads. She did 10 ads per day.

Zollo was a staff sergeant in the army and did finance and medical administration for 25 years. Even while in the army, art drove Zollo.

Zollo feels that because of her art background she was able to easily create forms needed by the army in the field.

Zollo volunteered to organize the Veteran Affairs art room in Vancouver, Wash since it had been closed for more than 20 years. Once the art room was organized, she provided art therapy for veterans of all different abilities. Making art was a form of stress release for the veterans.

After retiring, Constance and her husband Phil moved to Seeley Lake in December 2016.

"I don't want this [Aravensvoice] to be a job because [art] is my love," said Zollo. "Everyone has a gift and this is my gift. I want to share it and that has been my plan all along."

Zollo opened Aravensvoice Nov. 1. She named her business after a book about Native American tribes of the Northwest.

"I wanted [a name] that was Indian. It gives a little something of my background," said Zollo, whose grandparents were Native American. "A raven's voice means 'he whose voice is true.' How it fits into this I'm not sure but people liked it and it just took off. There are a lot of Raven's voices out there. That is why I'm the 'A' raven."

Zollo will teach and will provide all the supplies for donation only.

"I don't want people to think I'm making money off of them," said Zollo. "They just need to pick a subject. If they want to learn to draw, I need to find out if they know their colors or their shapes, those are the biggest things; and paints and how to mix them."

Zollo is stressing painting, drawing, colored pencils and drawing what is seen. However she said she is very versatile and can also work with cement, clay, felt, glass, crochet and beadwork.

Zollo's primary subjects are wildlife and landscapes. She prefers to work with acrylics because they are a lot more flexible than other paints. They can be watered down and used more like watercolor or by adding a retardant they will paint more like oil. She also has water color sets that can be used.

"Acrylics are similar to oil but I can't do oil because of my asthma," said Zollo who will not allow oils in the studio. "I try to keep it toxin-free."

Zollo collects objects and sculptures that can be used as models to sketch. Or she paints the objects and sculptures white; designs can then be drawn and painted on the white objects/sculptures.

"It's just like in a coloring book, only 3D," said Zollo.

Members of the community can come with their own project, get instruction on what they are most interested in or do the special project offered each month.

Until Dec. 15 anyone can come in and make bead ornaments. Zollo has two different kits made up for the projects. They can do a small dream catcher or a bead snowflake. The projects can be made and brought home when they are finished.

Zollo encourages all ages four and up and people of all abilities [including disabled] to explore art at Aravensvoice.

While her focus is children, she doesn't want to keep adults from finding their creative side. She would love to work with an interested high school student and teach them more about art and the business.

"I had a lot of help when I started out. I think the art was my fall back and it has been my greatest blessing," said Zollo. "I have a job wherever I go, on my own. I can always [sell art at] the farmers' market and the holiday fairs."

Zollo's long-term goal is to expand to a larger space and utilize volunteers to run it. She said that if Aravensvoice could support itself and outgrow the current location, she would relocate to a larger space.

Aravensvoice is open to adults Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 12-6 p.m. for children ages four – 15. Four to six people can comfortably work at Aravensvoice. Because the space is limited, call 677-5022 to make reservations.