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 By K. Reka Badger
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| To paraphrase an apt adage, you can take the gal out of the grocery, but you just can’t take the grocery out of the gal. Such is the life story of former comestibles clerk Judith Hale, proprietor of one of the Santa Ynez Valley’s premier art galleries. Located in the heart of Los Olivos, the famed Judith Hale Gallery showcases the creations of scores of accomplished artists working in all manner of media. Here collectors and connoisseurs find paintings, illustrations, sculpture, and jewelry rendered in styles and themes ranging from whimsical to thought- provoking, from traditional to western. The gallery occupies two charming structures, both dating from the town’s early days. The main gallery is housed in a 1930s-era building that once served as a food market and family residence, while the Judith Hale Gallery South makes its home in the refurbished blacksmith’s shop next door. A tranquil sculpture garden, complete with mature trees and flowering shrubs carefully maintained by Hale’s husband Don, connects the two. “I’m back in the grocery store,” Hale laughs, referring more to the organization, accounting and management skills her job demands than to the curious fact that she spends her days in a remodeled market. “It’s about people and great products,” she says of her role in the fine art game, “and I’ve approached it purely as a business. I put little numbers in boxes, that’s my claim to fame, and it’s the same as if you have a grocery store.” Growing up in Lafayette, a small town in northern California, Hale never dreamed she’d make her living as a mentor and art dealer. While still a child, her father’s prolonged illness prompted Hale to consider nursing, but an early retail position seemed to determine her career path. “I started as a checker at Safeway when I was 19,” Hale remembers.“We had benefits, great pay, vacations and I thought that was the best job I’d ever have. “After checking,”she continues, “I ran the front end and was the bookkeeper—I went into management and took the training where you cut meat, work in all the departments, do whatever.” Eventually promoted to district secretary in Santa Barbara, Hale lived with her former husband at the Boy Scout ranch near San Marcos Pass and commuted to work. I didn’t even know the Valley was there,” she admits, “because I was driving to Santa Barbara six days a week.” Hale’s demanding work schedule taxed her health and led to a diagnosis of walking pneumonia. This, coupled with the facts that Safeway had succumbed to a hostile takeover, her office had closed and she was faced the prospect of returning to work as a checker, prompted Hale to take an extended sick leave. It was during this period that the burgeoning career of her sister, artist Nancy Phelps, and the magic of serendipity conspired to change Hale’s life. “I came to Los Olivos in '87 with my sister,” Hale remembers. “Nancy had heard there were some art galleries here and we were looking for a place to show her work, but no place was a good fit. “There was a vacant space above the post office,” she adds with a quiet nod to kismet. “I was available, Nancy could provide the art work, and we opened the gallery two weeks later. “It was really crazy,” she smiles. “It wasn’t what I had intended for my life. I had no background in art, but I figured I could run a business.” |
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Copyright 2005, Inside Santa Ynez Valley Magazine, All Rights Reserved |
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