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Many brilliant ideas have humble beginnings usually born in a garage and the RayMar plein aire panel is no exception.
Cathy Dietrich, a former professional artist, and John Dietrich, an accomplished project management consultant and entrepreneur, were inspired to create a new product. It happened after Cathy enrolled in Ted Goerschner's workshop at the Scottsdale Artist School. Looking over the class supply list, she was dumbfounded at the requirement to make her own painting panels. Why not just buy them she thought? Well guess what... unbeknownst to Cathy they didn't exist.
So in the back booth at their neighborhood Carl's Jr. over a liter of Diet Coke, Cathy and John scribbled plans to make panels by hand for her workshop. But John's entrepreneurial mind raced ahead. "If every artist needs these panels, why stop there?" he said.
In the summer of 1998 RayMar, named in honor of John's parents Raymond and Marion, was born. They advertised in American Artist Magazine and direct customer sales began. RayMar celebrated its first appearance in a chain art store in January 1999; however Cathy and John chose to focus their attention on direct sales to artists to build long-term customer relationships and listen to artists for the development of new products.
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RayMar consulted Kevin Macpherson. Excited and supportive of RayMar's superior painting panel, Kevin sent a letter to his students to announce his discovery. Kevin's endorsement helped launch eleven years of success and he continues as our mentor and product advisor.
Over the years, RayMar has refined its unique production process to maintain the utmost quality control. With the process perfected, RayMar created its first annual online fine art competition in 2005. The contest showcases our artist customers and has become a teaching site for every artist to learn from professional juror's critiques. The fourth annual contest will end in July 2010. The grand prize winners will be announced in September 2010.
Today Cathy and Emily Dietrich and their staff direct RayMar Art, Inc in Phoenix, Arizona. They are passionate about manufacturing professional museum quality cotton and linen painting panels. RayMar is committed to serve the needs of artists and continue to develop new products. We are a product based but relationship driven company. We love feedback to ensure we are always meeting your needs. Our reward is seeing you transform our panels into priceless works of art. Thank you for letting us supply your artist supplies.
Happy Painting!
RayMar Art, Supplies for the Artist |
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