From Panama to Tucson

After about six months of starting Rainforest Design®, I decided that I really didn't know much about cameos, and so when going to Atlanta in late August, I bought a book in Barnes & Noble entitled "Cameos, Old & New, 3rd edition" by Anna Miller.

It accompanied me on the plane as I headed north to Washington, DC, to help my son move into his college dorm. I'm reading the book and get to the chapter about "Keeping the Art Alive in the United States", and it is about Helen Serras-Herman, master carver, who by coincidence, lived in the DC area. When I got to my destination, I googled her name, found the web page and emailed her to ask if she would be interested in seeing cameos carved by the Wounaan Indians of Panama. To my surprise Helen answered back right away. She didn't really have time to see me, but said that I could send photos. Jumped into the rental car, went out to Best Buy and bought a Sony digital camera suitable for closeup shots, and when I got back to Panama, prepared my first portfolio of pictures and sent them out.

Helen's return email made my heart soar like an eagle. She LOVED the cameos. Here I had this world famous master carver telling me: "These cameos are absolutely beautiful. Fine detail, well finished, carved in stunningly high relief...the subject themes are beautiful, too. They are very unique in the market."

Turns out at the time she opened my message, she was with a friend, a GIA expert in phenomenal gemstones, who also thought our cameos were fascinating. They had zoomed into the photos on the computer, trying to find flaws with the workmanship and just couldn't find any. In subsequent conversations, Helen insisted that I had to show the cameos in Tucson, AZ at the next possible opportunity the following January/February.

Now, I have been to trade shows around the world for other merchandise as a buyer for a chain of department stores in Panama, but never on the selling side of the table. The more I looked into the Tucson Show Guides, the more confused I got. So many shows! Started checking hotel rates on the Internet and they were astronomical at two star hotels. Didn't look good for me going to Tucson, but Helen was persistent and wanted to meet and see our cameos in person. She talked with her GIA expert friend, who was going to be showing in Tucson, and she offered to put a few cameos in her showcase at the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show. I HAD to go now. And would you believe it, when I checked again with my travel agent about a hotel, she found space at a Sheraton 20 minutes from downtown at $39.95 a night, including buffet breakfast? So I booked a room for four days and went to Tucson to meet Helen and her good friend, Elaine Rohrbach of Gem Fare.

That was January 2005, and I have been meeting with Elaine, our NE distributor, and Helen there annually ever since. Come visit Gem Fare at the Hotel Tucson City Center Inn Suites, if you are in town in 2011!

When people ask, "How did you get to Tucson?" I respond simply, " I bought a book in Atlanta." And it happened, just like that.