About

Welcome to Rayela Art!

Rayela is my name in Pashto, one of the languages spoken in Afghanistan. I had a gallery in Chicago, Dara Tribal Village, with an Afghan partner and I just loved the ring of it, so I took it as my business name when I decided to focus on online sales. I've never been to Afghanistan. But, I grew up in Brazil, have been to many Latin American countries and Europe and have worked in multicultural environments most of my adult life. I consider myself to be a world citizen and believe I have some of those nomadic/trader instincts of my Icelandic ancestors.

I don't know exactly what it is that makes a person choose the path of an "entrepreneur". Is it genetic? Learned? Chosen? All I know is that I have had the drive to make things as far back as I can remember and that when I was old enough, I wanted to take those things to market. I was selling hand-painted t-shirts at craft fairs in Brazil when I was fifteen. Making money is a small part of the drive. Being a part of the market, the collective exchange, and figuring out all the steps from conception to that final sales receipt is the puzzle that captures the imagination of the entrepreneur.

The art stuff was supposed to be a hobby. I was raised with values that embraced social service and justice. I tried to prepare for that life by studying political science, religion and sociology in college. After three years of working with the poorest of the poor in Chicago, I felt close to burn-out and started working with clay and doing the social service thing as part time work. Then, in 1988, I was hired by Uptown Center Hull House to manage a cooperative that sought to market the work of local artisans and recent immigrants who had access to handicrafts in their countries of origin. I did that for four years and found the marriage of all my interests: the crafts themselves, the people who made them, the economic development potential for struggling communities, and the promotion of cultural dialogue and understanding through all of these exchanges. Fourth World Artisans Co-op was funded by the MacArthur Foundation and gave me the foundation I needed to understand how economic development can happen through the arts and through business. I learned about the fair trade movement, went to lots of workshops, seminars and conferences and in 1992, my job ended and I decided to continue these efforts on my own.

Ha! What a difference to forge ahead without foundation money or program support! My first store was a tiny little place. The store's name was Pachamama's Hovel. Due to trademark issues it became Mama's Hovel. The building was sold to someone who aggressively tried to force and intimidate the female tenants. I left and moved to a different neighborhood, changing the name to FolkArte. By 1999, I decided that I would focus on online sales. I closed up shop and went back to making my own art and working part time. This time, I was quilting and working with small importers. I also continued to sell crafts online through eBay.

Then, I met Abdul Wardak of Afghan Tribal Arts. Oh, the gorgeousness of all his stuff! I was already familiar with Afghan embroidery and textiles and loved them. But, the carvings! The metalwork! The beads! The carpets! It took him a couple of years, but he talked me into it. I went back into retailing on the street.

In 2001, we opened Dara Tribal Village.

Several months later, the United States started bombing Afghanistan. Sigh.... here we go again. We stuck it out for three wonderful years and then finally decided that it was just not the right time or place to engage in this struggle. Abdul continued to wholesale and I focused on online sales. I also decided after 20 years in Chicago, I wanted to move to a smaller community.

Me with Abdul at our closing party, July 2004

My criteria for a new home included: artist community, access to water, low cost of living, decent hospitals, lots of green nature, warmer climate and an airport. Road trips to Asheville, NC and Hot Springs, AK were a toss-up to ending up in Paducah, KY. Paducah won because it was closer to my Chicago community. In 2005, I packed up my books, clothes, boxes and boxes of fabric, beads, and brought my personal food chain (dogs, cat and birds) to my new home. The transition has been a good one and in the last two years, I have found myself engaging more and more in social media and in providing technical assistance to other peers who need an online presence.

The story in a nutshell is that I have over 20 years of experience in running a small business. I know a lot about handicrafts and textiles, what sells, what doesn't. I know where to sell and which places to avoid. Then there are all those technical skills that help: building a website, photographing product, educating the public about the product, blogging, creating an online community, and so on.

These skills can easily transfer to other small business fields. Do you need someone like me to get your business on track? Well, I enjoy helping others and working on different projects. I would like to do more of this, so drop me a line and I will let you know whether I am the right person for you. If you hop around this site, you will see that I am a creative type who likes people. If you like what you see here, email me!

Rachel Biel

Rates: $35/hr or by the project.

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