Velvet Elephant Art Center & Fair Trade Emporium

Mt Shasta's go to artist supplies and gift fulfillment center. Iris has a wealth of creative objects d' art and colorful supplies for your expressive ideas.

My friend & I were visiting town & stopped in the this shop. Wow! What an incredible selection of supplies for artists! I am so impressed by the variety & amount of just about anything you'd need to create your masterpiece. The fair trade items are beautiful and make wonderful gifts while supporting a worthy cause. Puzzles galore too! We ended up in a delightful conversation with shop owner Iris who is absolutely lovely. What a special experience it was walking through the doors of the Velvet Elephant. Convenient location, hours & parking; check it out when you're in town!

I have shopped at the Velvet Elephant for many years. I do graphic art, oil painting and decorative painting on wood. I have never had to shop anywhere else! I have bought everything from "Gold leaf" to gouache paints. They are well stocked with a great diversity of supplies as well as lovely Fair Trade gifts , coloring books, art books and jigsaw puzzles. They have a diverse stock of tablets of all sizes, papers, paint boards, canvases, mat board, brushes, several brands of oil paints, water colors, pastels , colored pencils and the list goes on. The owners are extremely accommodating and knowledgable and always willing to order something they don't happen to have. Moreover they have monthly specials and their regular prices are very well priced not inflated because of the location as one might think. This is a very small rural town and to have such a nice store as this is something I feel really grateful about everytime I go in! Thank you Velvet Elephant~ we appreciate you so much!

Best place locally to buy art supplies. Run by Iris and Alex, two wonderful locals. Alex is The Atelier who teaches painting classes at Snow Creek Studios. They have unique books suitable for gifts. Also a broad selection of paints, pencils and other necessities such as artists' papers and canvases.

Iris and Alek are awesome, welcoming, ethical, and honest business owners. It's a pleasure to stop in for any of my project needs, which is usually found there! If they don't have an item, they are happy to order if possible or recommend another source. They do their best to find the highest quality art supplies available to them at the best price point. As artists themselves, they both have a helpful working knowledge of many kinds of materials. Plus, the gifts Velvet Elephant has for sale are fair trade, sustainable, and worldwide sourced!

This local art supply store is so exceptional! For a small town we are so honored to have an art store for all of the artists in this community and in the surrounding towns. Whenever I need certain art tools, I will call Iris and tell her what I’m looking for. If the store doesn’t carry it, she orders it for me and goes out of her way to make sure I get the item. I have learned so many tips from the owners on various art projects. They are very knowledgeable, talented, mindful, generous and kind! I shop local for most things and want to support our community .How lucky we are to have a superb art store in our community! Thank you Velvet Elephant!!!

The Velvet Elephant is my go-to for a safe (masked because of close family members and friends who suffer from autoimmune diseases), stimulating, captivating, and educational environment! There is yet nothing that Iris does not know about Art Supplies, and she is so sweet that she would help you find the answer. The quality is amazing, and her prices are more than fair. The gift shopping is never a problem here - from babies to those in their 90’s, there is something unique, beautiful and stimulating, There are clothing, games, toys, handbags, and mobiles, hand-made Fair Market items that support Third World countries. Hats off to you, Iris, for this wonderful shop you have created for the Siskiyou community and tourists alike! And so brave in this Age of Fear and conspiracy theorist to require a mask for Safety for All!

As an artist of over 20 years, this is hands down my favorite art store I’ve ever shopped at. Alex and Iris are such kind souls, always willing to help if you have questions on mediums/materials/techniques etc. They try their best to keep art and culture alive in this small town of Mount Shasta. I don’t know what we would do without them. All the gratitude in the world for this business ✨💕 Thank you for everything you do!