Studio Colfax is a family affair: The new artisan boutique is run by sisters Rebecca and Sarah Tischler, their mother Marguerite Specht, and friend Sarah Bruce. Though the shop and gallery space has been going for a few weeks, it will be celebrating with a formal reception for its first show, a collection of works by well-known ceramicist and the patriarch of the family, Maynard Tischler. From 4 to 8 p.m. this Sunday, June 22, Studio Colfax will be showing off selected pieces from Tischler's career, spanning more than thirty years of work.

See also: Photos: Cafe Max is now open on East Colfax

"We were looking at different spaces around the city, but once this space became available we realized how awesome it would be to have a place on Colfax because it has such a great history, " says Rebecca Tischler. Her sister Sarah works in real estate, and the group of future gallery owners spent a lot of time looking for the perfect location before settling into a space formerly occupied by a popcorn store.

Tischler will be selling her own work, Minus The Dart, a line of specialty bow ties and other accessories, through the store. Specht and Bruce will also have jewelry for sale, and the gallery will feature a rotating collection of work of other local artists, designers, painters and home-goods creators.

Located next to Cafe Max, which already hosts monthly art-minded events and shows, Studio Colfax aims to bring new people to an area of the strip not always known for art and handmade goods. The Tischler show is the first in a series the shop is dubbing "Second Sundays," a monthly collaborative event with Cafe Max that will be highlighted by a new artist exhibition each time.

Specht's experience as jewelry-maker and cofounder of the Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery more than thirty years ago helped inspire the idea for this shop, but it was an overall effort by the four women that made Studio Colfax a reality. "We're constantly rotating what is in here and finding new artists and vendors for the space," says Rebecca Tischler.

They also wanted the gallery to have a price point that fit all budgets: Handmade cards can be purchased for as low as $2.50, while larger pieces of art will be for sale for a few hundred dollars. Locally crafted jewelry, bath and body products, clothing, housewares and art are all offered at Studio Colfax, with limited runs of the handmade stock changing regularly. Studio Colfax is open now; the grand opening reception for Maynard Tischler's work runs from 4 to 8 p.m. this Sunday, June 22. For more information, visit the Studio Colfax website and Facebook.

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