As a plein air painter of nature whose motto is, "Hike for miles, paint for hours", I needed lightweight equipment. The French Easel was proving to be much too heavy and cumbersome for painting at tree line in the Colorado Rockies and for traveling.

I found a lightweight easel but because there was no place to put my palette, brushes, solvent, etc. I was continually bending over to retrieve items from the ground. By the end of a painting session my back was telling me things I didn't want to hear.

Thus was born the first Artist's Shelf. It was made of ¼" plywood and had to be attached to the easel with nuts and bolts at each session. This shelf appears in the picture of me painting in Laroque, France on the back of the "Tips for the Artist" that you receive free with an order from Sun-Eden Artists Gear.

With sudden showers in the mountains of Colorado I needed to be able to remove the shelf more quickly and wanted it to be lighter. That began the evolution of the Artist's Shelf. Along the way all my artist friends wanted one. It is now made of lightweight, durable polycarbonate and there are no parts for you to put together or take apart.

Word of mouth created a demand for this product. As I talked with you I found that there were other products that you were looking for, especially the watercolor artists among you. We looked for these products (usually adding something to make them more artist friendly) and developed others.

Today our products are those you have asked for. You, the artist, are the driving force for this company. We love talking with you and hearing your ideas, comments, and suggestions. We try to give you the best service possible with economical, lightweight products and quick delivery (we know that you wanted it yesterday).

We also know that you don't want a bunch of equipment stored in a closet … so if you don't like it or can't use it there is no hassle about timely returns. We just need your credit card number again as we don't keep those.
Our products are "Designed by Artists for Artists".

Happy Painting,
Jeanne Elizer, Artist In Residence