By Karen Blackledge
DANVILLE — Tom Repasky and Kristina Sheldon have combined their passions into a business offering just about everything.
The Tea Gallery, at 119 Mill St., sells a variety of teas, coffees, pastries and much more.
Repasky’s 3-D digital art pieces and Sheldon’s acrylic creations hang on the wall and are for sale.
Repasky also teaches computer art, digital camera, website design, digital music, digital video and Microsoft office classes as well as consults in networks, computers, security, Web sites, audits and assessment.
A free introductory art class will be offered at 3 p.m. today in the gallery.
He also plays the piano while people sip tea or coffee or look at the coffee table book featuring some of his art.
Repasky, who spent nearly 40 years in the high-tech business working for super computer companies in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., is also handy, having built homes with his dad. “He built the counters, put in the sink and did the plumbing and electric,” Sheldon said of their cozy shop.
While Repasky has run computer tech businesses for many years, this is Sheldon’s first business venture.
Sheldon and Repasky both do graphic design.
They moved a year ago from Oregon after Sheldon found a home in the Danville area. She had been here before since her sister Tania Myren lives here. “The real estate in Portland was so high and the job market so scarce, my sister mentioned that there were homes here for sale and at good prices. I bought a house without seeing it. The pictures looked nice and my parents looked at my house and said they’d buy it if I didn’t,” she said. Her parents had been visiting from California and were in a similar situation. They ended up buying a home a block from Myren.
“This is a fresh start for them and it’s my new hometown,” Sheldon said of Danville.
The coffee the shop offers is French press European style and the tea is loose leaf and done in a tea press with both in a variety of flavors. “The most favorite drink is the Oregon Chi Tea. Everybody seems to like that,” Repasky said.
The containers they use are recyclable and organic.
“In Portland, they have tea and coffee shops on every corner that are pleasant and comfortable places to hang out. I was looking for a place like that to hang out here and hadn’t found it. I wanted to have our own place where people could get away to a comfortable environment,” Sheldon said.
They have outside seating as well as chairs and a table in the large picture window on a platform overlooking Mill Street.
“It’s a great place for business meetings. We had one this morning that lasted almost three hours. It’s a comfortable spot,” Repasky said of the gallery decorated with café-style furniture from their home.
Introductory classes he teaches are free and will be taught Sundays along with other classes with a fee charged. Other introductory classes will be on computer technology and digital cameras.
“I have someone from Benton who may take a class,” he said. He already has students interested in taking a class on digital music and digital art. Repasky plans to also teach computer animation.
They have some of their artwork on display so people can look at it and meet them. “It’s much nicer than just looking at the pieces to meet and talk about the concepts behind the art pieces,” Sheldon said. Repasky has shown his 3-D digital art in Portland, the Mid-West and locally.
He has sold some works since they opened the business Sept. 1. Their hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
More of Repasky’s 3,000-plus images can be seen at SurrealDigitalArt.com.
Starting in October, Myren will be teaching acting Shakespeare classes at The Tea Gallery. The class is for ages 12 and older with no experience required starting the first Monday in October at 7 p.m. For more information, call 854-9223. She also runs the Susquehanna Shakespeare Festival and has acted in New York and Los Angeles and appeared on TV on the West Coast and is now concentrating on playwriting, directing and teaching.
More information about the gallery is available by visiting the-teagallery.com.
-- E-mail comments to kblackledge@dailyitem.com.
