Dynamic mother-daughter duo — Carole Holmes, owner and artist, and Jenavive Holmes, manager — share a common belief: that art and creativity are within all of us. 

The Beginning 

During the pandemic, Creative Muse began as an eCommerce store to solely market and sell Carole Holmes’s prints. As they quickly saw success with the portrait prints and abstract art paintings, Carole and Jenavive took the next natural step — once the pandemic subsided — and opened the brick-and-mortar store in Kelowna’s swiftly growing Pandosy Village. Along with the new storefront, they expanded their product offerings and introduced wearable art, accessories, puzzles, games, and much more to the local boutique store. Never wavering from their initial goal — to be a “refreshingly affordable and unique art store” — Creative Muse has simply grown and adapted to trends. Carole Holmes’ custom art remains a focal point of the store and business. The early work of the pandemic brought art inspired by political figures from the news, as TV was the main source of entertainment throughout the pandemic. The political art led to pop-culture art which adorned notable public figures. In addition to selling artwork made by a local artist, Creative Muse also wanted to foster the notion that art is in all of us. So, they introduced DIY posters, which customers could take home and colour themselves to create personalized art.

The Evolution

As the business continues its evolution, Creative Muse has modified what they offer customers, with a strong emphasis on unique art, apparel, and accessories.   Everything in the store is colourful, vibrant, creative, and artsy. 

Most of the products carried by Creative Muse are not available anywhere else in the Okanagan, and limited quantities are brought in to ensure that customer’s treasured finds are truly special and unique!

In line with being an art-forward boutique, Creative Muse now also offers custom framing services from its Pandosy Street location! Given the art focus in the store, it seemed like a natural extension to offer custom framing of artwork purchased in the store, as well as customer’s own treasured pieces.

In keeping with the store’s local focus, Creative Muse has also partnered with select local independent makers to offer a venue to sell their wares. 

The Fashion Side 

On the fashion side of the business, a lot of research is done to ensure Creative Muse carries the latest trends. As part of the research, Jenavive studies trend forecasts and corresponding seasonal colour palettes, patterns, and styles in fashion, and involves staff in the planning and selection of each seasonal merchandise collection, to ensure the store carries a range of styles and products that appeal to the store’s ever-evolving customer demographic. 

Preference is given to carrying brands owned and operated by female entrepreneurs, and they partner with a number of fair trade companies that employ independent artisans and makers in underdeveloped countries like Bali, Belize, and Nepal.