Art For the Soul

Art For the Soul is a ghetto store. Do not shop there! My daughter accidentally knocked over a piece of crap pottery that was on the floor. It was barley knee height and she didn’t see it until she turned and knocked it over. Their break buy it policy was hidden and blocked by another item. Employees Lynn and Gail intimidated her. They made her pay $ 12 plus tax for something junk they probably paid $ 2 for! Not only did they make her feel bad for it, they continued to argue with me when I tried to confront them. Along with telling me to dig the broken pieces out of the trash myself. I will not be shopping there and you shouldn’t too.

The owner of the store needs a lesson in how to treat her employees! Some class wouldn’t hurt. Make that a lot of class and some compassion. I don’t write poor reviews often but I could not help myself.
While shopping on Balboa island yesterday I wandered into this beautiful store. The sweetest happiest pretty lady greeted me. Asked if I was looking for anything special. I was with my husband and I was telling her how we met. She was smiling and excited as I was as well engaging in the story about my marriage.
This took all of about a minute and a half. After sharing pleasantries about the holidays she had told me but sadly she lost her uncle. Suddenly, The rudest abrupt curt and uncouth lady in a wheelchair yelled at her «I need you to go in the back corner of the store! In the corner back there !» as if she was banned to the back of the store! And in the middle of our wonderful conversation! I AM THE CUSTOMER!
This young lady couldn’t have been any nicer. Smiling, genuinely personable. (I would later find out the lady in the wheelchair is the owner, Balinda. Or Valinda. who cares.)
What she did not know was that my daughter was in the back of the store and was then approached by this wonderful girl who was sent to the back of the store because she thought she was going there to help somebody. My daughter needed no help. None at all. So the lady in the wheelchair is just trying to get rid of the kind sales girl from the front of the store and from our conversation…
I went with it for a minute… and just as I thought…
The lady in the wheelchair tried to sell me the $ 800 cooler ! Telling me how expensive the shipping is and things I could have cared less about which in retrospect, is most likely why she wanted the kind sales girl gone! Probably didn’t want to pay any commission.
I actually shared this with my neighbor this morning (that is how badly this treatment of this girl bothered me) I couldn’t believe my ears when she told me that she and her husband were in there the day before Christmas, she did the same thing when they were interested in buying one of the Ford truck coolers! I thought she was kidding me!
Same description of the sales girl– skinny with blonde hair and brown hair in back, genuinely personable! You want to buy from this girl! You like her! You want to hear what she has to say. She’s kind of funny-​. And it happens again. The same scenario to the same sweet sales girl! Is this owner jealous because I’ll tell you what I’m about an hour away from getting over to that store in offering that girl a job.
She rolled up in that wheelchair & told the girl under her breath (which was not whisper enough. They heard every word): «I have this and if you keep talking you will overwhelm the customer and he may not buy». The girl tried to say something back to the lady in the wheelchair and she just gave a hand gesture at her as to say get lost. And NOT BUY they did.
(I’m starting to think the lady uses the wheelchair for pity. For the amount of money she charges I don’t know why she doesn’t have an electric one at this point)
I would never buy from the lady in the wheelchair. The most disingenuous person and actually cruel to that vivacious young lady who simply said «Aren’t they original? Just shipped over from Australia» with big smile. I would have bought the cooler shaped as a car for my son in law from her. But NEVER from the owner! In fact I won’t go back in that store again. It sickens me.
No way was I going to give the lady in the wheelchair my money. I would not step foot in her store again and I hope that the sweet lady who was banished to the back of the store finds some place to work where she is appreciated, I couldn’t believe anybody would be treated in such a degrading manner. I was appalled.
I was actually thinking about offering her job at my business she was so personable and sweet. A middle aged woman. She shared with me her uncle had passed away and on top of that to be treated the way she did by that lady in the wheelchair upset me so much I had to write this .
Ive never seen anybody do this. We were in the middle of a conversation and I was the customer. Hey Belinda, get some class lady. It’s not all about the money and I saw right through your phoney façade, fake smile. You are all about the money. And everything in the store is a markup of probably 500%.
It’s always been great to go look in there, although I never will again. I would never buy a thing from this RUDE DISINGENUOUS FAKE (SOO PHONEY!) UNCOUTH woman Valinda who treats her employees like garbage!
It bothered me so bad all night I had to write this. I would suggest everybody go shop elsewhere not put a penny in this crazy greed filled lady in wheelchairs purse!

Stood here ready to spend with help around. No one said hello no one offered assistance. Sorry won’t be back

This place is all about things that you won’t need in your life. A tourist trap full of stuff that ends up getting dropped off eventually at Salvation Army. So out of curiosity I walked in the store and as I always feel bad so small business owners I bought a couple if things to help their business. The 1 star is the lowest I could give on Unilocal for the worse customer service I have ever encountered in retail. disrespectful, condescending racist OC at lowest. I wish you could give it below ZERO. I bought a crystal fish and a humming bird feeder for my wife. Frankly that was the only usable thing I could find besides all the buzz are items on display. It turns out that my wife didn’t like the colors and wanted to return it. When I brought it back the manager refused to acknowledge my existence soon as I told one of the ladies that I have a return. After 18 minutes of waiting around, let me remind you that there were hardly anyone in the store. The store manager approaches me and says. «We don’t have a return policy» which I was never informed and she walks away. At this point I requested to talk to the owner, she shouts from the other side of the store «the owner is not available». I walked out and called back the next day to leave a message for the owner, the same behavior.
Few days later, my wife and I stopped by the store the crazy money hungry manager approached my wife trying to sell a new garbage as she didn’t recognize my wife was with me! So, my wife politely asks her about returning the items, at this pint she recognizes me and starts speaking super loud while her tone changes to a complete crazy psycho! Telling us there’s no return policy and the owner apparently is dead!
Stay away from this place as you can find cheap artsy pieces anywhere much better and cheaper. Please be aware.

Such beautiful artist items. Each sections has its own personality. Very fun store to browse in. Very creative ideas and items

I really enjoyed browsing this shop as it had many attractive arty crafty things on sale. There is a lot of things to buy here as present or take away it as a souvenir but things are pricey.
The best thing I liked were the mini Metallica scooby doo mystery machine Volkswagen. This is quite an interesting shop to check out.

This is really more of a craft store than an art gallery, but the craft items are so interesting and artistic that the experience of shopping there is a bit like being in a cluttered but eclectic sculpture gallery. You want to linger in front of item after item and study how they’re made, and appreciate their depth and even their meaning. I’ve bought numerous gifts here and the recipients of those gifts have never been disappointed.

Since my first visit 2 years ago, I checked but didn’t see the «No Cameras Allowed» sign (maybe I missed it). To make even more sure, I asked one of the sales associates if I could take pictures, and he said YESSSSSSSS !!! I was soooooooooooooo excited, and now, I can safely say a picture is worth a 1,000 words… and I have a bunch of pictures, so we’re up into the 10’s of thousands of words that my pictures will speak. Check ‘em out, and you will see how totally cool and awesome this store is. It’s amazing what things make me happy in life… and taking pictures in a store like this is one those happy things for me. It’s a fun store. Worth the drive… and now I can say, see for yourself !!

Randomly walked in to find presents for a friend to bring back home. Ended up with presents for myself, friends and family. Everything jumped out at me wanting to come home. I loved that all the gifts were hand wrapped beautifully. Will be back here for more finds.

Honestly, the art here is AMAZING. I worked here for 3 or 4 years and it was such an inspiring work place, with inspiration on every shelf ;)
I managed both stores for 1.5 years and loved every minute of it! I noticed some negative reviews regarding workers not giving the names of artists, that is simply so you purchase there ;) I dont think they are meaning to be aggressive in any way.
Highly recommend popping in, if you are in Laguna or Balboa, you will not regret it. Something for everyone! :)

Crafty stuff similar to what you can get in shops on just about every «Main Street» downtown in moderately affluent towns in California.
They have a ridiculous «you break, you buy» policy. We were set to purchase about $ 70 worth of merchandise when my companion picked up an item. Hard to tell it was two separate pieces held together by an ordinary magnet. One piece fell and hit the floor and broke. The employee hurried over to inform my companion of the store policy. The employees were more concerned about collecting the full price of the item broken rather than dealing with the totality of the circumstances.
We did not see a sign about a you break you buy policy or a sign warning us about the fragile nature of the item my companion picked up off the shelf. I’m sure neither contract law nor tort law supports the store’s policy in this particular scenario. Nevertheless we paid for the broken item (what else could we do – run from the store and have the Balboa Police Department after us for the rest of our trip) and declined to buy the items we had selected — I can get them or something very similar in Walnut Creek or Lafayette anyway.
The store has a large sign above its awning proudly claiming it has been in business for 15 years. I’m surprised that after so many years in business, the owners/​managers have not learned how to empower employees to exercise their judgement regarding enforcement of store policies in different situations.
I’d give this business two powerful thumbs down if I could.

What a cute little shop on Balboa Island. Cute art made of recycled materials: license plates, books, etc. As well as original art. Colorful and fun!

The neatest store on the island… actually probably the neatest store in the Newport/​CDM area. There are lots of cute, quirky, unique, creative gifts for all kinds of people (maybe yourself too) — including greeting cards, calendars, jewelry, art, etc.

Creative gift options with selections in all price levels. Certainly a fun experience — especially in the Newport Beach area.

This place is awesome!
It’s for those who enjoy crafty things and those who are amazed by it. Of course, since the items are unique it maybe over priced. I love who they sectionalize the store. For eample, things for pets it is one area, another area is for baseball lovers, etc. The workers here are really friendly towards their customers so no complaints.

If I can shop in this kind of store and actually end up buying something, for me that makes it a «good» store. Small but very full of cool items. I give it a moderate price rating but they have small items that are around $ 5 – 8 as well as very cool guitar artwork for more than $ 300, and everything in between.
Staff was friendly and it was a fun shopping experience. For those reviewers who think signs that say «Unattended Children will be fed to the sharks» is snarky, lighten up. For people who break things and have to pay for the damaged item and then say the store sucks… well I don’t have much sympathy for those kinds of customers. Again, if I find stuff I like that doesn’t hurt my wallet too bad, this is my kind of gift shop.

This place is such a cool little gem on Balboa! I was just walking around the villiage when I stepped inside of this place to check it out. Variety of household décor, artisan jewelry, and more! I found too many things that I liked, and I’m sure would make some great gifts for any occasion. The «positive and negative» horoscope tiles were particulary cute!

Marine Avenue on Balboa Island is a 250 yard long boulevard of contradictions.
There are 200 boutiques, teeny-​tiny little restaurants, candle shops, candy shops, toy stores that still sell «Etch-​a-​Sketch» (official motto — «Etch-​a-​Sketch, for when you can’t afford to get little Johnny an iPad») and the Original Frozen Banana shops (I think there are 7 of them, all professing to be «The Original» and all of them ready to tell you how Disneyland makes an inferior banana… so passionate!).
There are art galleries and tchotchke stores that bill themselves as art galleries.
There’s a lovely little Catholic Chapel, St. John’s Vianney, nestled between one of the frozen banana emporiums and a boutique for 60 year old women trying to look 29 again (and really, what better place for quiet prayer and reflection).
Some of it is really quite good… some of it not so much… all of it is… different.
On any given day, you’ll see island residents wandering into the Hershey’s on the corner in search of a reasonably priced take out sandwich, tourists (and they are legion) wandering in and out of every store and into and out of Marine Avenue itself (when you’re navigating your County Class Range Rover through here, you’d better keep a sharp eye out for flatlanders stepping off the curb and into traffic in an effort to get directly across the street for some of that salt water taffy they’ve been hearing so much about).
Frankly, I’m as much in favor of taking out the occasional tourist as the next NPB resident, but the resulting blemish on your insurance could cost you dearly for several years to come!
At any rate, friends from Scottsdale were in for a visit this weekend and we made the obligatory pilgrimage to the Beachcomber for Brunch (Look at the dolphins… they’re so close they almost splashed on my Benedict… I can smell blowhole breath!) and then we took them on a little tour of Coastal OC, ending up on Balboa Island.
So we were much like the aforementioned tourists (that I was a little unkind to a paragraph or so ago).
Although, being newly minted Coastal OC natives, we know better than to step off the curb in front of «Senior Barbie’s» Bentley… money is its own «Right of Way» in Newport Beach.
After getting some candy at Too Sweet and passing up numerous opportunities to get a frozen banana, we found ourselves at Art for the Soul.
If you ever wanted something a little eclectic and offbeat for gifting, standing in a corner or putting in the reading rack to show everybody that you’re not «that old and stuffy» yet, this would be your place.
They sell some interesting (and not terribly expensive) original and semi-​original art work («so where exactly are you going to hang that guitar made from riveted together license plates?»), as well as offbeat books, knick-​knacks and tchotchkes that can keep you giggling and entertain you for upwards of several minutes!
If you are in the market for a pithy and profound comment that is engraved on a river rock… this is the spot to make your purchase!
The Beautiful Carin and I bought our granddaughter a delightful children’s book entitled «Go the F**k to Sleep», a book that captures everything I remember about raising children!
From my Unilocal buddy, Lica N. -
We also picked up a lovely little piece of art for ourselves (to fill an old frame that was just aching for some color).
And we got out of there for under $ 50 US money (try that in one of your hoity-​toity Laguna Beach or Scottsdale Art Galleries)!
We even had enough money left over for a frozen banana!

Walked in last Sunday and was having a nice perusing experience then…
Me: What is the name of the artist?
Staff: It’s Aaron *dismissively*
Me: Does Aaron have a last name or just go by Aaron?
Staff: He just goes by Aaron
Me: So if I Google «Aaron», I’ll be able to find him?
Staff: Well you can’t buy from him directly so don’t bother
Overall, I thought this was a really cool shop but the one male staff member that I talked to was incredibly rude when I asked for more information. Even glared at me on my exit even after I bought a book from the store.
Sorry for asking the name of the artist, bro! I was actually considering buying a piece. For the record, the artist name is Aaron Foster, not just Aaron:

Small business on Balboa Island. Really aiming to be unique and high end. Its a little stand offish, no one greeted a group of 4 of us and didnt bother to show us any unique items.
the prices were ridiculous on some of the items– $ 10 for a 3×5 picture of letters A TO Z, $ 89 on matted prints. I get youre trying to be trendy and that the price reflects the time gone into the work but at the same time make it affordable for all budgets?