Brown Bear Products
Art by Erik Behnke
You can see pictures of the store which includes not only art by Erik David Behnke but ten other local artists. There are not only books illustrated by Erik and written by Linda but also by other Alaskan authors.
The store is open weekends in May. It opens full time, seven days a week from Memorial Day until Labor Day in September. After Labor Day, the hours are variable depending upon the weather and the number of tourists that remain in Homer.
The hope of this business has always been to help artists with disabilities and we are still hoping this will happen. If anyone knows of Alaskan artists with disabilities that would like to apply to be in the gallery, please have them contact us and we will discuss the possibilities.
Brown Bear Products is a family run business that was set up in 1998 to show and sell the art of Erik David Behnke, a young talented Alaskan visual artist that happens to have Down syndrome and autism. He lives in Homer on the coast of beautiful Kachemak Bay.
Erik has been developing his skills for over 20 years with his favorite medium being a combination of pen and professional art markers.
He draws all his black lines in his own creative style and adds color as he imagines. Occasionally he does work in water color.
For years (1998-2011), Erik and his mother, Linda Thompson, travelled around the state doing art shows at various galleries and art festivals.
They traveled in their small Class B motor home and pulled a heavy trailer full of art, books, tents, and display materials.
In 2011, a very rainy windy summer, mom decided she was done selling art in cold weather.
She was ready to settle down and become a store owner. They took their business savings and bought a small store on Homer Spit, in Homer, Alaska.
They happily opened Brown Bear Products, gallery in May of 2012.
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