New in Town: Art supply store opens in REO Town Marketplace

Lansing lost its last dedicated art supply store in 2014. Since then, artists had to make do with ordering goods online or traveling to other cities for fine art supplies. Casey Sorrow, the owner of Odd Nodd Art Supply, aims to change that.

Taking its namesake from nicknames of the Eckert Station smokestacks, Wynken, Blynken and Nod, Odd Nodd Art Supplies will carry printmaking, sculpting, ceramics, calligraphy, bookbinding, painting supplies and more.

An aromatic amalgam of fresh wood, pencil shavings and paint greets visitors upon entry like any art supply store should.

“We’re hoping to fill a niche that isn’t really being filled,” Sorrow said.

A veteran illustrator and printmaker, Sorrow’s work gained attention in Greater Lansing while he attended Michigan State University as co-founder of “Fetus-X,” a controversial comic strip that eventually was banned from the State News and later reprinted in the Detroit Metro Times.

More recently, he illustrated James Joyce’s formerly unpublished work “The Cats of Copenhagen,” which was published internationally in eight languages. Sorrow further illustrated author Peter Trachtenberg as the subject of the Sunday Book Review in the New York Times.

Opening an art supply store was always a goal, Sorrow said.

“It is really cool to open up a new pen and see how it feels, what marks it makes,” Sorrow said. “I love the moment when you open up a new paint and see how it flows across the paper, how it feels and how it displays. Anybody who works with art supplies will have a good appreciation for the different types.”

One of the standout items Odd Nodd carries is Black Wing pencils, the favorite writing instrument of greats like John Steinbeck, Truman Capote and Vladimir Nabakov. The pencils are made of California Cedar and Japanese graphite. They are noticeably different from a regular pencil as each is armed with a heavy-duty square eraser — fine-tuning the prose of the next great American novel can get messy.

What sets apart Odd Nodd from a big retail art store is expertise and quality of goods, Sorrow said.

“I’m a printmaker and illustrator, and I’ve been in art supplies for 20 years. Also, my wife is a bookbinder and does a lot of other paper craft works,” Sorrow said.

The couples’ knowledge on multiple mediums is what Sorrow thinks will set them apart from a larger retail store. He added that they will carry a number of “much nicer” items at a lower range which will fit in with the neighborhood’s eclectic buzz.

“This is an area we want to be a part of. We’re excited to see what happens next year between the breweries and restaurants opening just a few blocks away.” 

Artist-led workshops will be happening in the future, but getting the store up and running for returning Michigan State University students to get their art supplies is a top priority, Sorrow said.

Odd Nodd Art Supply

Wed. and Thurs., 11 a.m.-6 p.m

Fri. and Sat., 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

1027 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, MI

(517) 258-2509, www.oddnodd.com