The “About Us” should really be “About Me” but that sounds so self-involved and besides I kinda like using the royal “Us” in any case . . . so get used to it.

So first, as always, the me in “me”: Russell or Russ and to some Rush (but never Rusty) Hoselton. Owner, founder, and undoubtedly your main source of contact for the company. “Hoselton”, by the way, is pronounced “Ha zil ton”. It’s English, a bastardization of Hazeltown, which means my forefathers were of the serf class, no doubt, and the best we could do when last names became the fashion was to take on the name of the town. So no delving into past lives for me, thank you, ‘cuz I’m not going to be channelling any kings, warriors, or other notables . . . just some poor shmuck working the fields of some minor nobility. An early death, I’m sure. But I digress.

The bad news first: For a little over 20 years I was a property manager for home owner and condominium associations. If you’ve had the pleasure of dealing with a “Condo Nazi”, and if you live in an association you have . . . or you are one . . . well, that’s how I made my living. In my defense, I always (most of the time) tried the kinder, more gentle form of association management. Never have been a big fan of rules myself and enforcing stupid and/or restrictive ones really never set well with me. Fact, that was my “soap box” and I preached via two trade magazines I edited and published, classes and seminars I taught, and through a rather extensive internet site (don’t go looking, it’s no longer there).

For most of my career I was located in Honolulu. The latter portion I spent in Las Vegas, and I gotta tell you if you’re planning on buying into an association there: DON’T! Those people are just plumb nasty. Never knew dog poop could be such a driving force within a community. And that was always one of the less contentious arenas . . . except when they’d start throwing it at each other. But we won’t go there.

Dog poop aside, the stress inducing general negativity of the industry coupled with long work hours and running numerous associated businesses (the aforementioned magazines, etal.) resulted in, at the tender age of 46, a minor (thankfully) heart attack. . O.K., smoking and junk food probably added to the problem, but them damn associations accounted for the majority! Wake up time.

We all get too caught up in our daily trials and tribulations and forget how short our time on this earth really is. I know I did. The heart attack and advancing middle age combined to send a not so gentle reminder of this to me and I decided to make some major changes in my life. Scrapped the lucrative career because a) you can’t take it with you, and b) I don’t know if community association managers are allowed in Heaven anyways. Moved out of the desert (sorta) and back to California, my native state, where the majority of my family lives around Modesto. And, (I had to start a sentence with “And” because it’ll drive my friend Ann crazy) decided to put my artistic abilities to use. And (did it again) so, our company was born.

I’m an A-type personality, a Driver/Driver for you fans of social styles, a Capricorn, and according to Chinese astrology was born in the year of the goat. Get the picture? So I purposely designed my working life to force me to not work all the time. That means I only work weekends. Actually, a bit more is involved in creating the work I show, but the business end of things I limit to showtimes . . . so no, you can’t visit my studio, and don’t be calling during the week and expect to reach me or get a prompt reply (Hint: email is your best method of contact, and voice mail works, so use it). I put off selling over the internet for the first few years of business to avoid the extra work that maintaining a web site entails, but by popular demand, well, here we are.

Oh, the picture? Yep. Me. OK, maybe it’s a few years old. And maybe ‘a few’ is an understatement. But I always liked this shot, and if I’m gonna be egotistical enough to post my picture on the web, it might as well be the one I like. (By the way, if you visit at a show and want to get on my good side to get a discount, tell me how I still look just like I do in this shot!)

Now here comes the important part: why you should buy our products. First, each is beautiful and will make your life more complete. Really, trust me. Second, if you don’t I’ll have to go back to association management and you could end up living in a community managed by a very pissed-off and unhappy me; so think of your purchase as a matter of self-preservation. Third, not only do our products make great and unique gifts but their quality and craftsmanship will reflect favorably on you and people will think higher of you for it. Fourth, spending money helps stimulate our economy so making a purchase at Branch Earth is a matter of national pride. Show your patriotism and buy lots . . . the U.S. can’t afford to sink into a recession right now. Go America! Fourth, the rest of the world’s economy needs a boost too and I promise a portion of every dollar you spend will go to my efforts to increase the intake of tourist dollars of nations in Europe, Asia, and South America. Spend enough and I’ll do it via first class. And lastly, you know you want to . . .

Metaphysical Stones

Tumbled Stones

Handcrafted Bells

Feng Shui

Ramblings