I Fight Crime by Noosed Kitty

Did you go to art school?  If so, where did you study?
I went to school for fine art on Long Island, but it wasn’t til years after I graduated that I developed the style I’m currently working in. While in college I worked realistically, different than what I’m doing now.

What types of items will you be selling at the bazaar?
Art prints and originals.  I’ll be displaying some fabric sculptures.  And I’ll have brand new postcard sets and button sets.  Plus, I’ll be giving away mini posters to the first 25 customers!

Art by Noosed Kitty

What materials do you work with?
For two dimensional work I use mainly watercolor and graphite, some acrylic paint.   Sometimes I work three dimensionally, customizing vinyl toys with sculpt and paint, or sewing and painting fabric sculptures.  All artwork is made with time, love, and care.

How are your items made? Describe your process.
It varies.  I sketch all the time.  Sometimes I sketch something and immediately go to work on a finished piece.  Other times I’ll have sketches in my book for years that I’ll go back to and decide to work from.  I create a layout first and then paint and pencil it.  The custom vinyl figures and sculptures require a lot of planning before I start working on them, and then there’s prep work before I can start painting them.

Jamie's studio

Are you able to make your work full-time?  If not, what do you do for your day job? I have a full time job at an outsourced HR and consulting company.  I’m the office manager and I assist in the behavioral analytics department.

Who are some of your favorite artists?
Femke Hiemstra, Chris Berens, Jeremy Geddes, Brandi Milne, Chris Ryniak, Paul Barnes… the list goes on and on but those are a few.

"Pink Leaves" by Noosed Kitty

What are you reading/listening to right now?
Currently reading assorted graphic novels.  Currently listening to Sam Cooke.

Where would you like to see yourself and your art/craft business in the next 10 years? I’d like to see my tiny art business continue to grow.  But if in 10 years I still have a small audience that enjoys what I do, I’ll be happy.

Visit Noosed Kitty at booth #122 at this weekend’s bazaar!

Holly Kerr - the lovely lady behind Holly Hue Clothing - in her studio

Did you go to school for fashion?  If so, where did you study?
I did not got to fashion school, but did go for Elementary Education. I have always been crafty and resourceful which is a trait I learned growing up with a single mom. I have been sewing since I was 12 yrs old, starting off with easier projects like pillowcases and quilts to eventually teaching myself pattern making and clothing construction.

What types of items will you be selling at the bazaar?
I make up-cycled, one-of-a-kind hoodies and dresses with an a-symmetrical zipper that I call Hip Zips. I also make hand bags and tote bags.

screen printed piyo bag by Holly Hue

What materials do you work with?
Recycled jersey and sweater knit for the Hip Zips. Canvas twill for the totes.

How are your items made? Describe your process.
I try to find bright colors, or the craziest and ugliest prints from the thrift stores. Everything is washed and then cut open at the seams to then be used as a fabric. I draft my own patterns and then the magic happens I guess. I love to color block and mix unconventional patterns. My hip zips definitely have an 80′s feel.  I don’t really know what something is going to look like until I start pulling colors and prints together. It’s a very artistic ritual that keeps myself always excited about the process.

Are you able to make your work full-time?  If not, what do you do for your day job?
I do pretty much do this for a living. I also teach Zumba but that’s really a labor of love.

Women's Hip-Zip Hoodies + Dresses by Holly Hue Clothing

Who are some of your favorite fashion designers?
Anna Sui, I love her bold prints and colors.

What are you reading/listening to right now?
Can’t remember a time when I had the time to read, so it’s audiobooks all the way while I am working if I am not listening to Pandora.

AudioBook- Clockwork Angel
Music- everything from melodic hardcore to electronic indie.

Men's Hoodies/Vests by Holly Hue

Where would you like to see yourself and your art/craft business in the next 10 years? I’ve been doing this for 7 years and to keep doing it at the same pace I have been is totally fulfilling to me. I love living in Buffalo and traveling all over the country for indie craft fairs as well as selling my stuff in indie boutiques, on my website and etsy.

Visit Holly at Booth #56 at our upcoming bazaar!

(left to right) Masters of None, Gilbert + Leona, Farmhaus Design

Participating Vendors include: Farmhuas Design, Penelope Rakov, The Maple Ridge, Candy Depew, Birdqueen Designs, chez-sucre-chez, Colleen Heineman, Maureen Duffy, Huldra Press, Masters of None, Mello Press, Nicole Rae Styer, Masthead Print Studio, Gilbert & Leona, & of course us!

Many of our vendors will be providing craft demonstrations & interactive projects in silkscreening, letterpress, cross stitch, bookbinding, jewelry making & more!  The event will also include live music by Olive Juice & our favorite Philly food truck – Sweetbox Cupcakes, as well as Rival Bros Coffee & Lil Dans.  Free to attend & open to all!

porcelain plate by Lana Heckendorn

I was also excited to see that Lana Heckendorn (image above) is participating in this show.  She was one of my favorite people over at The Clay Studio when I worked there years ago.  I am blown away by her latest work!  Please be sure to visit her when you are at the show.

The show will be held May 11-13 along Rittenhouse Square.  Visit their website for more info!

Becki + Chris from Everyday Balloons

Did you go to art school? If so, where did you study?
We both have BFAs from Edinboro University. That’s also where we met!

What types of items will you be selling at the bazaar?
We will have a variety of items screen printed with our original illustrations: t-shirts for people of all sizes, handmade totes and bottle bags, paper prints and more.

Yellow Bunny Wine + Whiskey Bag by Everyday Balloons

What materials do you work with?
We will try to print on just about anything we can get our hands on, but mostly we stick to paper, fabric, and ink of course. Something we’ve been experimenting with is screen printing on shrinky dinks.

a print in the works

How are your items made? Describe your process.
Initially everything starts with a drawing, sometimes we incorporate found patterns and textures. Then we make the layers for printing by cutting ruby lith and using paint markers. All our prints are hand pulled by us regardless of the material we’re printing on. Our handmade totes and bottle bags are cut out and individually pieced together. Each one is one of a kind.

Are you able to make your work full-time?  If not, what do you do for your day job?
Right now, Everyday Balloons is our after hours gig. We both have full-time printing jobs. Chris works at Commonwealth Press, a screen printing shop, and Becki works at Sapling Press, a letterpress printing shop.

Robots & Satellites TShirt by Everyday Balloons

Who are some of your favorite artists?
Jay Ryan. The Little Friends of Printmaking. We’re big fans of Wes Anderson and we’ve recently started a small collection of My Paper Crane pieces.

What are you reading/listening to right now?
The Zombies, First Aid Kit, and The Beach Boys. We wish we had more time to read. Right now there’s a few cooking blogs we frequent (Shutterbean and The Kitchn to name a few) to support our other hobby, cooking.

Bunny Onesie by Everyday Balloons

Where would you like to see yourself and your art/craft business in the next 10 years? 
We would love to be working for ourselves, making our art full time, and raising a family (and maybe some chickens) in a cabin in the woods.

Visit their blog to learn more! http://everydayballoonsshop.tumblr.com/
+ become their fans on Facebook

Paul & Valerie of Tugboat Printshop

Did you go to art school? If so, where did you study?
We met in the University of South Dakota printmaking department.

What types of items will you be selling at the bazaar?
We make and sell all original woodcuts.  We like them to be different, colorful, and detailed.  We are excited every day to push the craft of our artwork to newer places.  We’ve got some really nice larger work that we’re hoping to debut at the Bazaar.

Mama Bear, color woodblock print, 2012 Tugboat Printshop

What materials do you work with?
We are traditional printmakers.  We do everything completely by hand.  At night, we use electricity, but other than that, it is exactly the same basic process as Gutenberg, but with less frills.  We use hand-tools to carve birch plywood blocks. All our ink for printing is oil based, all of our paper is archival.

Woodblock (red ink) for RV by Tugboat Printshop, 2011

How are your items made? Describe your process.
Firstly, we (Paul and Valerie) think a lot about our ideas.  Woodcut, especially color woodcut, takes a very long time, so we like to be very deliberate about what we make from start to finish. We like to think that an artist has a responsibility to their society and culture to be a kind of ‘visual bard’–to work with themes that are relevant to the times, and pertinent to others.  For example, right now, we suppose we’re talking alot about an ideal environment in our work.  After we do our thinking (there’s a lot of ideas that don’t end up getting made all the way through), we draw directly onto the woodblock, first in pencil, then in felt-tip pen, this allows us to trade the blocks back and forth and both have input on their design.  Then we carve around our drawing with hand tools, essentially turning the drawing into a “big, fancy, stamp”.  We roll ink onto the drawing, then lay paper on the ink, then run it through the press.  We generally repeat this process more or less for every color in an image–see our website for more details & process photos!

RV by Tugboat Printshop, 2011

Are you able to make your work full-time?  If not, what do you do for your day job?  We are full time artists!  It took a lot of work to get here, but we kind of always knew that we were willing to put in the crazy hours and work really hard, and had the opportunity to turn some of our other skills into side jobs (picture framing, graphic design, etc) to get us by while we worked to make Tugboat full time. We still work mad hours every day, but we love what we do.

Who are some of your favorite artists?
Well, we look at a lot of artists, and have a great deal of respect for many different ones.  Right now we’re looking at a lot of unknown artisan’s works ~ old, old artifacts from ancient times to around about the Middle Ages.

What are you reading/listening to right now?
We were reading baby books and we always read the daily newspaper. We listen to a lot of Bluegrass, Woody Guthrie, Carter Family, etc.  And Led Zeppelin. And Otis Redding. And we have the NPR classical station on all day long in our kitchen calm room.  We think our new little girl, Ayla, likes Harry Belafonte, but who doesn’t?

Where would you like to see yourself and your art/craft business in the next 10 years?  Well, it’s beyond time to get our operation out of the house.  We are focused on finding a separate studio for Tugboat Printshop ~ a place where we can host events with other artists, maybe have workshops, and hire helping hands. We’re also really excited about new projects in the coming months…bigger woodcuts in the works!

Visit Paul & Valerie of Tugboat Printshop at Booth #61 at our upcoming ASCB!

photo by Rene Micheli

Did you go to art school? If so, where did you study?
I finally got around to college by age 25 and went to Moore College of Art and Design.

What types of items will you be selling at the bazaar?
Those attending the Bazaar will see light weight knit sweaters with blocks of color that can be worn on a cool evening at the shore or layered artistically all year round.  I will also have handwoven and netted scarves.

Sweater by Janell Wysock

What materials do you work with?
Yarns that are made out of wool, rayon, silk, metallics are my favorites.  I blend them sometimes to create unique color stories and you may find them crocheted, woven, or knitted.

by Janell Wysock

How are your items made? Describe your process.
I create my work using both a fine gauge and bulky knitting machine as well as the floor loom.  The process starts with a cone of yarn and a pattern I have developed that gets set up on either machine and a lot of hand work techniques to bring it all together both in finishing edges and decorative details.

the artist's studio

Are you able to make your work full-time?  If not, what do you do for your day job?
I do spend a full amount of time producing my work and handling the business side of it -Monday thru Friday, 8 hours a day.  But I also keep a constant income flow going from local neighborhood weekly cleaning accounts that I service, as well as photographing everything from other designers work to peoples head shots and my favorite, weddings.

Who are some of your favorite artists?
Some of my favorite international artists are Friendreich Hundertwasser, Kurt Schwitters, Arline Fisch, Sheila Hicks, Janet Echelman, and Haas&Hahn.  Favorites I have studied with are Lewis Knauss, Deborah Warner, and Michael Olszewski,  and my favorite local folk are Karen Henderson, Rebecca Landes, e Bond, Darla Jackson, Donna Quinn, Termain Smith, Brienne Rosner, Rene Micheli.

What are you reading/listening to right now?
I am listening to Deadmau5.

wool crocheted over a rock by Janell Wysock

Where would you like to see yourself and your art/craft business in the next 10 years?
In the next ten years I would like to have a production line that is viable and be able to also create large scale outdoor art pieces.

You can find Janell at booth #99 at our upcoming Art Star Craft Bazaar

Hello Gorgeous! The lovely Angie Mason

Did you go to art school? If so, where did you study?
I went to Parsons New School for Design in NYC where I studied illustration and fine arts.

What types of items will you be selling at the bazaar?
I have a nice selection of treats! I will be bringing everything from “Wearable Art” such as jewelry, t-shirts and hand bags to my hand painted plates, art prints, original paintings, drawing and sculptures. A nice selection with a price point for everybody.

a sample of goodies that you will see at our upcoming ASCB!

What materials do you work with?
I like to mix things up and will use anything and everything. I do have a large focus on painting which tends to be acrylic or oil. I also like to create sculptures of my characters in sculpey clay & then paint those. I have dabbled in photography, video and silkscreening. I feel as a creative person it only helps having a wide scope of creative materials and methods to bring my ideas to fruition in which ever way best suits a particular idea.

"Some Magic Left In Me" & "The Sun" by Angie Mason

How are your items made? Describe your process.
Just about everything I do is D.I.Y. – from hand pulling shirts with silkscreening to hand painted plates and original paintings and drawings. To describe the process a bit, all my ideas start in my sketchbooks then grow into individual projects whether they are painting, a necklace or anything. They are all created in my in home art studio. I have no assistants so my hands and eyes touch and see everything going on… my cat likes to think he is an assistant in my studio but I haven’t quite found a purpose for all the toys he brings to me as gifts.  Sometimes he gets carried away with them but I will not go into any more detail than that.

hand painted plates by Angie Mason

Are you able to make your work full-time?  If not, what do you do for your day job?
I have balanced my life so far creatively and financially by working both as an exhibiting artist (which is the part I love but does not really pay my mortgage) to a more grounded financially, yet still highly creative path, as a fulltime illustrator/designer during the day where I have worked at dot coms and publishing houses. Currently I have been freelancing for my own L.L.C. but I am always looking for new opportunities for both sides of my creative life. Also to note currently I am focusing on preparing for a solo exhibit this July 7th in New York City at Sacred Gallery.

 

the artist's studio

Who are some of your favorite artists?
I have always adored the surrealists such as Remedios Varos, Leonora Carrington, & Dorthea Tanning. I also have always been drawn to Botticelli’s works which I was able to see 2 of my favorites at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence Italy in 2009. That really was an amazing trip – getting to see so much history, it filled my mind with inspiration.  Another I always loved is Hieronymus Bosch – I have a print on canvas of his Garden Of Earthly Delights hanging in my bedroom and to this day it’s one of my favorites.  It’s always different when I look at so many lives and characters existing in those 3 worlds! I also enjoy a lot of works from the 1400 and 1500s. One last one to mention here, I just love Grant Wood. I find his works (not so much his portraits of people but the landscape works) to be so magical! Ever since I was a young child I always imagined climbing into and living in the painting ‘The Midnight Ride Of Paul Revere‘ painted in 1931. Also, look up his drawings of haystacks and horses – they are wonderful.

the artist's studio (view 2)

What are you reading/listening to right now?
Now with having a smart phone I find I read a lot on there – mostly random life hacker type articles or NPR newsy articles on their which is probably killing my eyes. Musically I am enjoying the new Magnetic Fields as well as Grimes, We Are Augustines and Cold Cave are some bands in a recent mix I have created. I grew up loving music and still do. Recently while painting I was listening to Stars Of The Lid and Zoe Keating BOTH AMAZING to paint to.

T-Shirt by Angie Mason

Where would you like to see yourself and your art/craft business in the next 10 years?
I would like to see it continue to grow into a more lucrative venture that is able to sustain itself. I would like to continue to exhibit my art in various places hopefully allowing me the opportunity to travel to interesting places while doing so. I also would like to expand into licensing my artwork, it is untapped ground which I would like to get more involved in. I basically am looking to find balance in this modern world that revolves around money sadly but allow me the comfort and freedom to be able to produce and create my personal visions. I have been very fortunate thus far and just hope doors keep opening or at least appearing so then I can try to open those doors to see what new adventures lies behind them.

Visit Angie at the upcoming Art Star Craft Bazaar!
www.angiemason.com