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Meet The Maker: Deidre Lozier of Mountain Honey Clothier

The Evolution of a Small-Batch Fashion Designer

When I first started Mountain Honey I was a non-traditional college student. A mother of two boys, with a third on the way, who had decided to go back to college at the age of 30 and become a biologist. Getting my degree, with high-honors to boot, was one of the biggest challenges I had ever faced, I was determined to go all the way to my PhD and become a researcher. I’m rather fascinated by life on the molecular scale; the biological processes that take place invisibly on a cellular level are some of the most beautiful and intricate wonders I have ever beheld.

As if I didn’t have enough on my hands at this point in my life, I desired to find a meaningful, albeit, temporary solution for helping to support my family. My mother taught me to sew as a young girl and brought me along to craft fairs where we sold sweet, handmade, holiday treasures. When I had my own children I began focusing my sewing on clothing and toys, and found great joy in crafting items that reminded me of the simplicity of being a kid. Between writing papers and Organic Chemistry labs, I found myself sewing, and learning how to draft patterns and design my own pieces. On a whim, I Googled, “how to make money sewing.” A couple months later I had free-lance jobs working for children’s clothing designers. I was doing everything from drafting patterns, prototyping, and sewing samples, to product photography.

I quickly realized that I could do the same thing these designers were doing, even without the fancy degree from a NYC art school. As it turns out, there is a whole lot of science behind fashion design. Drafting a pattern and creating a piece of wearable or playable art involves engineering and mathematics; it’s equal parts calculation and creativity. I fell in love with the freedom that designing for myself allowed me, and with the incredibly pleasing experience of having something I made, with my own hands, loved and cherished by a family. And so, Mountain Honey was born. I love the challenge of taking an abstract idea and making something tangible out of it, and I constantly push myself to come up with something unique and new, yet with that classic feel. My star item is our Signature Bonnets, which feature removable, interchangeable ears. It has to be the design I’m most proud! They are functional, unique, and about the cutest thing you could put on a little one. I adore seeing kids running around the markets I attend with little animal ears poking up from their heads!

I’ve graduated now and I haven’t headed back to school for that PhD. Instead I’ve spent the last two years working tirelessly to grow Mountain Honey in the most organic way possible. My background in the sciences means I am acutely aware of the stress that manufacturing places on our natural resources and the humanitarian costs of production. Because I choose to grow my company slowly and keep it as a small-batch/limited edition line, I have the flexibility to choose my materials and processes wisely, and I remain 100% committed to running a sustainable and fair practice business. I’ve kept the line grounded in Vermont, where I live and grew up. Currently all Mountain Honey Clothier products are produced by either myself, or my assistant, Sophie. I hope you’ll fall in love with the heirloom treasures we’ve created and become a part of our small-batch fashion movement..

Xx
Deidre Lozier
Founder & Creative Director
Mountain Honey Clothier

Find Mountain Honey Clothier at our Upcoming Art Star Craft Bazaar on July 30th + 31st in Asbury Park, NJ.

July 7, 2016
Meet The Maker: Daniel Jones of TAKE IT or LEAF IT

Greetings world, my name is Daniel jones and I run TAKE IT or LEAF IT. we make funky plant fixtures and furniture for your home or workplace.

Made from old cedar wood someone tore out of a home on my street, these honeycomb shelves are perfect for any rock collector, airplant enthusiast, or just someone with a knack for knick-knacks. Each individual hexagon is 2.75″ in diameter.

Nearly everything we sell comes from recycled refuse, or simple construction materials, and is entirely hand made. The main materials I work with right now are wood, concrete, and copper.

Tools of the Trade

I have been making things with my hands since high school, but have only been running this business for about two years. I live in ocean city, NJ about a block off the beach, and do all my work from my tiny apartment. Im currently fixing air conditioners and heaters on the island as my day job, but plan on taking the shop mobile for fall and winter across the country in a big ol van. We have lots of new items in the works for this year, and we may just be rolling through your town pretty soon so keep an open eye out for any suspicious looking vans.

Enjoy some eye candy of TAKE IT or LEAF IT’s line of home goods.

Find TAKE IT or LEAF IT online HERE or at our upcoming Art Star Craft Bazaar in Asbury Park, NJ!

July 12, 2016
Meet The Maker: Nicole Hemmerly of MossHound Designs

Hey there! My name is Nicole Hemmerly and I am a macramé artist & the owner of a super fun business called MossHound Designs. Aptly named after two of my favorite things, moss (and anything moss colored) and our hound dog Maycie, the peaceful beast.

It all came about after spending most of 2015 craving a craft, craving something purely fun and uplifting to my soul. While doing research on different crafts I came across this weird knotting technique popular in the 70’s and thought “where have you been all my life!” You see, growing up we didn’t have a stitch of macramé in the house. However, my parents and the house I grew up in, is a complete inspiration to me. My mother can decorate with such ease & is crafty as all get out and my desire to be in the great outdoors comes from my father. My husband and I also share the same love for nature. When we go hiking, he helps me pick out the natural stones and driftwood I use.

My pieces are a culmination of earthy but bright color schemes and an equal mix of vintage and natural fibers. The cord I use for the macramé is 100% cotton and produced in the USA. The cream yarn used for weavings comes straight off the sheep on my in laws farm in northern Pennsylvania and the other yarn colors were taken out of an old school house being torn down. I try to repurpose and reuse as much as I possibly can.

What started out as a little craft is now a full-fledged business adventure that has expanded in ways I could have never imagined! Currently, I have been hand painting deer skulls, dip dying fabric, decorating with succulents and houseplants, weaving and even have created macramé pieces for weddings.

Swing by booth #10 and say hi! I love meeting new people and can’t wait to see you all!
Follow us on Instagram @mosshound_designs to stay current on products and giveaways.

July 26, 2016
Meet The Maker: Amanda Hagerman

2016 has been a big year for me. In January I resigned from my high school art teaching position of almost 8 years to pursue my passion of designing and making jewelry, full-time. It was a leap into the unknown. Although running a business is grueling at times, I love every minute of it and have no regrets. I am living my dream.

I’ve always loved creating. I have fond memories of playing in the woods as a young girl growing up in rural Pennsylvania. Whether it was rearranging rocks in the stream by my house to build a man-made swimming hole (if you found a crayfish that was a major score), or leaning large branches against a tree to form a make shift teepee fort, I’ve always had the urge to make things. This urge carried over into loving art class all throughout school and being inspired by talented artists in all mediums. I was introduced to the concept of metalworking in high school and pursued this interest further in college by earning a B.F.A in Fine Metals in addition to my art education degree.

In 2014 (after about 6 years of having no feasible space to work as a metalsmith) I obtained my studio. I taught all week and worked in my studio during the off hours. Eventually, Amanda Hagerman Jewelry was established. It took several months of creative exploring to find my voice as an artist. I knew I wanted to create fashion forward designs that had a rustic, almost ancient appeal and I kept coming back to the notion of wanting my work to somehow reflect nature. Over time, I developed a lost wax casting technique combining geometric shapes with a rocky, ridge like surface. The result of this reflected the mountainous scenery I grew up around as a child. It embodied the parts of the landscape that make me feel whole and center me spiritually. It also achieved the rugged ancient look I desired with a fun and edgy twist. Each day I work to hone this technique and what has now become my signature style. It continues to grow and evolve and I’m excited to see where it will lead…

Each piece begins as a drawing on paper. I start with geometric shapes based on the elements in the landscape, specifically rocks, ridges, and ravines that influence the aesthetic of my work. After rendering the shapes, I make several paper copies of those shapes. From there I cut them out and rearrange them into various compositions. This is how I develop all of my designs. This process alone often takes hours, but is very satisfying and exciting. Once I have developed a series of sound designs, I set off to work in my studio.

To create my work, I often combine lost wax casting and fabrication processes. Items with my signature textured ridge surface are first hand sculpted using a combination of modeling and sheet waxes. The wax is malleable and allows me to manipulate the surface in order to achieve the desired surface textures. These pieces are then cast centrifugally using the lost wax casting process. This is an ancient technique that dates back to over 5700 years ago, which today involves investing pieces into a plaster cylinder, melting all of the wax out in a kiln, and pouring molten metal into the void where wax once was. Casting is an art in itself, one that brings me great satisfaction and control over what I create. Once shapes are perfected (after casting and finishing) I make molds of those pieces, unless they are for a one-of-a-kind design. Mold making saves me time in reproducing the wax pieces for my production line. In the images above, you see several pink wax pieces that have been made from molds of an original copy. Other details of my work are hand fabricated directly in metal by cutting sheet, forging wire, soldering prongs & jump rings, etc.

My process is truly my identity as an artist. I stand for the slow made item. The piece that was worked by hand from start to finish. I am about celebrating the Maker’s mark and the beauty of artistic exploration all the while finding balance in imperfection and skilled craftsmanship. I’ve been told that each of my pieces have soul. I believe it’s the care and attention to detail given individually to each piece that plays a role in establishing that. Because each piece is individually handcrafted, no two pieces will ever be precisely the same. In today’s world we often see things mass produced by machine. Millions of cookie cutter items that make us lose connection with the concept of artisan made and skilled craftsmanship. My work may not be precision perfect like items made by a machine, but I think there is great beauty in the imperfections. Behind each piece there is intention, consideration, and selfless devotion of time. In fact, a great deal of back pain inducing time, but time incredibly well spent nonetheless.

My work varies from large statement pieces to small dainty adornments, perfect for everyday wear. It consists of Argentium Silver and 14K gold vermeil. Everything, including the casting, is completed in my studio with the exception of the vermeil finish (for quality and certification purposes). All jewelry is nickel free and made in the most ethical ways possible.

I plan to have my entire collection, plus brand new one-of-a-kind pieces with me in Asbury Park! I can’t wait to see you there! Find me at booth #7!

July 28, 2016
Meet The Maker: Jen Gubicza of Zooguu

Hello, I’m Jen, and my business is called Zooguu. I live outside of Boston, MA and making things has always been a part of who I am. I have a background in graphic design for the audience of kids and families. For ten years, I worked alongside a creative team designing logos, websites, product design and toy packaging. Translating an object from 2D to 3D is a challenge I enjoy very much. I started hand sewing little creatures as a hobby in the early 2000s, bought my first sewing machine in 2008, and left my full-time design job six months after that to start Zooguu.

Zooguu’s original product offering was handmade toys, but in the last few years the focus has moved onto home decor. The faux taxidermy pieces appeal to a wide range of ages and I sell to people decorating kids’ rooms, students outfitting their college dorms, and adults sprucing up their offices with a bit of humor. I love doing craft shows, and meeting all of the people who will be taking our work home. We spend all week sewing, cutting, painting and stuffing, so it’s always a treat to see people react to the work. We get a lot of smiles and laughter in our booth, and it’s a great feeling.

The Zooguu studio is located in Nahant, MA, in a historic schoolhouse on an island just north of Boston. I have to say, working every day on a beautiful island isn’t so bad. I used to have a studio at home, but as the business grew, it became important to separate work and home life. I now have a couple of wonderful studio assistants that come and help with various stages of production work, but I still have my hands on every piece. Hiring help has allowed me to get better sleep, meet the growing demand for the work, and have time to dream up new designs.

I am inspired by animals, textures in nature, street fashion, pop culture, and the wonderfully supportive community of creative small business owners I have been lucky enough to know over the years. One of the best things about owning a tiny business has been meeting others that are doing the same thing and sharing knowledge and support.

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Find Zooguu at our upcoming November 19th and 20th Art Star Craft Bazaar or at http://zooguu.com/

October 25, 2016
Meet the Maker: Casey Lynch of Squirrel Tacos

Hello! I am Casey Lynch and my company is Squirrel Tacos.

I grew up in Philadelphia near a small woods and a pond with parents that encouraged nature and art to be part of our lives. As a kid I was in love with all things paper, and burned through a couple blender motors trying to make my own paper pulp. After a few years of traveling and living in Idaho I finished my degree in ceramics at Penn State.

The first time I saw a papercut I was at The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and I was transfixed. I had found my craft. Paper cutting was not popular at the time and I spent endless hours searching the internet for more information. I learned that it is also known as Kirigama or Scherenschnitte, first came to the U.S as a Pennsylvania Dutch folk tradition and is typically circular and symmetrical. Somehow I wanted to be a paper cutter but not in the traditional style, I wanted to carve free form without using classic iconography. Eventually, I taught myself using a craft knife and dozens of different blades until finally settling on a trusty #11 blade and a Martha Stewart handle.

Coming from a sculptural background, working in 2D has presented challenges. My process is to draw out the design and cut away the negative space from a single sheet of archival paper. Once the cut is complete I play with different ways the design can add dimension using shadows. I’ve worked with glass lockets, deep set frames, intricate layered portraits which build dimension, and I’ve had typographical collections; however, the wildlife and nature series are my signature lines. Those pieces are layered in shadowbox frames with National Park Service photographs placed deep enough in the frame to encourage closer inspection.

Today I live in New Jersey, once again surrounded by woods and water. Many hundreds of blades, experiments, disasters, and triumphs have contributed to the personality of my work. I aim to marry my love of all things paper, with my reverence for the outdoors, the tiny and great creatures around me, and the world beyond.

My company, Squirrel Tacos, is named for a tiny squirrel who has a fondness for eating taco shells at our kitchen window, he is one of many backyard characters that finds their way into my papercuts. I also have pygmy goats, a couple of ginger cats, and a litany of wild creatures keeping me guessing with paw prints and tracks.

I am beyond thrilled to be a first time vendor at Art Star Craft Bazaar, come and visit me in booth #90!

April 18, 2017
Meet the Maker: Rosa Murillo of Muro Jewelry

Hello my name is Rosa, I am an Architect, Artist and Metalsmith specializing on colorful 3D wearable art. I use all kind of materials such as metals, wood and resin to bring my designs to life. My husband Ruben joined me a couple years ago, after realizing I needed some help with all the work a small business requires; he became my sales and marketing guru. His background in Chemical engineering has been an asset as I develop new concepts and play with different materials. Together we are Muro Jewelry.

I grew up in Mexico in a beautiful city set on a valley surrounded by mountains that are so close you feel like you could reach out and touch them. My work is largely inspired by the mountains, recreating little landscapes with natural wood and encasing them in resin.
My work is also inspired by the geometry in architecture, which is my college degree. In architecture I learned about proportions, how form follows function, and what the object wants to be versus what we want it to be. I find myself applying all of these concepts in making 3D wearable art pieces. It’s been surprising to me the way that life works out that way.

The resin and wood pendants that I make start their life as reclaimed wood that has been treated with resin in order to protect it from moisture, and then colored resin fills out all the beautiful peaks and valleys of the natural shape of the wood. I cut the wood/resin combo in smaller pieces with a saw and then decide how to showcase the uniqueness of each. Using a table sander, I shape each individual piece and then carefully sand them with 6 different grits of sand paper in order to achieve transparency and smoothness. The final steps are polishing and drilling in order to hang each piece from a chain that complements the color of the wood and resin.

Another aspect of my creative process is the use of Metalsmith techniques to create silver and brass frames to make earrings, rings and necklaces that I fill with hand pigmented resin. I like the freedom to make any shape and color I can think of.

We live in a small town in North Carolina with our three kids. My studio backs to the most beautiful woods where inspiration abounds.

This will be our first time participating in Art Star Bazaar, and we can’t wait!
www.murojewelry.com

April 20, 2017
Upcoming Exhibition “A Casual Peach” art by Kimmy Scafuro

We are thrilled to announce our next exhibition, A Casual Peach, a solo exhibition by Philadelphia based artist, Kimmy Scafuro. You may all know Kimmy’s popular cat butt tote bags, pins, quirky illustrations of pop culture icons (bjork, dancing drake, robyn, beyonce, etc) and ceramic face dishes from her Kimmy Makes Things line. For her first solo exhibition at Art Star, she will be showing brand new work in a variety of mediums – ceramics, embroidery, and 2D drawing/painting.

The exhibition will run from May 27th – August 6th. An opening reception with the artist will be held on Saturday, May 27th from 5-8pm. Light refreshments provided.

Artist Statement
“As a child interested in art, I took the typical route of learning about it (drawing traditional still lives, copying paintings from the masters, etc). As I’ve gotten older, I find myself being more inspired by looser, more tongue and cheek art in the vein of David Shrigley and Jean Julien, amongst many others. It’s made me think about what it means to be aesthetically drawn to a piece and that super fun, age old question “what is art?”. If it looks like something wasn’t “hard” to create technically, does that make it any less valuable as a piece of work?

A few years ago I overheard someone at a Matisse exhibit that featured his cut outs, say with disgust: “Well, I could do THAT”. I think when I was younger I would have partially agreed but time and experience has definitely changed this and I wanted to explore that shift. As long as I can remember, I’ve always doodled in notebooks, on the back of receipts and on all possible surfaces. It’s very freeing to just simply put pen to paper and not worry about the outcome but I never considered it a finalized product. Simultaneously, I have been wanting to make more tactile objects in mediums in which I don’t have much background. For this show, I wanted to marry these two ideas of doodling with ceramics and embroidery to put the doodle into a more finished form. In doing so, the work is created simply for the sake of making objects that are fun and not over worked or over thought. At the end of the day, I like being able to create things that make me happy and that don’t feel too “precious. Also, doodling is just really, really fun.” – Kimmy Scafuro

About the Artist Kimmy Scafuro was born outside of Philadelphia in 1983. She grew up loving to draw, paint and thinking about what she was going to eat next. Her interest in art took her to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn where she studied Illustration and burrito making. Upon graduation, she worked an array of jobs in NYC, from dressing windows at Barneys to designing bandanas at Ralph Lauren. After ten years, she made her way back to Philadelphia to design textiles and prints for Anthropologie at their home offices. Her thoughts are still mostly preoccupied with food and drawing and she enjoys creating art that makes her laugh. She lives with her 2 cats in South Philly and makes all her things in the studio of her home.

April 30, 2017
Meet The Maker: Raisha

Hi I’m Raisha (rhymes with Asia).

I’m an illustrator living in New York City. I mostly work from my home in Brooklyn- with all of my fun art junk crammed into this desk here.

I keep all of my ideas in a sketchbook. It’s like building a personal universe that is populated with drawings- it’s full of regular mundane things but that world is strange and wild and colorful.

I pick my favorite ideas and clean up the rough sketches. The colors need to be on separate layers for silkscreens.

When I was studying illustration at school, I always wanted to do more than just draw on paper. I started working in the printshop at The School of Visual Arts where I also experimented with sewing and mixed media work.

Screen printing is one of my favorite mediums because you can turn a flat design into a 3D object. I enjoy drawing but the real love comes from seeing the work transformed into a “something”. I want people to have fun with my art- squish it or wear it or throw it at your friend.

In the future I’d like to use my larger work for collaborations with other artists- things like video art or window installations. In the meantime, I have some interesting apartment decorations.

Come visit me at booth 121 at this year’s Spring Art Star Craft Bazaar!

Raisha.com // IG: @raisha.mf // etsy.com/shop/RaishaMF

May 1, 2017
Meet The Maker: Ron Nicole

Photo by: Lianne Dunsing http://www.liannedunsingphoto.com

Hello, my name is Ronni Robinson. I am the artist behind Ron Nicole. I create unique botanical sculptures, herbariums, and stationary. I work out of my tiny apartment here in Philadelphia which I share with my husband, as well as our crazy cat and dog. Our living room doubles as my art studio.

Last year I became aware of a technique called Ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arrangement). Inspired by botanicals and their delicate nature, I began to study everything about them, the way they hang, their texture and their fine details. I’ve always been drawn to nature so it’s no surprise that all of my art is centered around flowers.

When first coming up with this idea, I knew that I wanted to name each collection after a woman who inspired and pushed me to get here. It was my small way of saying thank you. I named my first collection Dorothy after my mother-in-law. At the time she was battling cancer but somehow always found the energy to offer words of encouragement and even helped get me art supplies.

I just recently finished my new collection called Raychelle. This series is named after my sister, who has always been a driving force in my creative thinking.

Whether I’m working on my own collection or preserving a bridal bouquet, I think about how I want the flowers to be arranged together. Just like a florist, a lot of thought goes into the design of the finished piece. I think about each flower and the imprint they will leave in the clay. Each flower placement is purposeful. I start by rolling the clay out until it is smooth and even. Then I press the arranged flowers into the clay, creating a deep impression. Then the flower has to be removed (often with tweezers) before pouring a blend of plaster and cement into the mold. After that, I wait…

I’m obsessed with flower preservation, so making art from my dried flower collection was a must do. They are not traditional herbariums. The white space around them creates a simplicity that’s easy on the eyes. Just like my botanical sculptures, I wanted to create something that would reflect my personal style. I want my art to embody the perfect balance of understated beauty and simplicity of design. My work speaks in soft tones. It doesn’t overwhelm or demand a room full of attention, instead it is humble enough to exist in the background.

This is my first year at the Art Star Craft Bazaar and I’m beyond excited. You’ll find me at booth #113. I hope you’ll stop by and say hello.

www.ronnicole.com
Instagram: @iamRonNicole

May 4, 2017

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