Tag: art

Announcing “Curb Appeal” a Solo Exhibition with Amy Rice

We are beyond excited to announce our 4th (!) solo exhibition with Minneapolis based mixed media artist and long time Art Star artist, Amy Rice. The show, titled “Curb Appeal”, will be up in our gallery space from March 25th through May 21st, 2017. We will be hosting a reception with the artist while she is in town on April 8th from 5-7pm. Light refreshments will be provided.

“Curb Appeal” is inspired by Rice’s recent purchase of her first home with her partner, Matt. The artist describes her new house as a “seriously distressed foreclosure”, so the term “fixer upper” would be putting it lightly. The couple quickly dove into renovations to make their new house their own. Around the same time they also purchased some rural property in what they call a “Scandanavian Pride” town where all the homes have over the top decorations like fancy gables and hand cut decorative window trims. Her latest body of work is an exploration of all that we do to make a house a home – bringing in plants and potted flowers, adding art work, building window boxes, adopting pets, and adding all our own personal flourishes to create Curb Appeal.

Amy recently wrote and illustrated a Zine titled, “How To Grow Zinnias”, which comes with two zinnia seeds in hand-painted seed packets. The book will make its debut at our reception with the artist on April 8th. Stop by to pick up a signed copy!

Amy Rice’s nostalgic, subtly street art-influenced works are deeply defined by her Midwestern roots. Growing up in a rural area, Rice found inspiration in the surrounding flora and fauna; she naturally developed an intrinsic appreciation for the simplistic yet beautiful things in life. Rice is most satisfied when a tangible or visceral connection is built between the materials used and the image rendered. Her work is deeply layered, often both literally and figuratively. Her evocative, wistful imagery is largely biographical and reflective of her pensive nature.

Using non-traditional printmaking methods such as hand-cut stencils and a Japanese toy Gocco printer as a jumping off point, Rice develops the basis for her signature, one of a kind mixed media pieces. She combines, layers and experiments with many different mediums and tools including enamels, acrylics, gouache, inks, hand-carved linoleum print blocks and a antique letterpress machine. Rice searches out unique and meaningful surfaces that can run the gamut from antique papers such as handwritten love letters, journal pages, sheet music and maps to antique fabrics including heirloom embroidery and feed sacks from her family’s dairy farm.

She has exhibited her work extensively in galleries in the US and beyond. She has received the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant as well as the Metropolitan Regional Arts Board Next Step Grant.

Rice enjoys working themes and imagery into her pieces such as bicycles, found objects, gardening, collective endeavors that challenge hierarchy, acts of compassion, downright silliness and things with wings.

February 15, 2017
Upcoming Exhibition “After The Flood” by Faryn Davis of Fernworks

CHECK OUT ALL THE WORK HERE

We are so pumped to announce our next exhibition with the incredibly talented Faryn Davis of Fernworks. We have been carrying her line of jewelry at Art Star for years now (you can see it here), but what you might not know is that Faryn also creates dreamy painted landscapes to adorn your walls! I am in complete awe of the 3 dimensional worlds that she creates with her unique technique of layering painted resin.

Her very first solo show at Art Star will features a brand new collection of resin paintings. The show is titled “After the Flood” and will be up from March 19th – May 15th. We will be hosting an opening reception on Saturday, March 19th, from 6-8pm. Come get a first look at the work and share a drink or two with us!

Faryn Davis creates mixed media paintings and a line of jewelry, under the name Fernworks, which combines hand painted scenes and found natural ephemera into layers of polished resin. Each piece is painted with toothpicks and tiny brushes, embedded in multiple layers of resin, then cut and polished into delicate, dreamlike 3-D landscapes populated by plants, birds, bears, foxes and other woodland creatures.

Growing up in Waynesville, N.C, the artist spent many afternoons gathering and collecting items on the family farm. She’d pick up and preserve bird nests, feathers, interesting clumps of dirt, moss, leaves, bones, fur, twigs, bugs, and other tiny things. Her paintings and line of jewelry reflect this lifelong passion and tradition.

Her first solo exhibition at Art Star will include a new body of resin paintings. The artist states, “These new resin paintings reflect a lifelong exploration of the natural world, the land, and how each tiny self finds its place in it all. After the Flood is an allegory of the land and its diverse beings emerging after a metaphorical flood or shift. Many of these pieces quietly reflect restoration and new beginnings; how new land rises to meet us after old things have been washed away.”

Faryn Davis studied at North Carolina School of the Arts, in France, Italy, and Nepal, and received a BFA degree in sculpture at the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2000. You can find her work in stores and galleries throughout the US and abroad, as well as at various art and craft shows like the Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philly, The Renegade Craft Fairs in Chicago, Brooklyn, Austin, San Francisco and Los Angeles, The Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle, and many others. She now lives in Asheville, NC with her husband Eli and their 6 year old son Milo Gray after an 8 year hiatus in the Pacific Norweast. She creates art full time in a modified 8’x8’ garden hut in her backyard.

Get a sneak peek at her studio and process here
go visit her website here

February 15, 2016
Meet New ASCB Vendor Samantha Skelton!

Samantha Skelton Jewelry Design is a one-woman jewelry machine located in Fairview Pennsylvania. I design, create, market and sell all of the work featured in my jewelry collection; however I wasn’t always interested in jewelry. My collection has grown from my love of metal, the form of each element in this collection has been directly influenced by industrial sculptures which I both studied and created.

I studied both graphic design and metalsmithing in undergrad at Edinboro University, choosing to follow metalsmithing into graduate school at Miami University, I focused on large scale copper sculptures. The sculptures I created had an industrial aesthetic and a sense of balance and symmetry, all hand forged and kinetic. Along side my sculptures I found myself making smaller sculptural jewelry, almost as a sketch for larger pieces. It allowed me to play with form in a much faster and more direct way.

Choosing to pursue jewelry full time following graduate school has allowed me to continue connecting form with function. My sculpture and jewelry continue to reflect each other;
I want the wearer to feel the visual impact of the jewelry without being overwhelmed by the physical and visual weight of the metal.

Along with making jewelry and traveling for shows and exhibitions I also teach jewelry workshops at craft schools and universities both locally and internationally.

Visit Samantha Skelton Jewelry in Booth #62 at our Art Star Craft Bazaar on May 9th + 10th and visit her online at http://www.samanthaskelton.com/

May 2, 2015
Meet New ASCB Vendor, Emiko Shinozaki!

After a lifetime of playing and teaching, I put down my violin for the last time in 2006. I felt I was finished with the musical chapter of my life, but I had always made a living working with my hands. I felt a need to explore what I could do with them next.

An immediate change in life ensued—A program to Italy to study fashion design through Fashion Institute of Technology, Accessories and Jewelry classes upon my return…

It wasn’t until I started working with brass, silver, fire, hammer, file and wax that the instruments of my future began coming to life before my eyes. I had transitioned from the ephemera of musical performance to the permanence of metals, and it was intoxicating. I could hold my creations in my hands. I could wear what I imagined. I was in love again.

Architecture, music as math, chemistry, and symmetry–all my old flames– inexorably find their way into my work. I spend hours soldering and chasing flux through the narrow channels between my hexagons. Days fly by as I work out the kinks of an intricate piece of casting. Every method has its advantages and demands. To cast or not to cast? Precision soldering and cleanup versus casting and yet more cleanup?

Doing things the hard way has its rewards. I handcraft each and every piece of jewelry myself for Emiko Shinozaki Jewelry and I don’t do e-commerce. Why? Because I want each piece to be unique, and I enjoy meeting the people who will ultimately wear my pieces. What that means is that I don’t really have a complete ’system ’ in place for manufacture or distribution. The exciting part is that I’m still learning with each piece I make and every client I come in contact with. I continue my tradition of teaching and learning, this time with family and colleagues, as it’s the best way I know how to enjoy life.

I have an unending attraction to the physical changes that brass undergoes when thousands of degrees hit it. My necklace creations have intrinsic “torch marks” that deepen with age, lending depth and 3-dimensionality to an otherwise humble material. One of my necklaces can have upwards of 100 solder connections, sometimes less, sometimes more. As I’ve expanded my offerings, I’ve found the best 18K gold-platers in NYC and learned to make molds & cast silver with the lost-wax method. Each silver or brass Alt-triangle bracelet is hand formed, filed and finished, taking many careful hours from start to finish.

There are no easy answers but, so far, keeping things fresh makes me very happy. Every method has its advantages and difficulties, but the end result is always gratifying. Mistakes are humbling, yet I’ve also come to appreciate these impromptu lessons. I think I was a pretty good violin teacher… I sometimes see an old student interviewed on TV, image impossibly large on the Times Square Jumbotron…

These days I look at my hands and wonder at what jewelry-making has yet to teach me.

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Visit Emiko Shinozaki and her incredible line of jewelry at the Spring Art Star Craft Bazaar (booth # ) on May 9th and 10th at Penn’s Landing Great Plaza. http://emikoshinozaki.com/

April 29, 2015
Meet New ASCB Vendor, Julia Walther!

Well hello there! I’m Julia Walther and I make pottery in Washington, DC.

My journey with pottery began nearly six years ago during my senior year of college when my ceramics professor told us that clay can do anything, you just have to ask it at the right time. That mix of constraints and possibilities is a large part of why I’m so in love with ceramics.

I throw almost all of my work on the wheel using a porcelaneous stoneware that’s a beautiful creamy color when fired. I then spend most of my time decorating those pieces with slips and colored underglazes and carving back through the layers to reveal the bare clay underneath. In the midst of those decorative choices, I’m constantly surprised by threads of ideas that can lead my work down completely new paths.

The cacti decorations have come out of my appreciation of papercutting, and other folk crafts that use abstracted shapes to convey stories and show evidence of the human hand. I also really enjoy carving out the spikes!

After the glaze firing, I’ll choose a few pieces to which I’ll apply metallic luster accents and do another firing specifically for that. So your pot may have had a trial by fire three times before it ends up in your hands.

I work alongside about twenty artists working at Red Dirt Studio, a repurposed firehouse just outside Washington, DC. I love the community we’ve established through weekly seminar meetings and by sharing the building. It’s easy to accidentally isolate yourself as an artist, so I’m glad to have this flow of interesting people around my studio space.

At the same time, this is also the first instance in my career where I’ve had freedom to call nearly all the shots. I want to spend the precious time I have in the studio actually making work and taking care of my body to prevent injuries from overwork. In the last year, that has meant switching to a commercially produced pre-mixed clay, and changing the firing temperature of my work so I can use electric kilns, which tend to be more compatible with an urban environment. Additionally, for the past three years I’ve been throwing standing up, which will hopefully prevent future back issues related to sitting and leaning forward (the worst possible position for your back!).

Pots are special because they can be both a sculpture and a canvas. I’ve found a lot of joy in scribbling on the surfaces of my pots, freezing the movement of a hand in time. I’m excited about creating those juicy points of interest that ask you to turn the pot in your hands to soak up the details while you eat your meal or admire your flowers or engage with the piece in any other way. The last step of making pottery is getting it into the hands of the user, and that’s where a new adventure begins.

This will be my first year at the Art Star Craft Bazaar, and I’m so looking forward to the show! I’d love it if you stopped on by Booth #59 and said hello.

April 28, 2015
Meet ASCB Vendor Faryn Davis of Fernworks

Hello my name is Faryn and my little biz is called Fernworks. I grew up on a farm in western North Carolina and I spent many afternoons there collecting little odds and ends that I found on our land like bird nests, feathers, interesting clumps of dirt, moss, leaves, bones, fur, twigs, bugs, and other tiny things. I continue that tradition of collecting and gathering in my paintings and line of resin jewelry today.

My mixed media paintings and jewelry combine hand painted scenes and found natural ephemera into layers of polished resin. Each piece is painted with toothpicks and tiny brushes, embedded in multiple layers of resin, then cut and polished into delicate, dreamlike 3-D landscapes populated by plants, birds, bears, foxes and other woodland creatures.

My studio is a modified 8’x8’ garden hut in our backyard. This is where I paint, pour resin, and store all my many boxes and jars of found objects.

Here are a few pics of me making some new resin rings. I embed little found objects or tiny hand painted scenes into silver settings and then layer resin on top. I then polish and sand each piece by hand on my tabletop sander. (A really dusty, messy process.)

You can find me and my creations at galleries, shops, and craft shows all over the US. I’m always on the go. I recently returned to live in Asheville, NC with my husband and 5 year old son after an 8 year hiatus in the Pacific Northwest.

This is my first time showing at the Art Star Craft Bazaar and I’m so excited! I’ll have tons of new necklaces, earrings, rings, cufflinks, little paintings and more! Please come say hi at booth #30.

April 22, 2015
Meet New Art Star Craft Bazaar Vendor Marcella Kriebel

photos and text by Marcella Kriebel

I am a watercolor artist and illustrator from Portland, OR, living in Washington DC for the last 5 years. I’m excited to be a part of the Art Star Craft Bazaar for the first time this year. Because my work covers food themes and cooking, I can be found at select Farmers’ Markets as well as Art and Craft fairs in the Mid-Atlantic and on the West Coast.

I’ve always really enjoyed cooking and traveling. I’ve made a point to cook with people during my trips throughout Latin America, and it is through these experiences that I created my cookbook, Mi Comida Latina. The book is entirely hand lettered and includes my watercolor illustrations on every page. The style reflects my sketchbook journal that I keep during experiences abroad- small step by step drawings and lots of color throughout.

I published the book thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign in November 2012. This self-published edition of the book is sold out, but I’m excited to share that the Art Star Craft Bazaar will be my first Craft Fair showcasing the published edition of the new book. This new edition will be a bigger and better version with an additional 40 pages!

After the Kickstarter edition of the book came out, I got a number of commissions for food-related artwork and custom illustrated recipes (a service I still offer) and my food-related collection began to flourish.

I like to work in a series and have explored various fruit and vegetable “families”, complete with Latin names. I have designs which celebrate the different types of cheeses, figs, olives and other delicacies.

My Art Every Day project from 2014 expanded my collection immensely and I’ll be offering many of these designs as prints for the first time at the bazaar. Hope to see you all at my booth, #118, Mother’s Day weekend!

April 14, 2015
Upcoming Exhibition: Same Same by Keith + Rita Greiman

We are pleased to present an exhibition with Philadelphia based husband + wife artists, Keith and Rita Greiman. The duo will be exhibiting their own individual works as well as collaborative pieces. The exhibition will be on view from April 18^th – June 21^st, 2015. There will be an opening reception with the artists on Saturday, April 18^th from 6-8pm. The reception is free and open to the public and will include light refreshments.

Keith and Rita Greiman will present an all new body of playful and vibrant works, drawing inspiration from the humor and absurdity of life’s everyday objects and events. The show will include Keith’s acrylic on wood paintings and 3D wood figures, which feature a cast of quirky and animated characters that are brightly colored and evoke a childlike quality. Set against flatly painted patterned backgrounds, the floating figures and objects populating the pieces appear anything but innocent though. Rita’s mixed media dioramas mirror the childlike, yet twisted quality of Keith’s work, containing glitter coated army men, food, and animals. In addition to their individual pieces, they will be exhibiting new works together which combine their shared vision and include patterns, floating objects and characters, real and supernatural. The couple will also be painting a large mural together on one of the exhibition walls. This will be their first time showing at Art Star.

Keith Warren Greiman lives and works in Philadelphia, PA. His bright and animated images of real and supernatural beings depict life, captured in experience, being ascendant, melancholic and at all times wild. Keith’s work has been shown in various galleries and publications from all over and everywhere. Some clients include LA Times, Village Voice, Newsweek, the Fader, Ace Hotels, Fantagraphics, the Utne Reader, and Willamete Week. His work has been recognized by American Illustration, The Society of Illustrators and Graphis.

Originally from Irvine, California, Rita Greiman currently resides in Philadelphia where she has been for thirteen years. Through the years, Rita has done various works as a seamstress, illustrator, upholsterer, and designer. She studied in the School of Visual Arts at Pennsylvania State University as well as the College of Communications. She has worked in several media and currently combines painting, sculpture, and found objects to create playful dioramas that are often centered around animals, glitter army men, and food.

April 4, 2015
Genevieve Geer’s Le Puppet Regime Opens Friday!

Enjoy this fun trailer for Genevieve Geer of Le Puppet Regime’s solo exhibition at Art Star. The opening reception will be this Friday the 13th from 6-8pm and will include snacks, light refreshments, Cut and Paste Photobooth and first dibs on this incredible work! And find out who is really pulling the strings 😉

Learn more about Genevieve and her work here.

February 11, 2015
“Robots and T-shirts and Art Star, Oh My” by Matt Eyer + Pete Oravetz

If you’ve been attending Art Star events for the past few years, you’ve probably seen Matt Eyer and Peter Oravetz’s shared spot full of robots and t-shirts. Matt creates limited edition graphic t-shirts, tank-tops, and hoodies inspired by Philadelphia under his brand Wear Liberty. Peter has been illustrating his Robots! series for almost ten years now in which you can find them in all walks of life from battling giant squids to drinking beers at the bar.

Peter Oravetz

This Fall bazaar will be Matt and Peter’s fifth Art Star event together and to celebrate they did a little interview with each other. Matt goes first with questions for Pete and then Pete follows up with questions for Matt. Enjoy and be sure to stop by their booth (#41) at the bazaar!

Matt Eyer: Why robots? Why not dinosaurs?
Peter Oravets: Dinosaurs are so Cretaceous period…robots are the future! Not to mention that they’re made by us…we’ve essentially engineered a new species that could potentially think for itself. It’s inevitable that they’ll have some of the same ticks and hang-ups we humans do, especially when it comes to movement and gesture. It would be interesting to see how a robot might respond to the world with the outlook of an adolescent and a similar range of motion.

“Squid” by Peter Oravatz / graphite on paper (also available as a print)

Matt: How long does it take you to complete your big pieces? How many hours total and over how long of a time period do you work on them?
Pete: They can take a tremendous amount of work. The more detailed pieces like “Squid” or “001” took about a month each but that was when I had more time to produce them. I’d say close to 60 hours a piece (not including preliminary sketch time). The small ones are much quicker but do take a lot of consideration and brainstorming as well.

“First” by Peter Oravetz / graphite on paper

Matt: Have you ever collaborated or do you plan to collaborate with any Philly artists or others?
Pete: Yes, I have collaborated with a now ex-Philly artist…my friend Mike Studebaker of Studebaker Metals. We were getting into the business of making toy soldiers, lapel pins, and other tiny metal versions of the Robots but it never got off the ground. Partly because he moved away to Pittsburgh. He produces excellent work, I highly recommend his line of mostly male oriented metal-ware (tie-clips, mustache combs and the like.) Recently I have collaborated with Printer Martin Peeves to help produce my new series “Catastrophe”. Screen prints of those will be available at the Fall ASCB too.

Matt: Why black and white and no color?
Pete: I have no simple answer for that. One of my works, the Robot Normal Rockwell self-portrait was re made into a color piece. It came out great but took forever and had to be done digitally. I have never been particularly good with markers and water-color and, truly, I would have to introduce that kind of medium into the Robots. They benefit from the precision and clean straight lines a pen offers. Beyond that, some of my favorite illustrators and cartoonists worked mostly in B+W. Perhaps the next evolution of them will be in color.

“Drunk on Oil” by Peter Oravetz / graphite on paper (also available as a made to order, hand inked print)

Matt: What’s next for the robots? Or will there be a new theme/series?

Pete: Like I just said maybe I’ll introduce some color! T-shirts are a must, that will happen soon; a lot of people have been asking if I have a book of them made. That might be my next big project… I’d like to make a children’s book of the bots telling a story without any sort of caption or written word, just images to get them thinking critically and come up with a story of their own. Kids have such great imaginations like that.

A new series of drawings! Yes! I have started a new, albeit depressing, series of drawings titled “Catastrophe” that deal with natural disasters and urban destruction. You won’t want to miss it. Great gifts for the holidays.

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Matt Eyer

Peter Oravetz: Wear Liberty is a specifically Philly themed line of apparel. Do you simply tell the designers “Give me Philly!”? Or do you ask for more specific themes like the Philly Skyline, Ben Franklin, or City Hall?
Matt Eyer: All Wear Liberty designs are my ideas and concepts but I collaborate with a few different artists to come up with the final product. Usually I give them a very rough sketch (sometimes digital mock up) of what I’m going for and then tell them to incorporate their style into the design. So yes, it’s always very specific.

Pete: In the past your clothes have been displayed on the runway by beautiful models. That’s a big jump from craft fairs. How has that helped/hindered you? Has it inspired you to find other creative ways of getting the word out?
Matt: Having Wear Liberty worn on the runway opened up a whole new side of things for me. I never considered myself a “Fashion Designer”, but when grouped with other mediums of art, t-shirts fell into the fashion world for the events I’ve done. It gave me a chance to present my brand to a new audience and it was very exciting to have beautiful models wearing my shirts! Because of those events, I’ve met people I might not have otherwise and it certainly helped in expanding the reach of Wear Liberty.

Philly Famous Zip hoodie by Wear Liberty

Pete: People always seem to ask you for screen prints of the designs on your apparel. Are you planning to make that happen?? (I promise I won’t get mad if we continue to share a booth, so long as you won’t get jelly when I sell robot t-shirts, just sayin’).
Matt: I’m actually planning to have a small run of screen prints at the Fall ASCB! This will be the first time I’ve ever done it, so I’m just doing a small run to see how it goes. This one guy has been asking for a print of my Ben Franklin design since we started doing Art Star events in 2012. I hope he shows up to this one!

Founding Fathers Tee by Wear Liberty

Pete: Do you have any advice for the young creative type dreaming of starting their own clothing brand?
Matt: Reach out to your favorite artists and/or brand owners. There are so many smaller, independent clothing companies these days and most of them are very willing to share their experiences with you or pass along some advice. Also – do events! Present yourself to the public. Even if you have the coolest clothes ever, no one will buy them if they don’t know about them.

Pete: You freaking love Pugs. What’s up with that?
Matt: There’s not a logical explanation for that, which kind of bothers me cause I’m a very logical person. My family didn’t even have a dog growing up. There was just a point when I fell in love with them. Their cute faces, their funny grunts and snorts, and their amazing energy and personality. Oliver (my pug) will be 8 in November and my life has been ever the better since I’ve had him 🙂 I also have a pug tattoo!

Ben Franklin Tee by Wear Liberty

Pete: Have you considered a Wear Liberty line for dogs and/or babies?
Matt: I have! I’ve been planning a Wear Liberty doggy line since the beginning, I just wanna do it right. I recently found a lady on Etsy who makes custom dog collars…so I think it should happen soon. Maybe Spring 2015? Stay tuned!

Pete: What’s your favorite color to wear? Don’t say grey, that’s really boring.
Matt: Funny you say that cause I used to hate heather grey, but now it’s definitely one of my favorites. Recently I’ve really liked “coffee” colored shirts and also “cranberry”. Pretty much any of the American Apparel tri-blend colors. It also helps that their super soft and comfy. And I could never deny how good a design looks on black, plus black goes with everything.

Pete: What’s next for Wear Liberty?
Matt: Wear Liberty will be expanding into more than just Philly designs very soon. I love Philadelphia which is a major reason why I started this brand but I feel that I’m limiting myself. I want to create designs that people worldwide can appreciate, but the roots will always be here in Philly.

November 1, 2014