The first Art Star Holiday Market weekend is coming soon – Black Friday through December 1st! Here is a little teaser of the types of goodies you will be able to buy. Check out the opening weekend’s full vendor lineup on the website!
Left to Right: Julie Moon, Peg + Awl, Cutesy but not Cutesy, Typothecary Letterpress, Hannah’s, Fuzzy Ink, Boutique Textiles, Yardsale Press, Inedible Jewelry
Shop for the perfect holiday gifts in recycled storage containers, ice skate, grab a beer + drink from The Lodge pop up Restaurant, enjoy a light show by Klip Collective, sit around the fire pits & make some s’mores + so much more – all in one spot! Free to attend!!
Check out our FACEBOOK invite, let us know if you can come & help spread the word!
We visited the site of our Art Star Holiday Market at Winterfest today. I thought we’d share a little sneak peek of how the space is shaping up. It is still in progress, but the site ops guys are working very hard every day to have it ready for the opening. Our vendors will be inside the storage containers shown & they have added some of the greenery. It is going to be a winter wonderland!! More updates coming soon – including some fun giveaways. The Facebook invite was posted today – please help us spread the word.
Fellow Tyler School of Art grad, Art Star Craft Bazaar vendor, and all around awesome Philly artist, Margaux Kent from the popular Peg & Awl line is in the midst of raising funds to help publish a hard cover book that will include 64+ pages of her beautiful photographs as well as accompanying text.
This is a book about unexpected shedding(s). Transformation. And about the time Søren, then 3, said “Mama, take your time loving me”
Margaux is trying to reach over 19k on Kickstarter and we’d really love to see her reach her goal! She is so very close. Please learn more about her project here and consider making a pledge. There are some seriously awesome rewards available!!
Jeannine Errico (L) and Erin Buterick (R) of School of Vintage
We are so excited to announce that our friends, Erin & Jeannine, will be bringing their award winning School of Vintage shop to Art Star for a month long Pop Up in our exhibition space from October 26th through November 24th! The shop will be open during our normal store hours.
SCHOOL OF VINTAGE, LLC IS A VINTAGE AND HANDMADE BOUTIQUE LOCATED IN SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY. CURRENTLY, SOV OPERATES ONLINE, AND IN SURF CITY, LONG BEACH ISLAND. SOV IS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN JEANNINE ERRICO AND ERIN BUTERICK; TWO YOUNG WOMEN WHO MET IN MICROBIOLOGY CLASS, SENIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE (HENCE THE NAME SCHOOL OF VINTAGE!). AFTER BONDING OVER CUTE SHOES AND FART JOKES, AN INSTANT FRIENDSHIP WAS FORMED AND SO WAS THE SHARED AMBITION OF OPENING A VINTAGE STORE. MUCH TIME HAS PASSED SINCE THOSE EARLY DAYS, BUT THE DREAM IS ALIVE AND THRIVING…
SOV HAND-SELECTS ONE-OF-A-KIND VINTAGE AND HANDMADE PIECES TO KEEP A VERY METICULOUSLY CURATED BOUTIQUE. JEANNINE AND ERIN BOTH HAVE VERY DIFFERENT STYLES AND TASTES FROM ONE ANOTHER BUT THEIR DISTINCTNESS YIELD A COLLECTION THAT IS ECLECTIC, TIMELESS AND APPEALS TO JUST ABOUT ANY DEMOGRAPHIC. AS FAR AS CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES, JEANNINE TENDS TO GRAVITATE TOWARDS PRIMARY COLORS, SHARP LINES AND STRUCTURED LOOKS WHILE ERIN ENJOYS SOFTER TONES, BOXY FITS AND CLASSIC TAILORING. DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES, THEY BOTH ADORE JUST ABOUT ANY STYLE OF DRESS FROM THE 40S AND 50S AND THEY ALMOST NEVER PASS UP THE OPPORTUNITY TO COLLECT ANTIQUE PIECES FROM THE 20S AND 30S. IN ADDITION TO CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES, SOV ALSO SELLS HOUSE WARES AND FURNITURE USUALLY WITH MID-CENTURY DESIGN AND FLARE.
Erin & Jeannine will be installing a mini version of their shop in our back gallery space. Customers can expect a sampling of wedding gowns, jewelry, LOTS of winter coats, some shoes, men’s vintage, women’s dresses, sweaters and handbags. Visit their website and Etsy page to get an idea of what you can expect to find.
Rachel Fuld in her studio. Photo by Laura Jamieson.
Local artist Rachel Fuld contributed beautiful handmade Mahogany Wall Hooks to our current exhibition, Farmhaus & Friends. She was kind enough to tell us more about them and share her inspiration and photos of her process. Enjoy!
Rachel Fuld’s Wall Hooks in Farmhaus & Friends
Rachel says: Ossements were designed for a show, “Your Personal Hang Ups”, at the Center for Art in Wood on 3rd Street. The artists were asked by curator Gail Brown to “explore inventive forms inspired by their individual interpretation of “personal hang ups”- both as functional and conceptual ideas”. I took the functional route and created this series of hand shaped wall hung hooks that resembled antlers, though the actual form was inspired by another artist’s metal sculpture. For months the sculpture hung in a window of a gallery near my house. I walked by every day. It was a metal armature of differently sized Y shaped hooks attached to a grid maybe 3feet by 5 feet, very dense, like a forest. On each arm was a piece of cut wood. Somehow, I simplified the idea, into the single y shaped ossement.
Here are some photos to show how they are made:
Check out the pieces in person in Farmhaus & Friends, which closes this Sunday or online here.
Erin and I were honored to jury this year’s Art Market at our alma mater – Tyler School of Art. We were so impressed with the pool of applicants and think we picked out a strong group of artists that include Tyler alumni & student groups. The show takes place this Friday from 12-7pm and Saturday from 12-5 at Tyler School of Art. View Map / Directions here. 26 artists will be set up selling their handmade goods, which include fine art, jewelry, accessories, glass, prints, pottery and more! Get started on your holiday shopping while supporting a talented group of artists & Tyler. A portion of the proceeds from the Art Market at Tyler benefits scholarships to the Tyler School of Art. Here are some highlights of participating artists’ work to get you in the spirit. A full list of participating artists can be found here.
I will be posting a spotlight on each of the participating Farmhaus & Friends artists now through October 20th. This first spotlight features potter Audrey Cooper. We weren’t familiar with Audrey’s work until Ben introduced it to us and we are so happy he did!
AUDREY O. COOPER (b. 1971) has been working with clay since 2005. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Audrey graduated with a degree in literature from the University of Pennsylvania and studied sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She has studied with potters in Maine and Pennyslvania, and worked for two years at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia. She lives and works in Northern Liberties.
Audrey is interested in using local materials, creating as little waste as possible, and in the life cycle of materials. She embraces the unpredictability, combined with the control of craftsmanship, inherent in the ceramic process. For this project, Audrey made functional tableware, hand-thrown on her electric wheel. She fired one group of porcelain pieces in a wood-fired kiln, fueled by scraps from Ben McBrien’s woodshop. These pieces are unglazed, fired in the salt-chamber of the kiln, colored by the intense atmosphere created by wood fire. The other group was fired in her electric kiln. They are stoneware glazed entirely or partially with ash glazes she made by burning woodshop scraps, applied in combination with commercial glazes.
Check out all of Audrey’s pieces from Farmhaus & Friends online here but if you can, please come and see them in person. The photos do not truly capture the richness and beauty of the glazes PLUS they all feel great in your hands.
The lovely Julie Lange of On3Designs has been hard at work creating a new line of DIY Silkscreen Kits, which she will be debuting at our DesignPhiladelphia Celebration / Closing party for Farmhaus + Friends on Friday, October 11th from 6-9pm. Guests will be able to sample one of the kits on a piece of muslin to create their own one of a kind scarf to take home with them. The make & take is completely free but we encourage visitors to purchase a kit to take home with them!
Each kit will include a screen, 3 stencils of 1 design, small package of textile ink (which can also be used on paper), a squeegee and directions. There will also be refill packs for purchase that will include 3 stencils of 3 designs. These kits are great for kids 10+ up or beginners who would like to learn how to silkscreen. By using the kit, you will learn what you will need to do to create your own one of a kind designs!
Here are some samples of what your finished scarf may look like but there are endless possibilities of what you can create!
The Farmhaus & Friends Exhibition is now on view in our gallery through October 20th and is part of DesignPhiladelphia! We will be having a closing reception + DesignPhiladelphia Celebration on Friday, October 11th from 6-9pm. Julie Lange of On3Designs will also be at the event to debut her new Screen Printing on Fabric kits. Customers will be able to try them out for free! More details on this will be in my next blog post. In the meantime, check out Farmhaus & Friends online. I am slowly adding pieces from the show, so check back often!
About Farmhaus + Friends:
Ben McBrien of Farmhaus has brought his signature rustic modern style into Art Star where he has installed a version of his dream home, starting with a handmade bed and dining room table made from reclaimed and responsibly sourced wood. The pro-surfer turned wood worker has also included carefully chosen pieces handmade by Philly friends, which complete the look of the urban beach loft that McBrien has created
The friends of Farmhaus include: Project Runway Season 1 winner Jay McCarroll, ceramicist Audrey Cooper, graphic design/ tattoo artist Mike Ski, sculptor/designer Bill Curran, photographers Trevor Moran and Dominic Episcopo, woodworker Rachel Fuld, and master knitter Jane Likens who have lent their skills and work to help realize McBrien’s vision. Together they have created a home truly made by hand from quality materials and expert craftsmanship, reflecting Ben’s love and respect for his friends and the work that they create within his community.
I hope to feature each of the participating artists on the blog – look out for that this week and next!
The installation for our upcoming Farmhaus + Friends exhibition is in the works and we couldn’t be happier with how it is turning out. There is so much detail to each piece in the show, so I thought I’d take some quick shots of my favorite details so far. Come out to experience Ben McBrien’s “Urban Beach Loft” in its entirety this Saturday from 5-8 and meet all the talented artist “friends” who contributed work to this fantastic show!
And let us know if you can make it to the opening via our Facebook Invite!
Fellow Tyler School of Art grad, Art Star Craft Bazaar vendor, and all around awesome Philly artist, Margaux Kent from the popular 
The lovely Julie Lange of 
We did a wonderful blog feature on Julie & her line of hand printed purses and bags. 
