Tag: indie craft

  • Meet the Maker: Indigo Marie Illustration

    by Indigo Marie Illustration

    Image 1Hello there! I am an illustrator & soft sculpture maker residing in Baltimore, Maryland. I have a strange fascination with hairless kittens, tea, & otherworldly splendor. I am a collector of old, weathered textiles, driftwood scraps, & anything with a story that’s since been neglected.

    Image 2

    As a young child I was most often found hunched in the branches of the old apple tree in my backyard illustrating & writing books. Not much has changed since then. As a fresh graduate from Maryland Institute College of Art with my BFA I’m slowly starting to carve away my artistic path.

    image 3

    I love working in a variety of mediums however my primary mediums include ballpoint pen & acrylic paint for my 2D illustrations. For my sculptural work I use polymer clay glazed with acrylic paint and fibers for their soft bodies. Being a maker allows for a very magical opportunity to inject art into peoples everyday lives with it being serendipitous and affordable. This is the reason why I delight so much in making my strange little, dusty creatures. They look as if they have arrived on a ship from a different world, a charming nostalgic treasure hidden on a book self end or crevice of someone’s sacred space. I delight in creating these odd treasures that people tend to double take to fully soak in.

    image 4

    All I ever hope to achieve with my works is to inspire people & get them out of their heads to reconnect with the pure wonder of imagination and the feeling of being 5 years old again, uninhibited by worry. I use nature as a primary muse to my works as well as my love for soaking in different people essences and injecting them into my characters.

    image 5

    I currently sell work in local artisan shop Strongbox and at scattered pop up markets around Baltimore. I enjoy doing commissions for people. I find a lot of pleasure in getting told what to create from other people’s worlds and hopefully superseding their expectations. The unexpected collaboration between the artist and the client is oddly beautiful to me. After the chaos of the holidays are over I will be helping illustrate a book for a dear friend which I’m very excited to dig into and have high hopes for.

    image 6

    This is my first time vending at the Art Star Craft Bazaar and I could not be more excited. Please take a gander at booth #36. I look forward to meeting all of you!

    Visit Indigo Marie Illustration on her website 

  • Meet the Maker: Kerry + Neil Stavely of Horse and Hare

    Horse and Hare

    Horse and Hare are me, Kerry Stavely, and my husband Neil Stavely. We started working under this name in 2008 when we opened our Etsy shop, pulling it from our Chinese Zodiac signs. I am the Horse and Neil is the Hare.

    working

    Cutouts

    Neil and I met in Memphis, Tennessee while attending art school in the late nineties and have basically been together ever since. We later moved to Winchester, Virginia where we continue to work and live to this day. We do our work mostly out of our home but also have a gallery/handmade retail store here called Tin Top which serves as a home base for us to showcase our work as well as the work of other artists and crafters from around the U.S. We have some studio space there as well and our beloved letterpress lives there too.

    rolling ink Octopus

    Although our work is rooted in linoleum and wood block printing, neither of us focused on the medium very much in school; we came to it as a way to work on smaller projects that we could easily pick up or put away when our daughter was young. We started off just doing linocut prints but it grew from there and has since evolved; exploiting the medium in more experimental and playful ways, creating mixed media works and semi-sculptural assemblages and carved paintings. Now we do everything from commissioned design work, to our own prints, wearables and home goods to one of a kind fine art pieces.

    Flannerys Patsy Cline

    The subjects of our are work are pulled from history, literature, occult/spiritual symbolism and iconography, and the natural world. We like to blur the line between art vs. craft, low brow vs. high brow. Despite the diversity of content, the work is tied together stylistically which primarily comes from the block printing medium but also from our approach.

    Edgar Allan Poe Dolly

    A lot of people ask us if we work collaboratively on pieces. Usually we do not. Although we think of ourselves as team, our collaborative process is mainly on the conceptual level, whether it’s bouncing ideas off each other or giving each other constructive criticism. On occasion we might work on the same piece but it’s pretty rare – we both have a hard time relinquishing that control!Again our work is tied together due to the nature of the medium but our styles are pretty different. Neil’s work tends to be more controlled and illustrative whereas my work is rougher and more expressionistic. All in all though, I think we work pretty well together!
    Ruth Gordon

    Neil and I, on average, only do a couple art fairs a year. This will be our first adventure to Art Star and Philadelphia together, we are really excited about it!

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    Find Horse and Hare at our Upcoming Fall Art Star Craft Bazaar on Nov. 7th + 8th. or visit their website here

  • Meet New ASCB Vendor Daniel Knoll and His Company, My Audio Tree

     

    My Audio Tree Logo
    80% of the worlds forests are already gone. Audio Tree is trying to change that by planting a tree for every product sold. “Play One! Plant One!”

    My Audio Tree PortraitAudio Tree founder Daniel Knoll creates handmade wood products for smartphones and tablets, most notably the signature Iphone acoustic amplifier/docking station. He has over 15 years of woodworking and sound engineering experience which led to the development of Audio Tree LLC.

    My Audio Tree Product1These speakers have been tested in a professional recording studio and proven to double the sound of your phone’s speaker using “passive amplification” meaning there are no electronics involved. Some have been designed to allow you to charge your phone by running your own charger through the speaker.

    My Audio Tree Product Dtl

    Hand selecting exotic woods, and tone-woods, carefully monitoring the moisture content and density are just some of the examples of the attention to detail that is put into every piece.  Daniel uses age-old woodworking techniques along with modern day trade secrets. He has even had to have custom made tools in order to create some of his designs.

    My Audio Tree Product2For the first time Audio Tree will be at the Art Star Craft Bazaar early next month! Stop by the booth (#13)  to see these pieces in person and find out more about Audio Tree and “Play One! Plant One!” You can also visit www.myaudiotree.com if you just can’t wait to see more!

     

  • Art Star Craft Bazaar is Coming to Asbury Park!

    We’ve got some exciting news!! We are bringing our Art Star Craft Bazaar to Asbury Park, New Jersey!

    Asbury Web

    Don’t worry, we will still host our bazaar twice a year in Philly.  We’ve been looking for a 2nd home for our show for quite a while now, so this will just be another location added to our roster.

    Asbury Mural
    Awesome Mural in Asbury Park by Porkchop. Photo Courtesy of Move For Hunger.

    Asbury Park is a perfect fit for our show.  There is already a flourishing creative scene happening there and also tons of independent shops and restaurants.  It is just our style.

    We will be bringing our bazaar to Bradley Park, which is a city owned park situated right across the street from the Asbury Park Boardwalk and their Convention Hall.  The show will be held during the city’s peak summer season, on the weekend July 25th + 26th.  The city has a devoted art/craft community, which is active year round.  We hope to attract this audience, tourists, as well as our own Art Star following.

    We are excited to be partnering with Asbury Park based non-profit, Move For Hunger. We will be collecting a $3 suggested donation at the door and 100% of that will go directly to this amazing organization.

    Move For Hunger is a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2009 to transform moving into an opportunity to reduce food waste and help feed the hungry. Move For Hunger is a national organization working with over 600 relocation partners and thousands of real estate agents to bring awareness to hunger in America. Currently over 1,151,000 residents of New Jersey struggle with hunger. Move For Hunger is working to ensure less food goes to waste and more is delivered to those in need. In just five years, the Move For Hunger program has delivered over 4.5 million pounds of food to community food banks nationwide.

    Food_Drive
    Photo Courtesy of Move For Hunger

     

    The Asbury Park Art Star Craft Bazaar will be very similar to our popular spring bazaar at Penn’s Landing Great Plaza in Philadelphia.  Around 100 art/craft vendors will be set up selling their wares in Bradley Park.  On that note, we are now accepting vendor applications for this show!  So if you are an artist or crafter who would like to apply to participate, please go here

    We are also looking to bring in some locally based art organizations/non-profits to set up at our show in exchange for providing a free interactive art/craft project, or as we call them “make + takes”, for guests to come and make something that they can take home with them that day.

    We are so excited to bring our bazaar to this amazing city and we hope you are to!  Please continue to check the site for updates on the show.  If you are a business based in Asbury and want to work together – cross promote or provide a make + take, please get in touch with us.  We are looking to collaborate and involve the city as much as possible!

  • Eling of Migration Goods Shares Her ASCB Shopping List

    Hi everyone! Eling from migration goods here. As a maker I rarely get enough time to properly shop at the events I am vending at, and this is doubly so during the fall + holiday seasons. I am always kicking myself at the end of a show because I haven’t had enough time to complete my own shopping!

    This year I decided I would try to organize + plan my holiday shopping ahead of time for events that I know will have really great vendors– like, yup, the upcoming Fall Art Star Bazaar!

    Here’s what’s on my list (so far)!

    All of Dirty Ass Soap‘s soaps are so fun, but this ramen soap is definitely tops on my list for gifts this year (hope none of the potential recipients are reading this)

    Also on my list for gift shopping (and in the category of food related accessories): The everything bagel necklace from inedible jewelry

    and the amazing Old Bay Seasoning earrings from Flat Rat Studio. (Their pet portraits are totally on my own wishlist too).

    I’m obsessed with paper goods & can never find enough time to look at them all! But I’ll be making a point to find Bowerbox Press next weekend for this card & to check out all the rest of the lovely work in person.

     More paper goods please! I can’t wait to see Sarah Ryan‘s sweet cards + illustrations up close!

    For my book-loving friends (and me too), I’m very excited to pick up these bookmarks from New Academy Press, and this super-cute tote from Common Rebels too.

    Common Rebels also makes a ton of cute cat items, which I will be shopping for my cat-loving friends. Speaking of those cat friends, I’ll also be looking for this sweet cat lover scarf from Red Prarie Press.

    If my friends/family are very very good, they might find themselves the recipients of one of these gorgeous spoons or sake cups from Melissa Weiss Pottery (I’m coveting these ramen bowls for myself).

    And how cute is this stegosaurus from By Yivvie? Some tiny (or not so tiny) people I know may need a few of these plushes…

    A couple other items I will be checking out for some potentially very lucky folks include this beautiful whale skeleton necklace from J.TOPOLSKI (I am saving up for this sloth bracelet for ME!)

     and the beautiful printed work of Bonnie Kaye Studio — so good!


    Finally, I’m really excited to see these diorama & miniature pieces from metamorphosis metals up close!


    And I won’t be leaving without a print for myself from Naughty & Nice. I’m pretty sure I want Tag You Are It (below), but I’m also eyeing The Terror of the Sea

    really hope I get a chance to see all of these things in person next weekend, but at least I’ve made my list, right? There are SO MANY talented artists + makers vending at the Fall Art Star Bazaaron November 8th + 9th. Don’t forget to check them out ahead of time here & make your own list!

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    Thanks to Eling from Migration Goods for sharing her Art Star Craft Bazaar Shopping List!  Be sure to stop by her booth to check out her line of adorable felt accessories and illustrated paper goods.


  • Guest Post: Melissa Weiss Pottery


    We are thrilled to welcome new Art Star Craft Bazaar Vendor, Melissa Weiss, to our November 8th and 9th show at the 23rd Street Armory and as a guest writer on our blog today!  Melissa is a studio potter from Asheville, NC.  She digs all of her own clay off her land in NW Arkansas and each piece is made entirely by hand.  Enjoy her post about her work and process. Be sure to check out her website and her booth (#47) at our upcoming bazaar!

    Melissa Weiss in her studio

    About 6 years ago on a visit to my land in NW Arkansas I dug a bucket of clay out of the ground and brought it home.  I made a cup and fired it.  It withstood the firing but had some issues. On my next trip to Arkansas I dug a few hundred pounds.  I brought it back to my studio in Asheville, NC and started adding feldspars, sand and other commercially available dried clays.  I made about 13 variations of clay bodies incorporating my hand dug clay in different percentages.  I tested all of these variations with all of my slips and glazes and after hundreds of tests came up with a working clay body that was what I wanted based on functionality and aesthetics.  The clay I dug from land is 25% of the body and this is the clay I use to make every single pot.  The process is arduous but the reward is grand.

    About once a year I drive to the land I bought in 2002 with friends.  I was not a potter then.  We bought 75 acres of wild woods an hour from town.  This land is full of a beautiful iron rich, red clay. I dig about 1000 lbs on a trip and bring it home.  This will enable me to make 4000 lbs of clay.  I make clay at my studio in batches of 1000 lbs.  I put the Arkansas clay in a 55 gallon drum and add water.  I let it sit for a while and drill it up until it’s a slurry.


    Then I screen it to remove the big rocks and debris.  This now liquid clay is in a giant metal trough.  I then add all my commercial ingredients and drill it up.  At this point the clay is mixed and is the consistency of yogurt.  I remove this liquid clay by the bucket full into racks lined with old bed sheets.  The racks are basically wood frames with a chicken wire bottom.  These racks get stacked upon each other until they are all filled with the clay.  They will then sit for 2 weeks or more depending on the weather.  At this stage the water slowly drains through the sheets and screen and eventually I am left with a useable clay.

    the clay’s water slowly drains through bed sheets

    The reason I do this is not to save money on clay.  After all the labor and driving it costs much more than buying clay at the store.  I do this for many reasons.  The most basic is aesthetics.  The clay I make looks different.  It is imperfect and slightly varying.  Small rocks and bits of iron remain, which melt out in the firings and give the pots a raw, wild look. This clay also feels different.  It feels alive.  It has a character and a life of its own.  I also love the process of autonomy.  I like being involved in the making process from the beginning to the end.  The finished pot was made by me every step of the way.  It gives me a connection to my work I don’t think I would have if the clay was more easily come by.

    hand formed spoons made from Melissa’s own clay body

    I work out of an 8000 square foot warehouse in an industrial section of Asheville, NC between the railroad and the river.  It’s called SouthSide Studios which I founded in 2013. I run the studio which houses about 20 other artists working in a variety of media.  My studio hours are dictated by the fact that I have a 10 year old in public school.  I get to the studio by 8am, Monday through Friday.  I work until 3 most days and later when I have the opportunity.  I spend time there on weekends when I can.  On average I spend about 40-50 hours a week in the studio.


    I work in a rhythm. It starts with making clay, slips, glazes and washing ash for glazes.  I then make pots.  I usually have the pots I want to make laid out by weeks.  This is dictated partly by orders and deadlines.  This system seems to give me structure and keep me from becoming overwhelmed with too much to do.  For example, I will lay out the month of making by Week 1: slab pots, Week 2: mugs and drip cones, Week 3: pitchers and animal pots, Week 4 thrown bowls and teacups. This is never rigid and I ALWAYS make or do something new in every cycle.  When the making is complete I bisque fire all the pots. Then I glaze and decorate all the pots.  They are now ready for the final firing.  I fire the pots in a gas reduction kiln at the studio.  The firing lasts about 10 hours.  The kiln cools for a day and then I unload the pots.  All the pots get their bottoms sanded to make them smooth.  They then get washed and priced.

    Everyday I am in my studio I feel grateful and lucky.  So grateful that I do what I love for a living.  It takes a strict discipline and sacrifice of certain things but they are all worth it.  I will be making pots in my studio, listening to music with my dog and drinking coffee thinking – “I am at work right now!”  I work hard and it feels easy.

    Iron + White “V” Lidded Elephant Jar by Melissa Weiss Pottery

    Purchase Melissa’s work at our upcoming bazaar or on her website here

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