My art is unique because my whole family is involved in helping to inspire, create and work at it. My mother is blind, has been her whole life, and is one of the most talented knitters I've ever met. My 3 teens all know how to spin and knit with our alpaca fiber. My husband and I do most of the photographic art, but my kids are involved with that as well. My teens inspired and help create the hair accessories, my husband inspired the chocolates, and our love of animals helped create the wing shirts. The Ductape wallets are all me though.
With the other half of my business, the alpacas, as I mentioned before my mom is an amazing knitter. I made a comment to someone at a craft show that it would be awesome to get some alpacas so my mom could knit with the most amazing yarn in the world, alpaca yarn.
2 weeks later I got a call out of the blue from someone who had 5 male suri alpacas that they were looking to rehome, was I interested?
a year later I was up to 11 alpacas, my mom is happily creating unique items with our alpaca yarn. Today 5 years later I have been doing even more work getting all of our yarn spun by hand by people all over the world, making the yarn even more special!
In 5 years I'd like to still be involved in artisan events around my area, and hope that as word of the quailty of our unique items grows my online sales will grow as well.
Meet Donna Garrett from Quietly Quilting...
I am originally from Aurora Ohio. I went to Kent State and graduated with a degree in Music Education. I have taught school, am a military veteran, and have lived all over the United States and in Germany. Most recently, moving to Wellington, Ohio in 2012 after 16 years in Northern California. I have sewn most of my life and reconnected with that hobby in 2008 while I was between jobs.
Meet Cristen Magree from Rusty Bear Studio...
I was born and grew up here in Northeast Ohio while spending summers in Western NY state, immersed in the beautiful country life. After attending Kent State University for Earth Sciences, I settled in Northeast Ohio with my husband, Mark, and started my art business, Rusty Bear Studio. I have been fortunate enough to have both my artwork and jewelry accepted into galleries in Ohio, NYC and Chautauqua, NY as well as producing commissions for people across the country. I've been an artist since I was able to hold a crayon. My mother has been a prominent local artist since long before I was born so I began to create artwork from a very young age. I continued to challenge myself with new techniques after my academic career and, at the age of 25, began to develop my business. Now, at 30, I continue to push myself with new techniques, mediums and I enjoy every minute of it.
I have been participating in Avant-Garde shows since 2013. Although I have lost count of how many shows I have done with this company, I have enjoyed every single one and plan on continuing to show with Avant-Garde for as long as possible!
I have a passion for science, geology and the outdoors, which I try to convey through each piece of artwork I create. I am constantly inspired by the colors, movement and history I see in the parks and countryside that we are lucky enough to have right outside our door here in Ohio.
I first got in the art and craft shows when I did a show with my mother a few years ago. I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere and the comradery of the vendors. I felt like I had found a niche for my artwork and have been participating in many shows since. Living in the age of information and technology, I have the ability to go online to research and study the many new techniques that artists are coming up with at the touch of a fingertip. Without these sources I would not have learned about fluid pour or alcohol ink painting. I am always pushed by advancements in the art world to try new things and evolve my style.
I found my talent for art as a child, drawing and painting for fun along side my mother. I continued to hone my skills throughout high school and college, focusing on animation and Special FX make up. Throughout college and after, I worked with pop culture subjects and eventually made the leap to abstract paintings with the acrylic pour and alcohol ink pieces I do today. I found my talent in jewelry making through my obsession with geology, especially the native features we have here in Ohio. Finding fossils and minerals along the Lake Erie Shoreline down to the Chagrin Valley fed my desire to show others what I had been finding and to try to teach them about our state's beautiful prehistory.
Once something inspires me to create a painting, I begin the process of finding color and movement that follows that inspiration. I use alcohol inks and 91% Ethyl alcohol to create abstract, vivid images of the natural world around me. However, I do not base any one piece on a specific natural scene as I very much want each viewer to see their own setting and find what THEY love in each piece.
For my jewelry, I look for pieces that explain the geologic history of Ohio in a beautiful way, whether it be rare fossils, uniquely formed minerals or other specimens local to the Ohio region. I take a very simplistic wrapping approach to my necklaces, rings and earrings. I very much want the stone I use to speak for itself and have every beautiful color, fossil or iridescence visible when wearing them.
In five years I see myself as continuing to have a regular presence at both local and regional shows. I hope to have a larger regular customer base and to have educated as many people as I can about the geologic history of Ohio as well as have inspired people to see their own passions and desires in my work. When I first started with Avant-Garde, I had the hope that five years from that point, I would have at least one person who would attend shows just to see my work or become a re-occurring buyer. I have met both of those goals within a little more than a year of starting out, with much thanks to Becki and her team as well as networking with other vendors. I hope that I am able to achieve my new five year goals as quickly as I have my past ones.
The message in my art is two fold. For my paintings the message is that there is no intrinsic message. I want each viewer to see what they want to see in each piece. I want them to have their own experience and make their own world out of what they see. I love when no two people see the same thing in a single piece. And for my jewelry, I hope to promote a message of education and passion about science and nature. If I can get one more person looking for a fossil on the beach as they walk along, I will have gotten my message across.
Meet Linda Ziemkiewicz from Z Beads & Jewelry...
I am Linda Ziemkiewicz, I am married, and have raised 3 grown boys/men. I have been the owner of Z Beads & Jewelry for 4 years. This is my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. Beautiful Beads inspire me to create. Crafting had always interested me since I was a little girl. I began a family and my life revolved around my 3 boys. They grew up and I had some extra time on my hands.
It just happened when I started playing around with the beads. I am inspired by the colors of the seasons. I don't look that far ahead into the future because each year brings so many new surprises! You never know who you are going to meet or what doors will open for you. You must be ready to embrace new directions!
I want my customers to know that you don't have to pay an arm and a leg to have a pretty piece of jewelry. I love the fact that little girls, big girls, men and women can all create their own unique piece of jewelry and take it home with them. If they are not creative, I am happy to assist them. Most customers just need a little direction and they are surprised how creative they really can be. I also have pieces which I have created and they are for sale as well. People can make a fully beaded bracelet often for the price of a "Jewelry Store" bead.
Meet Trish Zimbalatti from Can Cuff...
My name is Trish Zimbalatti and I'm from Michigan originally. I just moved to Akron two and a half years ago. I'm a Graphic Artist and Freelance Landscape Designer by trade. I've always been a creative person and enjoy the arts. I worked as a Graphic Artist for 20 years then decided I wanted to use the outdoors as my canvas instead and worked in landscaping for 14 years. I still do freelance design both Graphic and Landscaping.
My arts and crafts experience includes pen and ink drawing, ceramics, stained glass. I'm a fine artist at heart and have started creating photo sculptures as well. I hope to get some of my work into a gallery some day.
I've just recently got back into arts and craft shows and the Fairlawn Avante Garde Art and Craft Show is the first one I've entered in many years and I'm really looking forward to it.
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My idea for the Can Cuff came about when I realized that just about everyone I know including myself uses recycled grocery bags or store bought bags to line there wastebaskets. I see them in bathroom, bedrooms, kitchens etc. and it drove me nuts looking at a plastic bag hanging over the edge of a nice wastebasket. Recycling grocery bags that way is a great idea but not necessarily attractive. So I thought that there has got to be a better way to cover up those ugly bags so I designed the Can Cuff.
It's simple, attractive, easy to use, washable and comes in a variety of colors and patterns.There is also a Cuff that fits square tissue boxes and the set together is really attractive and livens up any room. Not to mention covering up the ugly plastic bags. I like to come up with things that serve a purpose and/or solve a problem. I'm a very visual person and I approach everything in a creative manner. I see myself selling these Cuffs in retail stores along with a few other products I have in mind. I am in the process of setting up an online store to sell Can Cuffs.
2015 Strongsville Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Sunday, April 19th, 2015
Ehrnfelt Recreation Center
18100 Royalton Rd.
Strongsville, OH 44136
For more information, contact Becki Silverstein, Event Coordinator at Becki@ag-shows.com
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