Meet Kellie Wolke from KW Needleworks...
I'm a 20-something mother, video gamer, bookworm, board game enthusiast, and all around geek. I worked professionally as a seamstress for a small business in Hartville, Ohio before giving birth to my daughter in late 2016, and I've been a stay at home mom since then. I've been sewing in some capacity since I was in kindergarten. My great aunt used to paper piece these absolutely beautiful quilts together by hand, and she taught me how to sew with her scraps. I definitely see that experience reflected in how much I enjoy adding hand embroidery to my pieces. But I would say I started really seriously sewing in 2008 out of a desire to make myself a costume for a renaissance festival. I've been attached to one machine or another since then!
This will be my first Avant-Garde show! In fact, this will be the first ever craft show I've participated in for KW Needleworks. I'm very excited. Almost everything inspires me. In particular, I'm always drawn to clean lines, geometric shapes, bright colors, and plant life. My 1 1/2 year old daughter is also very inspiring to me; everything is so exciting to her! She helps me notice little things daily, especially when we're playing outside. I honestly couldn't tell you what exactly got me into this hobby! I've been crafty for as long as I can remember. I can recall one Christmas where my parents got me a huge (huge to me, anyway; I think I was in preschool) tub full of craft supplies, and I was SO HAPPY.
I discovered my talent from trial and error. I would say sewing is 90% practice and 10% talent! You just have to put in the work and keep on trying. I wish I would have saved the first piece of clothing I ever made, because it came out like a shapeless garbage bag. Ten years later, and I can sew pretty much whatever I want.
My creative process is very methodical. I typically spend more than a month making mockups and test samples of a product, tweaking my process until it's something I feel completely happy with. I don't want to sell anything I wouldn't absolutely want to use myself. I also really utilize Pinterest and a mood board I keep in my workshop. I'm constantly snapping photos on my phone to pin, scanning in magazine pages that inspire me, and writing down ideas that pop into my head. I keep a lot of notes. This is my first year in this venture, and I'm focusing on taking things slow and doing everything right. In 5 years, I'd like to be doing at least one craft or art show per month, have regular sales in my Etsy store, and be offering products in a few handmade retail locations. I'd like to think my products bring little joys into people's daily lives. Bright pops of color and quirky fabrics and designs make me happy, and I want to pass that happiness on to my customers!
Meet Victoria Schmidt from Beyond Borders...
This will be our very first Avant-Garde show and we are SO excited. We have been selling fair trade items for about three years now. We love the constant exchange and blossoming of new product and design ideas. Most importantly, we see real economic improvement and lives bettered through the creation and sharing of their beautiful art. This success is about a true partnership between the Haitian artists, Beyond Borders, you as our retail customers, and your customers… all who get to love this art and share in the story.
In the 1950's a railway mechanic working in the Dominican Republic, Georges Liautaud (born 1899), decided it was time to go back to his home village, Croix des Bouquets, Haiti, to spend his last few remaining years near those he loved. The average life expectancy in Haiti at the time was 56 years. When Liautaud returned, he found that, indeed, many of his friends and family had passed on to the next life. He began to honor them by carving elaborate crosses for their burial sites out of iron, his material of choice from his train-repairing days. Shortly before this time Dewitt Peters, an American Quaker pacifist, traveled to Haiti to teach English. A watercolorist himself, he recognized the extraordinary artistic talent of many Haitians but the lack of organized support for the artistic community. In partnership with the Haitian-American Institute and alongside several dedicated Haitian artists, Peters established Le Centre D’Art in Port au Prince in 1944 with the purpose of identifying and encouraging Haitian artists, giving them a central home to explore and develop their talent. Peters also scoured the countryside, looking for artists. It was on a visit to Croix des Bouquets that he came upon the extraordinary crosses dotting the cemetery. Learning of the creator, a friendship emerged with Peters encouraging Liautaud to expand his artistic themes. A devout Catholic Vodun, Liautaud began creating sculptures in homage to different lao (spirits from the Voodoo religion – more about that in another blog). His talent quickly became revered at Centre D’Art and his works would eventually find their home in some of the most prestigious museums around the world.
The artists use old discarded oil barrels and with just 3 tools – a hammer, a chisel and a nail – they create these pieces. Well, 4 tools, if you count the piece of chalk they use to draw the design on the metal. In the next five years, we hope to continue employing and empowering more and more Haitian artists!
Meet Dorothy and Maryann from Touch of Mink, Designs in Clay...
Hi! We're Dorothy and Maryann! We're sisters who are the proprietors of Touch of Mink, Designs in Clay. We started doing shows 15 years ago and had so much fun making and selling our products that we haven't stopped! We do hand built and slab pottery, which gives us more flexibility and creativity in the pieces we produce. This is our second time at the Fairlawn Avant-Garde show! And we are really looking forward to it!
Dorothy is a self-taught artist who enjoys traditional art mixed with whimsical fantasy. A life long collector of old things, she likes to mix those items in with new pieces. Through her art, she enjoys bringing a little joy and humorous fun into people's lives.
Maryann took some classes in art and likes to look at many different art mediums, not just pottery, which helps her create many different kinds of pieces. Her goal is to build function but fun pieces of art that are unique in style and color, ensuring no two pieces will ever be alike.
Meet Kristin Shamhart from Artistic Pursuits by Kristin Shamhart....
My name is Kristin Shamhart, and I am originally from Sandusky Ohio. I moved to the Trumbull County area in Nov. 2004, We bought a house in Newton Falls in Jan. 2005 and have been there since. While my formal education was in computer programming many years ago, I have always loved anything creative and painted since childhood. Many family members paint so being around them as a child really encouraged me. My professional painting with watercolors began after taking lessons from Robert and Elnor Hilty. They encouraged me to start showing my work. So for 14 years I showed watercolors around Ohio and Michigan. I also gave lessons to children in watercolors. I loved how they were so creative, they would come up with colors I never thought of nor would even try using.
Taking a break after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, I just returned to showing my work in 2015, when I taught myself to paint on silk. Silk painting is a bit like watercolor painting, but there are still some differences as well. I love how the dye flows, but that is sometimes difficult to control. After steaming to set the silk, the colors become even more vibrant. And silk painting lends itself well to my favorite subject matter, flowers.
I think I have been inspired the most by my grandmother. She bought me my first set of paints when I was nine. She hung up all my work, even though one was upside down. I was very close to her, and spent time with her in her garden, which from Spring to Fall was filled with flowers. I love to paint florals because the flow of the petals are so delicate and the color changes subtle. I also enjoy painting in acrylics which I sometimes show as well. In that medium I paint many different subject, whatever strikes me at the time. I have been hired to paint a variety of subjects, from a private estate home on barnsiding, to a horse for it's owner, ducks, landscapes and of course flowers. Last count, I have paintings in over twenty states.
What does the future hold for me. I wish I knew. I am almost sixty, so I just appreciate each and every day. I hope I will still be painting, traveling as much as I am able and enjoying my grandkids. Maybe I will get to teach them to paint as well. I have done acrylics of each of them for my home.
2018 Fairlawn Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
St. George's Fellowship Centre
For more information, contact Becki Silverstein, at Becki@ag-shows.com
