Fellow Buckeyes, Get Ready for the Avant-Garde Show this Weekend!

Meet Carrie Love from Carrie Love Designs...
Hi, my name is Carrie Love. I am a southern belle at heart. I grew up in the great state of Georgia.  I graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia.  I am married to my awesome husband of 16 years and have 3 wonderful kids. I grew up drawing, coloring, and gluing things together. I've always been artsy and crafty for as long as I can remember. 

This is my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. I see inspiration all around me. I love to see how color and shape play off each other. My earliest memory of crafts was with my grandmother, she was such a big role model in my life. Drawing is in my blood, I come from a long line of artists. I got to see creativity in action and just had to try it for myself. I have explored many mediums, but my favorite medium to work with is mixed media paper.

I love the creative process; It is so much fun! It is much like being a detective. I sketch ideas, and I often carry a sketch book with me so I can sketch my thoughts or ideas. I like to draw ideas from different view points or play with a variety of colors combinations. I cut paper and recut until I like what I see. Even if I don't like what I see, I save it for later to use in another project. I go through many rough drafts! I believe that is how I gain new ideas for future adventures.

In five years, I see myself being in more art and craft shows. I would love to have more of an online presence such as Etsy and social media. One of my goals is to write articles for art and craft magazines. 

The message behind my work is that everything I do is to the glory of God.  Also, that we are God's workmanship, loving each other, and loving the life that he has given to each one of us.

Meet Melinda Wagner from LindySue Sews...
I’ve been sewing since I was little. It is a skill I learned from my mom, who learned from hers. As a teenager, it was just fun – pajama pants, tying quilts, I think I attempted a skirt once. But I didn’t know then that sewing would become a huge passion in my life. It acts as my form of therapy. It helps me retain my sense of self as I make motherhood my main priority. And ultimately, it has become my business.

When my daughter was born in 2013, I gave up my job in journalism to stay home with her. That’s when I started my Etsy shop, selling handmade purses and wristlets. As my friends’ families grew, I made each new baby a quilt and realized how much I truly loved it. I practically bounced all the way to the fabric store ready for the challenge to find the perfect fabrics. When they thanked me for the gift, I would thank them for having a baby so I’d have an excuse to make a quilt. I had quickly gotten tired of making purses, but realized I would never get bored creating quilts. And every baby deserves something handmade! Enter some rebranding for my Etsy shop and my new tagline “handmade, heartmade.” I put my heart into everything I make with a giddy excitement to see it all come together.

Since offering custom quilts online, my shop has grown to include crib sheets, burp rags, bandana bibs, and more. My family also has grown. I now stay home with three little ones, ages four, three and one. (Remember how I said sewing was therapy?) In late summer 2017, I decided to get brave and do something I always said I would do – craft shows.

I love craft shows, and I’ve always sought them out as a shopper. I feared I wouldn’t be able to make enough inventory to ever fill my own booth, but I made it a priority to sew every day. Nap time is sew time at my house, and I’ve amazed myself at how much I can make in two hours. I also have an amazing and super supportive husband who allows me lots of time in my home studio. I even created my own pinafore pattern in two different sizes, and it has become my best seller at shows.

I am certainly new to the craft show circuit. I’ve only done a Christmas show in Dayton and Art on Vine at Rhinegeist Brewery in Cincinnati, but I’ve made it my 2018 goal to do one show each month and I’m already surpassing that. It’s a bit scary putting my work (and essentially my heart) on display for the world to see and spend their hard-earned money on, but I love talking to people about their families and creating one-of- a-kind items for their children. This is my first show with Avant-Garde, and I am excited to see what’s in store!

Meet Rhonda Robinson from BellaValora Jewelry Design...

I am a Registered Nurse who turned in her scrubs to pursue the life of metalsmithing. I love to read, bike, hike, go to the Farmer's Market, and most of all - spend time in my studio working on new creations! I have been creating for about three years, and this will be my very first Avant-Garde Show! 

Ideas just pop into my head from who knows where. However, I am inspired to create sterling silver pieces which make the metal the main focus. I love to use texture and patina in my pieces and enjoy seeing the transformation of a simple piece of silver sheet becoming a beautiful piece of jewelry. I've always wanted to be an artist and I have taken continuing education classes in various mediums for my whole life. While taking a stained glass class a few years ago, I saw a pamphlet for a two-year, full time, professional crafts program in metal smithing. It was scary to leave my job in nursing but I made the leap and started the program. I am so glad I did!

I had actually taken a couple of week long classes in metal smithing and enameling that the John C. Campbell Folk Art School prior to joining the professional crafts program years later. The folk art school is a craft school which is like summer camp for adults! I enjoyed the classes and experience there but never dreamed of where it would eventually lead me. 

I would describe my creative process as...random! An idea comes to me and then I sketch it into my sketchbook that I always carry on me. I plan out my process from start to finish - and then, I make it happen! If the project is particularly complex and I have never done it before, I will sometimes make a prototype out of copper first.

In the next five years, I would like to be doing more shows and have a thriving online business. Most of all, I just want to keep continuing to improve in my craft. Five years from now, I want to be at least five times more knowledgeable than I am now! I want to continue to push myself by learning more and more techniques and trying things that I have never done before.

I just want people to feel that the jewelry they purchase from me expresses their own unique personalities. I know how personal jewelry is to people and I want people to feel that the pieces they buy have something to say about themselves. 

Meet Marianne O’Neil from Soul Sidekick Studio...
Kathy Klein and Marianne O’Neil have been best friends for years and started their business together about 5 years ago. Kathy Klein has always been an avid treasurer hunter and has been collecting rocks, beads and precious stones since her early twenties. Kathy’s interest in crystals took her to Arizona to study with a local teacher knowledgeable in the healing properties of crystals. Once she returned home and filling up her entire dining room with cabinets brimming with every conceivable rock, stone, chain and charm, she started making jewelry for people and passing on what she knew concerning the healing properties to friends and family.

Marianne O’Neil-Cook has been creating art since she was a child. Marianne is an artist with a deep love for designing one-of-a-kind works of art. Her body of work includes painting, drawings, metal, wood and paper sculptures. Since teaming with Kathy, Marianne contributes to the jewelry making by offering a small collection of hand painted pendants. Kathy and Marianne believe that a person is drawn towards a particular stone they currently need for support or balance within the physical and metaphysical realms. Their crystal jewelry is meant to serve two purposes.

This is our first Avant-Grade show. We are looking forward to participating in a show that celebrates the innovative, unconventional and modern works of creatives! I know we are not just going as an artist but as a shopper, and that’s exciting! Being in nature and surrounding ourselves with positivity always refreshes and restores our creative spirit. Owning a storefront Retail Store/Gallery/Studio (and I would like to add community) that we can invite other artists across a variety of media to work and share their work with the community we create together. We are exploring locations throughout Ohio. 

We both have a strong faith and belief that God lives in every atom of everything. Since everything is made up of atoms we believe with faith in God as our ultimate creator we are just adding our good intentions to share our gifts. Each stone Kathy selects for our jewelry or each image Marianne creates in her artwork is done so with the intention of sharing the healing energies it radiates. 

2018 Columbus Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday, March 3, 2018

 10:00am-4:00pm

Makoy Event Center

5462 Center St.

Columbus, OH 43026

For more information, contact Becki Silverstein, Event Coordinator at Becki@ag-shows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

LINKEDIN

SaveSave