Columbus Avant-Garde Art & Craft Shows: May 2021

Meet Charmaine Boggs from CBoggsArt LLC...

I'm a mixed media artist and jewelry designer working from my home in Centerville, Ohio. I've been creating art in one form or another since I was in grade school, usually drawing in my school notebooks, mostly fashion models and my favorite musical group, the Beatles. Although I took art classes in high school and college, and have a degree in art education, much of what I do now is a combination of experimentation, art classes taken locally and online, and watching lots of Youtube videos.

I sell my art and my jewelry in two separate Etsy shops and also teach classes in painting, printmaking, and mixed media art on the Skillshare website. I participated in the Columbus and Cincinnati Avant-Garde shows during 2019.

Most of my artwork is inspired my nature. I take photos at home and whenever I travel to use as a resource for my landscape and floral paintings. Recently, I've been experimenting with cyanotype prints, harnessing the power of the sun to create images and color patterns for my mixed media art. My jewelry is also influenced by my love of the outdoors. I create embossed metal jewelry embellished with natural cut stones, leather cord, and faceted crystals.

I don't spend much time sketching out images or jewelry designs before starting the work. i enjoy the process of experimentation and seeing what I can do with the materials I have on hand. If a jewelry design or a particular image works, I may repeat it, but most of my work is one of a kind.

My work is all about the joys of the creative journey and sharing it with others. The tagline on my Etsy jewelry shop reads, "Life's a Journey... Add the Sparkle!" This pretty much sums it up for me! i have no idea what the next five years will bring, but as long as I'm still on that creative journey, i know I'll be just fine.

Meet Daniel Morris from Daniel Morris Gallery...

I am an artist based out of Columbus Ohio. I have been airbrushing for over twenty years and practicing my artistic craft for much longer. I participated in an Avant-Garde show a few years ago, but at the time I was airbrushing t-shirts.

There is a certain freedom in controlling a medium and manipulating it to project your vision. This is what inspires me to create. I use to sit down in front of the TV as a child, watching Transformers. My first “studio” was a thick book and a ball of clay. From Optimus Prime to Bumblebee, I would build the characters, play with them for a while, and then roll them back into the ball from which they came. I consider that the beginning.

Now, I look at my references and mentally project them onto the canvas. That is my creative process.

I honestly can’t guess where my business will be in five years. Five years ago I wouldn’t have known I’d be back in Columbus, setting up at art shows.

My work is about race and geography. We are not all the same. We should celebrate our differences.

Meet KatieAnn Bonavita of Chic Engineer Boutique...

KatieAnn just graduated from OSU in December with a dual degree in mechanical engineering and music. She has a love for both science and the arts and was looking for ways to combine these two passions upon graduation and decided to purchase her first 3D printer. She had experience with 3D printing from her 2.5 years of undergraduate research in flexible electronics, but had used it exclusively for lab research. In December she started printing more fun and creative pieces on her own printer and decided to make a business out of it.

Just 6 months into her business (mostly supported by an Etsy page) this is her first craft fair. She is so excited to not only share her passion for her creative works, but also show younger people the many areas that STEM can be applied to and how engineering requires a lot of creativity. Her software and 3D printer will be set up at her booth for kids to see it in action and even create a custom 3D ornament of their own while attending the fair. More than anything, she loves using this business as a way to encourage females in engineering and exercise both her engineering and arts brain.

While she is currently working 3 part time jobs (3D printing business, dog trainer, and professional singer/actress), she would love to do more outreach with her 3D printing and eventually go full time.

Meet Party of Six Studio...

Party of 6 Studio is a small business in Pickerington specializing in handmade home decor and gifts. My husband and I have four daughters. Early on, our family found crafting to be an integral part of our lives and sanity. Our daughters make many of the items in our store - with guidance and quality control. We put a lot of love and careful attention in each item we make.

We began crafting in 2017 when our oldest needed to save money for a school camping trip. We love teaching our daughters the joy of struggling through to the end, of seeing what they can accomplish, and that moment of pride that shines through their eyes when they look at their finished product. It started as a way to create items for ourselves, things we saw and wanted, but couldn't afford at the time. It has grown into exploring that light within ourselves that is fueled by the process.

My husband and I discovered our talents at different points - I've always been creating in some way, but my husband discovered his talents when life forced him to learn to work with his hands. Our daughters have been creating so long, they likely don't remember not doing it. Our creative process varies per person. For our daughters, they see things in the world, the stores, online, that they want to try their hand at. For me, it's a combination of Muse and relaxation fueling my crafts. My husband is fueled more by man grunts and sawdust.