Meet Shannon Justice of The indiExclusive…
My name is Azula Morphoenix and I’m an artist from the central Ohio area. I have two creative children, a 15-year-old writer and a 20-year old-artist. I also have a big, fat bulldog who loves nothing more than to plop in my lap when I’m trying to draw. (He thinks he’s a lap dog with his whole 90 pounds!). Luckily I have a job where I can create as I work. Some of my best pieces were made on the clock!
I run an artist collective called The indiExclusive that features creatives of all kinds from different parts of the world. I promote their work at Hollywood red carpet events as well as backstage concert festivals and charity events. We have a ton of fun and a lot of great celebrities collect our work.
I’ve been told I was born with a pencil in my hand. I honestly don’t remember the first time I drew something. Creating has just always been a part of me, but this is my very first Avant-Garde show and I’m super excited!
Everything and anything inspires me to create! I can make out faces or scenes in marble, tile, even tree bark, and it inspires something that has to come out on paper. People, memories, random objects, it could be anything. I just created a small collection of mini-prints featuring vintage campers because I had such a good time hanging out in one recently!
This has always just been a part of who I am. I didn’t really “discover” my talent. I’ve been drawing since I was very, very small with my family’s encouragement. It’s more like my sixth sense rather than something I discovered.
With my process, it just kind of happens. I wish I could tell you I brew a pot of tea, collect my supplies, turn on a favorite song and do my thing, but my creative bone doesn’t work that way. The urge to draw can strike me wherever I am so I just stop what I’m doing (or multitask, depending!) and the pencil hits the paper. Today, for example, I’ve been working on a new project while flying to California for an event!
Five years from now, I plan on participating in more shows, creating more art, and just loving life as it comes. My whole message is that I feel art is subjective and each person could get a completely different message or feeling from my work. It’s one of the things I love most about art. It’s not like you are simply looking at something pretty or fascinating; you see it with all your past experiences, your personal beliefs, like a fingerprint. Each person sees something that reflects on themselves and who they are as a person. I love hearing the different reactions to my work.
Meet Teresa Speakman of Full Circle Pottery...
For 30 years, I’ve balanced my life teaching mindful practices of Compassionate Communication and Laughter Yoga with creating pottery. I offer individual coaching sessions, classes, play-shops, and presentations with the vision of bringing about personal healing, growth, and positive social change. My passion as a clay artist keeps me grounded in the creative energy that also plays a supportive role with from sales which helps create the means to share Compassionate Communication because some presentations are free or donation based. This is my first Avant-Garde show.
My attraction to the handmade object, whether functional or not, springs from my love of nature, and in our industrial society, playing in clay is as close to Mother Earth as it gets. Working with various aspects of pottery such as hand-building, wheel-throwing, and altering the pieces is a meditation practice for me. Carving into the partially dried clay allows me to express my love for mother earth, reflecting the beauty I see and hope for harmony in the world. Once dried and fired in the kiln, the form evokes a soothing presence in the hands of those in which it lands. It all began when I met a collective of potters when I was a teenager. When I visited their studio housed in a barn I knew immediately that this was what I wanted to do! It was a passion and dream that I made happen!
I would describe my creative process with this: I create wheel-thrown, altered and hand-built functional and decorative porcelain and stoneware pottery. Oxidation firing is completed in an electric kiln with variations of firing schedules. I use handmade tools and stamps to embellish and enhance the surface of the clay with both carved and added relief texture. My goal within the next five years is to be a potter whose pieces are collected and custom ordered. The message I want to get across with my pieces is to be present in all you do, and follow your dreams!
Meet Elizabeth Roby from Roby Art & Design...
I am a fourth generation artist from London, OH. My great grandfather, grandfather, and father all have been creative souls who have worked to connect with others through the form of art. I went to Wittenberg University where I majored in Communications and double minored in journalism and art. In addition to my craft hobbies, I am also a real estate agent! I have been an artist all my life but taught myself the woodburning medium about six years ago and this will be my first Avant-Garde show!
Everything in everyday life inspires me to create. Whether it’s an experience with others in passing, a view of a park nearby, or interaction while out shopping, everyday life is my greatest inspiration. I wanted to use my art to get in touch with others, but I wanted an art form that wasn’t very common. At the time, woodburning didn’t seem to be a highlight of mediums yet so I really wanted to see if I could use it to enhance my art capabilities.
Since I was young, I would sit with a pile of paper and just sketch all sorts of things out. It wasn’t until someone offered to buy a painting from me in high school that I thought to myself, hmm, maybe I am kind of good?
Now, my process is just sit and do. I just start sketching to see where my mind goes and I make it a point to not overthink anything. Over the next five years, I’m hopeful to work up an Etsy account and start shipping out items nationally. My goal is to provide a new outlet for loving memories to come to life.
Meet Tina Garriot of Growlers Dog Bones...
For all my life, actually, since I turned 10, I have been intrigued and shown an interest in individuals with disabilities. Forty-three years later and I still have that same desire and try to make their lives better and more meaningful. My last 17 years have been teaching employability skills within Columbus City Schools. For the students, after completing their graduation or aging out, there are limited resources and for some, a waiting list. Growlers Dog Bones is currently teaching vocational skills and aspiring create employment, where I have been volunteering with since the summer of 2016. This is our first appearance at an Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show.
Create is a great word for Growlers. We are creating a new mindset for the individual to empower their self-worth, a socially good organization for the public to participate in, and for society, we are creating an all-inclusive business community. Bakers are all different characters and get the job completed in their own way, but at the end of the day, all of our bones are created equal. When they sell at a market that’s when you see personalities. It’s amazing how they can sell!
Within the next five years, I see us being a bigger player in the dog treat business, giving more to dog nonprofit organizations as well as being a socially giving outlet once a month for individuals with disabilities. Our message is this: Changing lives one bone at a time, by serving man and man’s best friend.
