Meet Alicia Ranshaw from Curious Herbarium...
My name is Alicia, and I’m the owner of Curious Herbarium. I create shadow boxes with natural elements, growing and preserving many of the plants I use. My shadow boxes are like portals to another world.
I’ve been creating shadow boxes for about a year now, and this will be my first time participating in the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show.
I discovered my talent by simply messing around with different elements until I found success. My creative process is pure chaos! I don’t ever have a plan—each element builds upon the next until I feel like the project is complete.
In five years, I hope to be creating even bigger shadow boxes and other enclosures, while also making custom works of art for others.
The message behind my work is simple: stop and take a look at the nature around us. Those beautiful little details that most people don’t usually notice are what make life so special.
Meet Isaiah Winter from Grim Horizon...
Hello! I'm Isaiah "Winter" Ross, a Columbus local scavenger artist. I love being outdoors in pretty much any context: camping, backpacking, kayaking, gardening, etc. This appreciation of the outdoors influences my craft in a big way, from the materials I use to the stories my pieces tell. When I'm not crafting, you can find me out on walks, enjoying a brewery, or being a (phenomenal) home cook.
View my work at: https://isaiahross.wordpress.com/
I started out with photography in 2008 and grew as a multidisciplinary artist in the years since. I recall my first piece of furniture was as a sophomore in high school. My time as a design major in college only amplified my knowledge and technical ability.
This will be my debut, both for the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show and in general!
There's an unexplainable drive in me that truly wants to create. Even if it's something to just keep my hands busy I love every minute of it. It is mentally stimulating and a never-ending task of problem-solving. Life and experience do a lot to inform what the project will be, and my creative nature tends to exude into much of my daily life.
From a young age, I was always playing and creating with Legos, Lincoln Logs, K'nex, and Erector sets. Art has always been second nature for me. When my first furniture piece, a bookcase, sold—I realized I was onto something bigger and should pursue it.
My creative process doesn't typically start with an idea. Rather, the material itself. Whether it be cut of wood, bones, flowers, etc. When I find curiosity in a specific object the process truly begins, what with style/aesthetic/statement. I run through all sorts of possibilities over the next moments or days and then jump in, hyperfocused until the vision is realized.
Though I've had my online shop since 2020, this is the first year I'm "taking it seriously." I hope this first show, and the following year, prove worthy to make it more full-time. In five years, I hope to see my art in a gallery or shop for the public to enjoy.
While there's no one answer as to a message in my work, there are certainly recurrent themes. Overall, my art is a reflection on time, natural process, and earthen beauty. Another fairly common theme is paganism.
Meet Raven Moose from Raven Moose Designs...
I am newly married and live in Grove City with my husband and our three rescue dogs—Willow, Blue, and Baxter. I moved to Ohio from New Hampshire in 2021 when my career changed directions. I love spending time outdoors hiking and camping, hanging out with my nephews, and getting creative in the craft studio.
I’ve been papercrafting for over twenty years. This will be my first show with the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Shows, and I’m really excited to share my work!
My family is my biggest inspiration. Preserving memories of all the amazing adventures we’ve had means so much to me—it’s important to always have something to look back on.
I first got into papercrafting when I started scrapbooking. It all started when I found my baby book hidden away in the basement—it was moldy, and I wanted to create a new book to save those memories. My crafting grew from there.
My friends were the ones who encouraged me to take it further. They’ve always loved my work and pushed me to share it with others and start offering it at shows.
My creative process usually starts with inspiration from something I see while I’m out and about. It could be a new crafting item I find while window-shopping, the colors of autumn leaves, or a beautiful spring bloom. Sometimes it’s just a hint of my neurodivergent hyper-focus kicking in!
In five years, I’d love to have a small brick-and-mortar store where I can teach scrapbooking and card-making classes full-time. I also hope to raise money through my work to help support local animal rescues.
The message behind my work is simple: spread positivity and cheer through small gestures—like a handmade card—while also giving back to the community by supporting local animal rescues.
Meet Keith Stone from Keith Stone Books...
I was involved in a golf cart accident in 2015 that left me a quadriplegic. I had never written a book before, but I wrote my memoir about the accident and my recovery to help inspire other people who might be down.
I didn’t complete that first book, “The Optimistic Quadriplegic,” until 2021. I had never written a book prior to that.
Since then, I’ve written five novels—two mysteries, two conspiracy theory books, and a fictional story about a group of musicians who got together and became a one-hit wonder. I have a very vivid imagination, and the various ideas just seem to come to me. I already have two other novels in the planning stage.
In five years, I expect to continue writing books of all types. It is a great way to keep my mind sharp since I can no longer exercise my body.
My first book, my memoir, was written to inspire. My other books were written strictly for the readers’ entertainment.
Meet Kim Alverson from Rochfort Creative Glass...
My name is Kim Alverson, and I am a retired preschool teacher and the painter/creator behind Rochfort Creative Glass. My husband and crafting partner, Fred, and I will be working the Spring Craft Show together. We've been married for 37 years and have raised three outstanding young men who’ve married amazing, strong women and have given us four beautiful grandchildren and four granddogs.
I began creating painted wine bottles for Christmas 2022. I was encouraged to keep going, and now here I am! This will be my first time participating in the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show, and I’m thrilled to share my work.
What inspires me most is creating something beautiful for home decor. Blending my walks through home decor sections of stores with the inspiration I get from paintings in art museums and galleries makes me want to bring my own artistic perspective to glass. Plus, I just love playing with paint!
I didn’t originally set out to create a craft. As a preschool teacher, I would experiment with paint projects with my students. After retiring in 2022, I started playing with paint and accessories at home using recycled glass. That December, I made Christmas gifts for my family, and from there, I’ve upped my game with better paint quality and lights. I’m always experimenting with different bottles, sizes, and colors of recycled glass.
In five years, I’d like to continue doing a few craft shows each year, but I’d also love to have more custom orders between shows.
My bottles can be beautiful standing alone or with lights. It’s a piece of decor made from recycled glass with the hope of bringing visual beauty to the observer.
Meet Smee from Smee's Readings...
My name is Cinnamon, but you can call me Smee. I’m relatively new to the Columbus area, having moved here with my family in the fall of 2023 from my hometown of Trenton, NJ. I’m an x-ray tech by trade and the mother of two beautiful neurodivergent teenage boys. I love taking nature walks—I'm a bird enthusiast and love to listen to their songs while I walk. Music is also a big part of my life; I love to sing and hope to join a local choir someday.
Professionally, I’ve been creating essential oil rollerballs and sprays for under a year, but I’ve been making them for friends and family for several years now. This will be my first time participating in the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show, and I’m really looking forward to it!
My first creations were inspired by personal need—I suffer from migraines and wanted a natural remedy that didn’t rely on adjusting my caffeine intake. After doing some research into essential oils, I made my first Migraine Relief rollerball—and it worked! From there, I created other "recipes" and gave them to friends and family to try. Now I have blends for self-love, anxiety relief, menstrual and perimenopausal symptom relief, and even just to help you relax enough to fall asleep.
I discovered my talent simply by trying. You never know what talent lies within you unless you’re willing to try new things.
My creative process is meditative and magical.
My work is all about love. Self-love, love of others, and love of community. My hope is to spread that love through my creations.
