Almost Time Rocky River!

 Meet Morgan Hericks from Morgan's Crafts... 

Hello! My name is Morgan and I have recently come across making beaded pens and sublimation tumblers in my spare time!

My time that I have been making tumblers for is about 2 years now and pens for about 4 months.

This will be my first Avant-Garde Craft show and I am very excited to be apart of something I use to come to as a kid! 

I am a very busy individual who finds crafting relaxing. 

Meet Laura Stephens From Crafty Corners by Laura! 

I'm just your average friendly, hardworking small business owner. I love meeting new people and connecting with both vendors and visitors. I'm very bubbly and just excited to be here. I'm also very lucky to have the support of both my partner and our old, snarky cat, Lola.

I started the hobby in May of 2023 and got my business license this February.

This will be my first show. I'm looking forward to meeting a whole new group of lovely people.

I've always loved working with my hands. Creating something that brings joy and a smile to others is so fulfilling for me. I love to be able to provide that to as many people as I can.

I got into this hobby by my mother was a talented seamstress. She could make anything out of cloth. I could never get the hang of practical sewing so I turned to embroidery and cross stitch. Since then, I have started and abandoned nearly every art category you could think of, never finding one that stuck until crochet.

Until recently, I've worked in the restaurant industry with 50+ hours a week. Then I was diagnosed with a chronic illness that came with disability. I felt defeated as my usual work wasn't an option anymore. Knowing that I needed structure for the sudden free time I had, I turned to crochet, one of my last remaining untouched hobbies.

I took to it like chocolate to peanut butter. I progressed quickly and after showing a few creations to friends, they started giving requests. I was shocked they wanted to spend money on my creations. When the space ran out and the commissions kept growing, I decided to organize myself into an official business. I still can't quite believe my simple projects garner as much appreciation as they do.

My creative process is a little chaotic if I'm honest. My workspace is a whirlwind of yarn and half realized ideas. I'm very passionate about each creation I choose, so I will work on a pattern until it is complete in my eyes. I always have many ideas brewing in my head. I'm very thankful for my partner as I bug them constantly with questions of does this or that work or look right. I try to only make what I would giggle at and want to take home.  After all, this is for the kids and kids at heart.

I want to continue vending craft shows as I feel the in person connections are vital to my inspiration and decision making the next collection I wish to present. That being said, I would like to have my items in a store front or other small business where we could support one another's goals as fellow entrepreneurs. 

My biggest goal is to have a wide consistent audience to be able to partner with a few local charities and participate in fundraisers for those causes. I really want to give back to the communities that have supported me along the way.

I believe we all have the ability to make someone's day better. Even a small act of kindness can travel forward and spread far beyond our knowledge. I strive to make people smile and bring joy to others, and I want my work to inspire others to do the same. Who knows what good we can do, and it all starts with you.

Meet Jacie Palkovic from Humbled Hooks... 

My name is Jacie Palkovic. I am 18 years old and I just graduated school this year, 2024. Since sixth grade, my mom has homeschooled my little sister and I. As a shy person, I started taking up crafting hobbies, like crochet. It all started when I was 15 and saw a crochet kit at a craft store, but ended up never finishing it. Instead, I watched YouTube tutorials, and learned on my own! My very first item was a turtle, and immediately I fell in love with amigurumi! If I’m not crocheting, I’m either ice skating, cooking or just hanging out with my family. My mom, little sister and I have lived with my grandparents for the past 13 years, and love how close we all are. I also adore animals and love how I can incorporate them into my projects!

I’ve been crocheting for about 3 years, and don’t see me quitting any time soon! It started out as just a fun hobby until people started asking if I sell my projects, which got me inspired to do my first market!

As I mentioned above, this is my very first craft show with Avant-Garde, and in general! 

What inspires me is the ability to turn anything I think of into a handmade item really inspires me. I’ve always been on the more creative side, and love creating amazing things!

The first step of my creative process is always research. If the pattern isn’t created by me, I love finding videos, or patterns online! I follow the steps and sometimes tweak small things to make it exactly how I want. It is also extremely important that I keep the first of everything I make, because not only is it special, but you learn a lot from it too!

In 5 years  I hope to have an online shop, such as Etsy, and attend craft shows more frequently! I also hope to create more of my own patterns.

All of my projects are designed to be played with, or maybe displayed. However, the most important thing to me is quality. I spend sometimes days on each project, just to make sure it is made properly. Each yarn end is carefully sewn in to prevent the object to fall apart, and all facial details are carefully embroidered on.

2024 ROCKY RIVER FALL AVANT-GARDE ART & CRAFT SHOW

Rocky River Memorial Hall (next to rec)

21016 Hilliard Blvd.

Rocky River, OH 44116

Saturday & Sunday, November 9 and 10, 2024

Saturday- 10:00am-4:00pm, Sunday- 11:00am-4:00pm

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It's Show Time Rocky River!

Meet, Hope + Joy collective..

Joy has been crafting for over 30 years making themed journals, 3-D scrapbook layouts, and mixed media art.  Hope has always loved bling and pretty things and has been apparel oriented since she was 4 years old. Hope has always had a flair for fashion, and decided this year to take to doing more with her passion.  Joy began her crafting journey with scrapbooking, and it evolved into being more art focused.  Hope’s creation process for the jackets truly comes from a free artistic space where each piece is curated uniquely as ideas come to mind.  Joy loves to be in her studio making anything.  She gets inspired by many things and just loves to create.  Creative play always has its rewards!

We are grateful for each day and opportunity, and we are trusting God to do what He wants with us and this business.  Through our business, we strive for our customers to proudly share their faith and feel beautiful in the designs we create!  Our goal is to spread hope, joy, and faith with every piece, and together with our customers make a difference.

 

 

Meet Brad M Coates from BMC Artworks…

The outdoors is my canvas. I love hiking in the woods. I love structures and buildings. My eye captures the subject and my imagination adds the detail.  I want my creations to bring pleasure to the viewer...for the viewer to stop, take a moment and experience what I see.  My medium is photography.  I digitally enhance what I see using various tools.  Nature is my inspiration and I love to share my interpretations.  But … I do take an occasional twist to the industrial side. I specialize in taking a beautiful photograph and letting my creativity do the rest with color and detail.

Meet Maia Langlois from Fairy Teeth…

My Name is Maia Langlois I am a freelance illustrator and art lover and I started my small business Fairy Teeth Illustrations in order to kickstart myself about being serious about being a full time artist that hopefully one day I can support myself and my family with. Art is quite literally my biggest passion and I cannot imagine a world without it to the point where I now want to pursue it as my dream job! I went to school for my BFA in illustration and plan hopefully to succeed in further business ventures other than just freelance work within my community. Fairy teeth is a love child of hard work and growing passions for my craft and art pieces that I like to share with others. It's silly, macabre, cute, and whimsical like me as a person and I know it is a brand that reflects the wonder I felt when first discovering art.   I've been making art literally my entire life, I even went to college for a degree for it! but the only other art fair I've ever been to was in 2021 at a Coventry art fair in Cleveland which was super fun.  This will be my very first Avant-Garde Show and I'm super excited! 

 

What inspires me to create is all the color and stories I can see and hear within our world. It makes me often think that that type of wonder and excitement that I personally feel should be shared more with the world, and that as long as I feel that love for creating through making my work all is right.

My grandmother when I was very young dabbled in all kinds of art which I was often put right by her side soaking it all up, I miss her every day but she gave me the greatest gift I could've ever asked for, a love for the arts.  I discovered my talent when I was in the 2nd grade in my art class. I remember my teacher always looking at my work praising me for my talent and my parents kindling my obsession with drawing- I drew on everything from walls to napkins to desks everything I never had felt such peace doing anything else.

My creative process often starts with a vague idea that then I explore by writing down things I think surrounding it and are synonymous then to thumbnailing and always asking for feedback on how others view the idea, often I have a lot of iterations of something before I decide on what will be the final result.

Hopefully in five years of my business I will have a studio and a online site with steady income as well as many other business paths to get passive or active income from, I never want to find myself stagnant when I can discover more things to do creatively, maybe one day I could even have a storefront where i can sell my own and other creative peoples' work.

My work does not always have a message but I often think about what story can this pieve tell, sometimes of metamorphosis and inevitable change and sometimes of raw emotion and just simple expression.

my Instagram is @Fairy_Teeth_Illustrations feel free to check me out! 

 

 

Meet Christine Barnie from The Nerdy Necklace Chick…

I'm a 40-yo mom of three amazing and spunky kids (5b, 7g, 9b) and one shelter dog who was 9 months old when I got her (16g). My degree is in environmental science with a focus on geology, so I love rocks and minerals! I grew up with a love for sci Fi and fantasy and other nerdy things.

How long have you been doing this for? I've been making jewelry for about four years now, but last month was my very first craft show. 

The things I love! Finding beautiful beads of my favorite stones or my favorite books or sciencey things.

I received a necklace for my birthday one year from a small local seller and thought it looked like a fun thing to make, so I tried it and loved it! My favorite is shopping for new stone beads to add to my collection! 

Ideas just come to me. Lol! My favorite is my solar system necklace. I spent months finding the right stones to fit the planets and sizing and spacing everything just right. But most of the time I just use a beautiful stone as a base and just play with it!  In the next 5 years, I hopefully just see myself enjoying making jewelry and seeing my pieces out and about would be cool!

2023 Rocky River Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sat. Nov. 11 (10am-4pm) & Sun. Nov 12 (11am-4pm)

Rocky River Memorial Hall (Next to Rec)

21016 Hilliard Blvd.

Rocky River, OH 44116

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

Visit us on:

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We are here, Rocky River! One Day to Go!

Meet Alysse & Eric from Stuffed Hot Cocoa Bombs LLC...

Stuffed Hot Cocoa Bombs was created by Alysse & Eric. We are a married couple from Rocky River, Ohio. We have been making hot cocoa bombs since 2020, and love the joy it brings hot cocoa lovers. 

This will be our first Avant-Garde Art & Craft show and we are elated to participate. I have always been artistically inclined, and has enjoyed learning glass blowing, ceramics, and photography. My husband, Eric, is thoughtful and process driven; and he has perfected the art of the chocolate shell. 

We want to bring fancy, fun, perfect hot cocoa to our community!

Meet Bob Niles from...

Hello! Bob is my name. I was born and raised in Ohio, and I have been married for 45 years. I used to be an international banker, but now I enjoy playing the piano and dabbling in tango dancing in my spare time.

After two years of craftsmanship, this will be my first Avant-Garde exhibition. The way that light reflects at various angles in natural environments inspires me to paint.

I started crafting in high school, but I never had the chance to finish since life sometimes gets in the way. By completing the work, I simply realized my skill.

My creative technique involves carefully observing the subject and analyzing it into layers. I think there is beauty everywhere, and it speaks for itself.

Meet Heather Hunter, Owner of Elsewhere Acres & Apothecary...

Hi! I am Heather Hunter, a beginning farmer, grad student, and owner of Elsewhere Acres & Apothecary. My ambition is to establish an educational farm that promotes environmental awareness as well as therapeutic chances.

I’ve been growing produce and raising animals off and on for about 10 years now. Making eco-friendly home and bath products really evolved naturally from my love for that process. 

This will be my second time vending at Avant-Garde, but looking forward to participating in other upcoming shows! My inspiration to create flourishes when I feel my best when I am connected with nature. It’s an important relationship to me because our ecosystems are so beautifully complex. 

I started my crafting hobby because I always felt like plants and animals gives us so many gifts that we often overlook. I discovered my talent by just doing what I love. My creative process includes being in communion with nature and trying to make the most respectful use of her gifts in an ongoing process. 

In the next 5 years, I hope to acquire a more permanent place to put down roots, building the soil, along with bringing animals into the mix! The message behind my work aims to cultivate connection to nature through the senses, seasons, and hands-on learning. My core values include diversity, reciprocity, and care. 

Meet Sarah Bullington from Busy Bees Artistry...

My name is Sarah, I am from Medina, Ohio, and I'm completely blind. I make jewelry by using high quality materials from the beads I select. I also make decretive pieces, mosaic boxes, and vases using broken shells I have collected from the beach. 

I have been crafting all my life pretty much. I lost my sight at the age of three from a brain tumor. Crafting really helped me learn how to have hands be my eyes. I developed and grew my workmanship and skills as I got older. 

This will be my first time vending at Avant-Garde which is a dream come true! My inspiration to create is the desire to bee able to see what I cannot, as well as bringing out what I have in my imagination out into the world. Making art is really therapeutic for me. 

My crafting hobby is a way of life for me ever since I lost my eyesight. I discovered my talent when I started taking classes and learned more about what I am capable of achieving. My creative process includes the concept that my imagination is my visions and my hands are my eyes. I start out by working around a certain component and pull in other elements to make a complete piece to give the look and feel of what I am picturing.

In 5 years, I hope to create my business into a non-profit organization. I currently donate 50% of each sale to charities like Feeding Medina County. 

The message behind my work is love, the love I have for God, for others, and to show the beauty that is found all around us.

Meet Annatta Baltrunas from Art by Annatta Baltrunas...

Hello all! I am a full-time student at The Ohio State University, I also work as a server, and pet portrait commissioner for friends, family, and coworkers. I love being outdoors, painting, and being active. 

I have been painting with technical skills for 4 years, but within the last two years, I started making paintings for my audience to connect to. This will be my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show, and I am ecstatic to participate. 

I began painting as a young girl to cope with my mental illness: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, at the time I was undiagnosed. I knew that I wanted to use the color on paper or canvas as an outlet, and that is what I did. All my works were abstracted, and in a sense, it was therapeutic for something like color to not be out of place.

hen you paint, everything is on a flat surface, there are no mistakes, just techniques to learn. After acquiring more understanding of the master artists, I find myself inspired by nature and learning more about how my creative process can develop.

My creative process has grown to involve the sparks of inspiration from daydreams or beautiful moments in nature. I take photos as a reference, and as I get home, I allow my mind and body to explore expression and color on the paper that I use. My future goals involve investing more in my education and creative process. I will continue to document and expand my pieces through this journey. 

2023 Rocky River Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday, March 11 (10am-4pm) & Sunday, March 12 (11am-4pm)

Rocky River Memorial Hall (Next to Rec)

21016 Hilliard Blvd.

Rocky River, OH 44116

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

Visit us on:

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One More Day to Go!

Meet Christine Seeholzer from Sacred Space Studios LLC...

I am an artist focused on using art as a modality for healing myself and others. I mentor students as an art teacher for St. Paul Lutheran School, but I also teach art lessons for the City of Avon Lake where I live with my husband, three children and adorable dog. 

I have been painting seriously since pursuing my undergraduate fine art degree at Bowling Green State University about 20 years ago. This will be my first time participating in an Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show.  

What inspires me to create... The personal stories we carry with us have meaning and interest to me, especially as they relate to our relationships with others we love, and the divine. 

How I got into my craft.. As a six-year-old child, I was hospitalized for Pneumonia for about a week. During that time, my parents did not allow me to visit the play room, and instead, a kind nurse brought me art supplies to pass the time. I have been hooked ever since. 

How I discovered my talent.. In junior high art class, we were required to complete sketchbook assignments. I enjoyed the assignments and spent hours working on pencil sketches from life.  When my instructor saw my progress, and she saw the different angles and close-ups, she assumed I was using a lightbox and accused me of cheating. That's when I knew I was onto something. 

My creative process.. I enjoy researching a topic or concept and then finding images that mash up to support the essence or content of the topic (like an illustrator) and then find appropriate reference images to work from. From there, I arrange a composition on canvas with a rough pencil sketch and then either create a complicated pencil drawing and fix it as an under drawing, slowly building painting layers on top, or paint alla prima using colors that fit the mood of the painting. I always paint to music in my home studio, preferably in the morning with natural light spilling into my home studio. 

My five year goal..  I hope to be regularly participating in the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show, as well as creating healing gallery experiences centered around my book, Rise: An Affirmation Journal from Your Higher Self, and meeting interesting people through commission portrait work, and continuing my summer teaching experiences for Avon Lake. 

The message behind my work..  Life is a beautiful journey supported by the divine.

Meet Summer Holmes from HolmesMadeArt...

My name is Summer Holmes. I’ve been creating things all my life. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that, at the urging of my friends and family, I opened an Etsy shop to sell some of those creations. Along with me, some of my adult children and my sister also sell their creations. 

My daughter named the shop and we are HolmesMadeArt. Together we have everything from wall art to novels and reversible bibs to jewelry. Personally, I do mostly mosaics. Mosaic wall art, mosaic jewelry, you name it. I work with multiple mediums but my favorites are stained glass and vintage dishes. This will be my first art show with Avant-Garde and I’m very excited. I just started the fairs this season since I started my business during the pandemic. 

My creative process can be pretty jumbled. I have a general idea or see something that inspires me and the spark is lit. It grows into a flame as i think about it and plan in my head. Sometimes this all takes place in seconds and I’ve started working on the project, putting other things aside. Sometimes, it can take weeks to get to the creating part. For example, I’m working on two projects right now that demonstrate the two ends of that time spectrum. I took a photograph of a design on a carpet in the Bangalore, India airport while on vacation and instantly knew I wanted to recreate it in mosaic. That mosaic is done. In a box is a mosaic that looks great in my head! However, the process of transferring it to the substrate has been… well, not happening. I’ve laid out several designs with the tesserae I want to use and nothing looks good. As it was taking up a precious station in my workroom, I finally swept everything into a box and put it aside. That mosaic has to swirl around in my brain for a while longer. 

My goal for HolmesMadeArt is to have it be viable enough that I can quit my day job and just make art all day long. Slowly but surely, we are building our shop’s reputation and getting more and more sales and commissions. So, God willing and the creek don’t rise, that goal will be reached by our fourth anniversary, June 23, 2024.  

Meet Lauren Dulay from Charming Dinosaur Gifts...

My name's Lauren and I've been making space-themed gifts and ornaments for about 5 years. My items range from earrings, tarot cards, full ornament sets of our entire solar system, and much more. I've been selling them online for a while but this is my first craft show. 

I began creating these because I wanted these items for myself and once I made one, I started making more because I liked it so much. It snowballed into an emporium of planet-based merchandise! 

I love to come home from work and sit down to paint planets. It's become a cozy time where I unwind with a cup of decaf coffee, an audiobook or music playing in the background, and my cat sleeping somewhere nearby. I love packing up my ornaments into their boxes with tissue paper and seeing the end product. It's very rewarding to me. I hope I continue to make these, and I hope to add more products to my business as the years come. I hope my customers enjoy my products as much as I enjoy making them and I look forward to seeing everyone at the show!

Meet Edward Loomis from Edward Loomis Photography...

Hi! My name is Edward Loomis, I am a lifelong Clevelander, graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College in Business Management, and now a photographer of all things Cleveland.  I look forward to sharing my talents with you, through my photographic prints and framed art.

This began as a hobby a few years ago, and now is a main focus of mine. This will be my first show with Avant-Garde.  I have been in different shows in the past, and look forward to experiencing Avant-Garde's shows.

What inspires me to create.. Usually I wait for the creativity to hit me, I never force it.  If it happens, it happens.  If it doesn't, it doesn't...yet.

I got into this hobby when I helped a friend photograph a wedding.  The rest is history.  I realized that photography is a way to explore my city and surroundings in a tangible way.  I can not only explore, but have something to take away, create, and share with others.

I dabbled in photography for a while, until I started getting compliments from friends and even strangers, on my work.  This inspired me to enter a couple of bigger shows, where I realized that people actually enjoy my work.  This was a big confidence boost, and my work and breadth of knowledge in the photographic arts world continues to grow.

Inspiration hits me at different times, for different reasons.  I can't really explain it.   I am constantly striving to be the biggest critic of my own work, and continually produce quality art that others want.  If I can say that I would proudly display my work in my own home or office, then I can bring my offerings into the larger community.  

I will grow this business to a larger scale, recognizable name and brand, that Cleveland-based businesses, institutions, residents, past residents who are homesick (totally understandable,) and fans will rely on and trust to provide art and inspiration for their slice of the built-world that we must inhabit.  People spend a lot of time indoors, and everyone has blank walls.  If I can bring inspiration and oft-overlooked details of our city, to the otherwise routine indoors spaces we frequent, that is my goal.

The message behind my work is to look at things in a different way.  It's an overused phrase, but we really need to stop and smell the roses, amidst our increasingly busy lives.  If you don't have the time to visit those 'roses,' I can bring them to you in the form of my art.  Details matter, and can inspire us.  I enjoy that inspiration.  I enjoy conversation-starters, and images that draw us to something deeper, through my unique perspective.

2022 Rocky River Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sat. Nov. 12 (10am-4pm) & Sun. Nov 13 (11am-4pm)

Rocky River Memorial Hall (Next to Rec)

21016 Hilliard Blvd.

Rocky River, OH 44116

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

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

LINKEDIN