My name is Kim Gates and I am the owner of ‘My Honey Bee Sign Shop’. I create handmade decorative signs from repurposed wood. I am the wife of a military veteran and mother of 4 children, one of which has special needs. By having my sign shop, working from home, and making my own hours, I am blessed to be able to attend all the doctor appointments my son requires, without it interfering with a normal 9-5 job. When I am not making signs, I like to design cakes for family and friends, dabble in photography, and camp with my family.
I have been making signs since last summer but I have been crafting my whole life. I’ve been told that I have never met a stranger. I just love meeting new people and making friends and I have found that craft shows are a perfect way for me to do this. I have a bubbly personality and I hope that shines through when I first meet someone but more importantly I hope it is reflected in my work.
If I see something that I like either online or in a craft store, I look at it differently than some people. I think about how it is made and how I can put my own little spin on it. And if I really like the idea then I am compelled to make it. I also love having several projects going at once. Can you tell that I am impatient?? Making multiple signs in various stages allows me to work on them simultaneously.
My five year goal.. I would love to have a permanent spot for my sign shop where I can display my signs and help grow my business. I believe that how you display your crafts at a show is almost just as important as the actual craft. I want to create a fun space for my customers that will get them excited about my sign shop and want to tell others about it. I believe the best type of advertising is by word of mouth.
Meet Celeste Martin from Creations by Celeste...
I have been a jewelry artist selling in Cleveland for 20
years now who is switching gears… I am currently launching a new textile
collection at the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Shows! CbyC T-Skirts…Fun*Funky*Affordable
Vintage t-shirts and designer fabrics are used to make these
one of a kind upcycled skirts. I am the
designer and creator who sources the vintage T’s and modern fab fabric but I
can also create custom T-Skirts because everyone has a t-shirt they no longer
wear but can’t throw away! My current
line is adult size XS, S, M, L, the price point is $45.00 for just t-shirt
material and $60.00 for t-shirt and designer fabric.
As a jewelry designer I used my creative energy to breathe
new life into beautiful bits and pieces of jewelry from the past. Now sewing takes her back to my youth and I
can’t sleep at night wanting to make more T-Skirts a wearable and affordable
work of art.
CbyC T-Skirts for the woman who appreciates something
special and unique!
Meet Mari Dickson from Liquid Kitten Designs...
I am a native of Maumee, Ohio, but I've lived in Cleveland for the past 16 years. My degree is in fine art, but I work full time in health care technology. Activities outside of the regular workday have always focused on filling that need to create! A wife and mother of an 8-year old girl, Mallory. I first learned about dyeing textiles in college and also while an art teacher at a school for the deaf in Ghana, when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer there from 1999-2001.
My daughter and I started tie-dyeing about 4 years ago, when she was just 4 years old. Just this year, I decided it would be a great experience for Mallory and me to expand our hobby into a business. I am always experimenting with different media. I paint, I knit, I took up ceramics a few years ago... But with tie-dyeing, it was the comments of others upon seeing an article of clothing we'd dyed together that got me thinking this might be something to expand.
When it comes to inspiration.. I can't pinpoint a single inspiration that motivates me... The older I get, the more I realize that creating is a part of who I am, and that when I'm actively incorporating the creation of art into my life, I feel much more calm and satisfied with life.
One of my favorite parts of this medium is the color. I can spend hours studying the colors of the dye and deciding what variations to mix and put together.
I don't think this will become my full-time work, but I hope 5 years from now, the work and income and inspiration is still coming, through both online and face-to-face sales. And I see my daughter growing into this with me, learning not only about business but about the benefits of taking a step back from the rush of life to just relax and create.
I'm not sure there's a succinct or philosophical message behind my work, but my hope is that the work brings joy to others, just as the act of creating it brings joy to me (and my daughter, too!). I also hope that people see that tie-dye can be for more than just hippies at a music festival!
Meet Michael Watson from Gift'd Expressions...
My name is Michael David Watson, I am a Cleveland native and a devoted husband and Father of three. I attended the Cleveland institute of art, where i discovered my call to ministry, graduating from Rhema Bible college with an associates degree in Pastoral Ministry in 2008.
I have been painting since i was a little boy. I watched Bob Ross on Sunday mornings, and learned to immulate his techniques. I didnt truly come into my own unique expression until high school where i developed a successful portrait business. I stopped painting due to illness in 2004 and only recently started painting again and selling my work online in 2014.
I feel that i am inspired by God, and a lot of my work is prophetic in nature, meaning it captures and extends the heart of God to the world through a pure artistic filter. These expressions tend to be biblical in nature as I am strongly inspired during worship and in the presence of God.
I often visualize a finished project before i completely dedicate myself to conceptualizing an idea and then bringing said idea to life. Because of this, i view my process as more of a translating of images and ideas into sketch, capturing the inspiration of the moment, later expanding my study to a finished work on canvas.
Other times I like to listen to worship music while i paint in a more spontaneous fashion, finding most of my brush strokes and gestures being formed by the rythm, praise, and dance. This method of painting is equally essential as part of my Craft is live painting in church worship settings.
My five year goal... I would Love to see myself expanding the shop and potentially traveling with my wife taking Gifted Expressions art ministry abroad.
The message behind my work says strongly that God is always speaking, and his love is always flowing! If we listen and take a moment to capture what he is saying - we will find our hidden Gifts activated and flowing in new and amazing directions.
Find more of my Biography @ http://www.
More Photos and Info about The Shop @ https://www.etsy.com/shop/
I feel that i am inspired by God, and a lot of my work is prophetic in nature, meaning it captures and extends the heart of God to the world through a pure artistic filter. These expressions tend to be biblical in nature as I am strongly inspired during worship and in the presence of God.
I often visualize a finished project before i completely dedicate myself to conceptualizing an idea and then bringing said idea to life. Because of this, i view my process as more of a translating of images and ideas into sketch, capturing the inspiration of the moment, later expanding my study to a finished work on canvas.
Other times I like to listen to worship music while i paint in a more spontaneous fashion, finding most of my brush strokes and gestures being formed by the rythm, praise, and dance. This method of painting is equally essential as part of my Craft is live painting in church worship settings.
My five year goal... I would Love to see myself expanding the shop and potentially traveling with my wife taking Gifted Expressions art ministry abroad.
The message behind my work says strongly that God is always speaking, and his love is always flowing! If we listen and take a moment to capture what he is saying - we will find our hidden Gifts activated and flowing in new and amazing directions.
Find more of my Biography @ http://www.
More Photos and Info about The Shop @ https://www.etsy.com/shop/
Meet Marie Schram from Triad Homemade Creations...
We work at Triad Residential Solutions and work with adults with disabilities. They make all of our soaps and candles by hand.
I (Marie) have been crafting most of my life and wanted to expand to soaps and candles. Now we hand make them at work!
Our five year goal.. I hope to have our own store so we will be able to sell and give our clients jobs to work at the store!
The message behind our work is that no matter what disability you may have, you are still able to accomplish anything you put your mind to!
Meet Brian Farmer from B. Farmer Honey...
I am an INTJ personality. I have an insatiable curiosity. I'm a jack of all trades and master of none. I have around 100 hives of honeybees in the Central Ohio area. I also grow hardneck garlic and have 1/4 acre of thornless blackberries that I sell at farmers markets.
I have been keeping honeybees for about 11 years now.. I am in the process of tearing down a church built in 1866 and salvaging materials. I intend to make reclaimed wood shelves, hand hewn beam fireplace mantels, and other crafts. I like being able to salvage the 150 year old materials and give it new life, rather than seeing it all end up in a landfill.
What inspires me to create? I have to do something with thousands of pounds of honey each year!
How I got into my hobby... 20 years ago, I got a second job helping build folk art Noah's Arks for the Millwood Toy Company. 20 years later, I still cut out all the animals for the arks on my scroll saw.
Much of my woodworking skills are a direct result of Barry Grosscup's influence at the Millwood Toy Company.
I got into beekeeping when I was working as a machinist. A co-workers dad had a stroke and was unable to take care of his bees anymore. The co-worker asked me if I would be interested in some bees, and the rest is history.
For craft ideas, I do tons of Google searches, check out Pinterest and Etsy, and I also go to craft and home decor shows to get ideas too. I also look at what reclaimed and salvaged materials I have, and then try to figure out what to do with it all.
Five years from now I'll still be producing honey in 5 years, and hope to have a farm market store at my property. I am going to have enough reclaimed lumber from the church I am dismantling to do crafts for the next 50 years.
The message behind my work is that there is no bee-pocalypse. There is no danger of bees going extinct. We have more hives of honeybees in America now than we have in the past 30 years. Don't believe the sensationalist tabloid propaganda the media feeds you about all the bees dying. There are many successful beekeepers doing great, but good news is not a good news story. The media finds the bad beekeepers with the sob stories, and portrays it as the entire industry.
I have over 100 beekeeping videos on YouTube, with over 1 million views. https://www.youtube.com/user/
2017 Rocky River Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
