Discovered Art- Artists Who Stumbled Upon Their Talents!

Meet Dani Penrod from Purses By Dani Marie...
My name is Danielle, but I have always been called Dani. From the time I was a child I have always been interested in art and nature. I went to college to be a graphic designer and once I graduated I decided that is not what I want to do. I then got more interested into my craft, sewing. I recently moved to the Cleveland area, where I have had more time to do what I love!

Work can be pretty stressful sometimes. If its not too late when I get home, I will sit down at my sewing machine and try to come up with new designs. I do a lot of custom orders, so a lot of the time my customers come up with new designs for me.

I got started in the business as a Christmas gift for a few friends one year. I bought canvas bags and painted on them. They loved them so much, I started making more. I, eventually, decided I wanted to make my own bags. So, I purchased a cheap, little sewing machine and purse pattern and taught myself how to sew. I showed some of the girls that I worked with my latest creation and they all wanted one. Thats when I decided I wanted to start selling my bags.

Meet James & Angela from Pictured Naturally...

Pictured Naturally is a husband and wife team that grew from a shared passion for capturing people and images from a unique perspective. We began our journey of finding "letter art" while thinking of something unique to give to our wedding party. We love to travel and explore new places, and no adventure is complete without finding a new "letter" to photograph. Our desire was to find a way for our customers to feel involved in the art process and therefore provide them with all the various letters to choose from to create their own personalized piece of art! We have recently expanded our business to include photography sessions ranging from infants and maternity to weddings! We are excited about this new journey and feel our ability to look at things from a unique angle help to produce images that will not only be photos of people but art that our customers will want to display!!

Our creativity stems from each other. We feed off of each other and truly do work well as a team! It is inspiring working along someone who has the same passion as you do and we are blessed that that person is also our spouse!

We love to travel, new places and scenery inspire our creativity! We love to peruse the city, architecture and nature to find lines and shapes that resemble letters. When combined they form words and names. We love looking at something you would normally pass and seeing art. For example: most people drive under traffic lights everyday, but when we pass under that same traffic light, we see the letter "E". 

Our advice to others who are looking to start their own business-If you have a passion for something, persue it!! There is nothing worse then living in regret and being in a job that you dislike 40 hours a week. Take advantage of your local Small business administration office, they are there to help small business owners and answer any questions you may have. Also your local bank is a good resource as most bank managers are knowledgeable about small businesses and can offer advice free of charge!

Meet Alanna Maki from Peach Blossom Cosmetics...

My name is Alanna, I am 23 years old. I make soap, lotion and bath fizzies. I also like to do other crafts such as jewelry making, cross stitch or whatever happens to look like fun at the craft store! But, my main love is soap making. I get my creativity from my mom, and her side of the family. All the ladies (Mother, grandmother, great-grandmother....) have many creative talents, and most of them do/did fine needle work. My Mom always taught us (my brother and I) to not let anything limit our imagination or creativity. Ever since we were little kids, no matter how busy she was she always made some time to do crafts with us. I remember when I was 3 years old we got little boxes from the craft store and we sat outside at my grandparent's house and painted them.

For making soap I first have to melt the soap base I use. Then I add my colors and fragrance. If the design is intricate, (I'll use gingerbread men as an example), I have to pipe in all the little detail work, like the white "icing" edge, the eyes, mouth, buttons.... Then all that has to cool before I pour the rest of the soap. I can't pour it too hot or it will melt all the detail work, I can't pour too cold because then the soap gets clumpy. It takes a little time. Once it is cooled I take them out of the mold, wrap and package them.

In 5 years from now it would be nice if I could have my own store, or maybe be doing wholesale orders for gift shops and specialty stores. I still would want to do the craft shows because it is nice to meet other artisans, and talk to the people who come through the shows.

Check out these vendors this winter at the 2012 Winter Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature 100 of the most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Stewart's Caring Place, an organization that supports families touched by cancer.

2012 Winter Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, January 29, 2012, 10:00am-5:00pm

Wagner's Country Inn

30855 Center Ridge Rd. 

Westlake, OH 44145

For more information, contact Becki Cooper, at info@avantgardeshows.com.