My name is Lindsay Roth and I have lived in Ohio my entire life. I am married to a very supportive and patient (!) husband and we have three children. I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t doing some kind of art or writing. At the age of 10 I started private lessons with the incomparable and forever missed Judi Hertzi. I had the pleasure and opportunity to study with her until I was 18. Since then, I have explored so many mediums, just recently I was obsessively using markers to create patterns, and suddenly I’m making paper jewelry! I’ve been at this craft for less than a year, and the passion I have for it is stunning. I cannot get enough information about techniques and I love when I learn something new. This will be my first Avant-Garde show and I so excited and humbled to be among such amazing artisans.
What got me into paper jewelry making was vacation! We were in North Carolina at a small market and a woman had a booth with a few pieces of paper jewelry. I was transfixed.
How I discovered my talent.. I don’t know if it was a discovery, it was more of a journey. First the thought, then the YouTube videos, then the stabbing myself with toothpicks when I tried to roll my first few beads…and then suddenly I had a perfectly rolled bead.
In five years my plan is for my business, my techniques, and my ideas to be thriving and successful. I also hope I have built solid relationships with business partners, clients, and friends in this enterprise. For more information visit:
www.facebook.com/
Meet Cristen Magree from Rusty Bear Studio...
I was born and grew up here in Northeast Ohio while spending summers in Western NY state, immersed in the beautiful country life. After attending Kent State University for Earth Sciences, I settled in Northeast Ohio with my husband, Mark, and started my art business, Rusty Bear Studio. I have been fortunate enough to have both my artwork and jewelry accepted into galleries in Ohio, NYC and Chautauqua, NY as well as producing commissions for people across the country.
I've been an artist since I was able to hold a crayon. My mother has been a prominent local artist since long before I was born so I began to create artwork from a very young age. I continued to challenge myself with new techniques after my academic career and, at the age of 25, began to develop my business. Now, at 30, I continue to push myself with new techniques, mediums and I enjoy every minute of it.I have been participating in Avant-Garde shows since 2013. Although I have lost count of how many shows I have done with this company, I have enjoyed every single one and plan on continuing to show with Avant-Garde for as long as possible!
I have a passion for science, geology and the outdoors, which I try to convey through each piece of artwork I create. I am constantly inspired by the colors, movement and history I see in the parks and countryside that we are lucky enough to have right outside our door here in Ohio.
I first got in the art and craft show circuits when I did a show with my mother a few years ago. I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere and the comradery of the vendors. I felt like I had found a niche for my artwork and have been participating in many shows since. Living in the age of information and technology, I have the ability to go online to research and study the many new techniques that artists are coming up with at the touch of a fingertip. Without these sources I would not have learned about fluid pour or alcohol ink painting. I am always pushed by advancements in the art world to try new things and evolve my style.
Once something inspires me to create a painting, I begin the process of finding color and movement that follows that inspiration. I use alcohol inks and 91% Ethyl alcohol to create abstract, vivid images of the natural world around me. However, I do not base any one piece on a specific natural scene as I very much want each viewer to see their own setting and find what THEY love in each piece.
In five years I see myself as continuing to have a regular presence at both local and regional shows. I hope to have a larger regular customer base and to have educated as many people as I can about the geologic history of Ohio as well as have inspired people to see their own passions and desires in my work. When I first started with Avant-Garde, I had the hope that five years from that point, I would have at least one person who would attend shows just to see my work or become a reoccurring buyer. I have met both of those goals within a little more than a year of starting out, with much thanks to Becki and her team as well as networking with other vendors. I hope that I am able to achieve my new five year goals as quickly as I have my past ones.
The message in my art is two fold. For my paintings the message is that there is no intrinsic message. I want each viewer to see what they want to see in each piece. I want them to have their own experience and make their own world out of what they see. I love when no two people see the same thing in a single piece. And for my jewelry, I hope to promote a message of education and passion about science and nature. If I can get one more person looking for a fossil on the beach as they walk along, I will have gotten my message across.
Be sure to check us out at: rustybearstudio.weebly.com and facebook.com/rustybearstudio.
Meet Ken Tomaro from Good Day Moon Gallery...
I am a self taught artist who works mainly with acrylic paint, although I do occasionally work with watercolor, oils and have recently started playing around with pottery. I don't believe you need an art degree to be a successful artist and I also believe that everyone has some sort of artistic talent ingrained in them.
I originally started out in photography about 6 years ago but through a series of technical failures (camera's and laptops that stopped working) I decided to pick up a paint brush and see what I could do with that. After opening the Good Day Moon Gallery and seeing the amazing pottery from a couple of my artists I decided to see where I could go with pottery as well.
This is my first Avant-Garde show but I'm looking forward to becoming a vendor in future shows as well.
What inspires me to create... It can be any number of things on any given day. Sometimes I find inspiration in other peoples work. Sometimes I want to see what comes out of my head from a good mood or bad mood. Sometimes I like to go into it without a plan and experiment with different techniques and tools just to see where it goes.
How I got into my craft... I recognized long ago that there is a value to art as a therapy. I suffer from depression and realized by creating art it takes my mind off of some of the negative things that go along with depression. I decided to open the Good Day Moon Gallery to not only showcase local emerging artists (those artists who haven't had a lot of exposure with shows and galleries) but to also help support people with mental illness in the process. I also wanted to create some events that were affordable to these artists. Many of them, although they are resourceful in their creation process, lack the funds to get themselves off the ground. I wanted to create events that wouldn't "break the bank" so they would have the opportunity for their work to be seen.
How I began.. I started out with a very inexpensive camera that took some really bad pictures. The camera came with a very simple program that would allow me to manipulate some basic things like contrast and shading. What I came up with was some photography with a noticeable dark, grainy feel to it. When you live with depression life sometimes has a dark, grainy feel to it as well.
My creative process is purely experimental. Having no formal art background, most times I have only a vague idea of what I want to put on a canvas. Sometimes it translates and sometimes it doesn't. There is a bit of frustration when something doesn't turn out as you expected but the therapy usually comes in the end after I've worked and reworked something that I can be happy with. Ultimately that is what counts because if I don't sell a piece I'm the one who has to look at it on a regular basis.
Where do I see myself in 5 years? I could never answer that question in a job interview and this case is just as difficult. Because there has been a lack of foot traffic at our physical location I have decided to open an online gallery. It seems more people now want to shop from their couch so that is the option we will give them. Theoretically we should be able to reach a broader audience by doing so. I hope to continue to get into more shows like Avant-Garde as well as creating some more of our own.
The message behind my work... To any artist: Keep doing what you're doing. Although at times we have to create certain pieces we think the public wants, ultimately, we need to create the art we want to. Pay attention to the therapeutic benefits of creating art. From someone like me who suffers from depression and doesn't always see the sunny side of things, there is still beauty in even the darkest artwork. To the public: Artwork with a high price tag doesn't always mean it is the best or worth the high price. Pay attention to the emerging artist. They have the drive and the soul to create incredible work and it should be accessible and affordable to everyone.
2014 Heights Winter Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Saturday December 14, 2014, 10:00am-4:00pm
Park Synagogue Main (Kangesser Ballroom)
3300 Mayfield Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
For more information, contact Becki Silverstein, Event Coordinator at Becki@ag-shows.com
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