Canton Avant-Garde Art & Craft Shows: November 2015

Meet Jennifer Snyder from Simple Home Accents...
I was born and raised in Northeast Ohio, where I still live today. I live with my fiance and 4 furry "children', 3 cats and a bunny, all of whom I rescued either from a shelter or from out in the cold. In addition to my craft business, I work full-time as a legal assistant.

I have always done arts and crafts projects. I have been making soap and skin care products for over three years. I am very excited to be participating in my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show!

I am inspired by many things. The fragrances I choose are often inspired by nature or the seasons of the year. When making my bath and body products, I look to make things that fulfill a need, such as helping to relieve dry skin. I like to make products that I know will help people and that I will use myself.

I have always been interested in arts and crafts, from a very young age. I took art classes in school and was in the art club in high school. I have always had several projects going around the house. When I started working on bath and body products, I was hooked. I love experimenting with new ingredients and products!

I like to make skin care products that fulfill a need. For instance, I have been experimenting with a facial scrub that helps with breakouts. I have been trying various combinations of ingredients and testing them on myself. I try to find the right texture, smell and result that best suits the purpose of the product.

My five year goal.. My online shop on Etsy has been improving each year and I hope that continues. I also love doing shows because I have the opportunity to discuss my products with customers face to face, so I would love to add more shows to my calendar.

The message behind my skin care products is that you can take great care of your skin without paying outrageous prices or using products that are loaded with chemicals. Everything we put on our skin is absorbed into our bodies, so we have to stay mindful of that.

Meet Ginny Stocker from Ginny Stocker Art...

I have found that a creative life makes me happy. After college and raising a family with both career and freelance years interspersed, I consider this to be my special time. Finding my way back into art one step at a time has become my way to fulfilling the “second half” of my life.

I have always been up for the next adventure – art or otherwise. There was something in me that reacted to the immediacy and brilliant colors of pastels. I went searching for and found an amazing art world with understanding peers, fabulous instructors, and, of course, beloved art supplies!

This is my first Avant-Garde show – which I heard about thanks to shadow box artist, Robyn Martins! By starting a show in the Canton area, I am sure that Avant-Garde will become a valued experience not only for consumers but for all crafters and fine artists. There is certainly a need for a place to show and sell our work.

My inspiration.. Currently, I am enjoying the landscape. I have been fortunate enough to have made some amazing trips with my husband. By closing my eyes and remembering the feelings that I had at the time, I get so much more out of my photo reference material. Most of my work is from a personal experience that will hopefully mean something positive and entirely different to another.

I always enjoyed art and went to college to study art. At that time, the best way to get a job was to become an art teacher or a graphic designer. I focused on Graphic Design and Fine Art Management. And I have done both freelance graphic art and business in the past. Now is my time to do the type of art that I always needed to do.

My creative process is full of starts and more starts. I enjoy working quickly and seeing fresh results which is quite possible in the pastel medium. My favorite works seem to come when I am not looking for them.

My five year plan.. I am loving painting and I certainly picture myself still at an easel just for the “love of the game”

The message behind my work... I enjoy the beauty in nature and if I can share that wonder and sense of place to make my viewer feel what I feel, then I have accomplished what I set out to do.

2015 Canton Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Time- 10:00am-5:00pm

St. George Serbian Center

4667 Applegrove Street NW

North Canton, OH 44720

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

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Meet Charlene Parker from Shea Elements...

I've been a practicing massage therapist for the past 10 years, and have always been into natural and holistic alternatives. My passion is just helping people get back a more pure and natural state. I started making body butter to use on my clients as it was cheaper to make my own, and I could customize it for different people. They loved it so much that they began asking if they could purchase it from me. So I started there, and would gift it to friends and family members while trying out different blends. Then I had a baby a couple years ago, and really got into homemade everything! Haha. I wanted to know exactly what I was putting on my precious baby's skin. So in total I've been making skin care for about the past 5 years, but have always been a creative mixologist!

I believe my passion for helping to heal people is what inspires me. I do this more so because it's like my hobby but if business continues to grow, then in 5 years I could be selling in some local health food stores and doing several farmers markets.

My message is "Feed Your Skin!" We absorb 60% of what we put on our skin. It is our largest organ and yet the least vital. This means that our skin, gets last dibs on what nutrients we do get from out diets. Most people don't get adequate nutrition for their vital organs, let alone for their skin... Shea Elements provides you with nutrient dense skin care at a food grade level. Never any preservatives or artificial fragrance or colors. Just pure, natural, wholesome goodness!

Meet Andrea Simpson from Witchway Design...

My husband Mike has been a welder fabracator for over 20 plus years. I myself come from a family with a strong artistic background. One of the hobbies we enjoy is going to the Renaissance Festival and studying the different roots of religion from Druid , Celitc and Wicca eras. We have found that the symbolism of the different religions are intriguing and intricate. Most of the symbols are for protection.

We purchased a wind chime while at the festival and even though it was beautiful you could tell it was mass produced and felt commercial. So I asked Mike if he would be able to use his experience and give it a try. We purchased the steel needed and started our craft.

We have been working with our ideas for about a year and we have fun coming up with new designs and color schemes. It all begins with Mike taking a piece of roundstock steel & turning it into a symbol by cutting, heating, hand rolling & welding it, into the design. It is then sanded & ready for paint. Thats when I take over. All pieces recieve two coats of primer before the actual color is applied. Once dry, the beadwork begins on the wind chimes.

All wind chimes are different, no two are alike. We feel that our designs are beautiful & can be a wondreful piece of art for anyone's home. We can only hope that in the future that our winchimes & art designs will be seen & purchased by people all over, especially over seas, where most of the symbols orginated from.

Meet Vernae Blackwell from Spray Art by Rick...

I grew up in a typical 70's family with three brothers. My father was an auto-mechanic and while my mother was a stay at home mom, she liked to get involved with various community events like the Junior Bowling League and The Soap Box Derby. I got my first job when I was about 15 working for my uncle's Television Repair and Antenna Installation shop. Seems I had a knack for climbing very tall structures without suffering vertigo so was perfect for the job.

After graduating High School I attended the Fort Lauderdale Institute of Art for a couple semesters before finances forced me to drop out. I then entered the military as a Missile repairman stationed at Schoefield Barracks in Hawaii. I served 4 years and was honorably discharged at the end of my service. I worked several years for the state of Ohio in data entry before trying my hand at several home businesses when cutbacks closed down our Data Entry site. I married my wife in 1997 and we have two wonderful young ladies whom both graduated High School by the time they were 15. My eldest is currently in her 3rd semester of a Criminal Psychology degree and she is not even 18 yet! For several years I built and sold Cornhole yard games that were painted by hand. When I found physical limitations were too much to continue doing that I discovered Spray Paint Art and have been doing that.

I discovered Spray Paint Art in June of 2014. By August, my family and friends were encouraging me to begin taking my work public to sell. My work area is in my garage which is not insolated so I had to stop painting when the weather got too cold in October. I started painting again in May of this year (2015) and have painted since then, although currently the weather is changing for the cooler side again and I will soon have to store away my painting until next year. So in total, at the time of this writing, I've been doing Spray Paint Art for 10 months if counting only those months in which I could work.

I've always had a skill for artwork. In highschool I maximized my time in the Art Department and won several awards and ribbons for my work. Soon after returning from the military I experienced a fire in my house and lost all but a few of my pieces of art. Even those I have remaining, are charred and smoke stained. As a result I lost any desire to really apply myself to art until my wife ecouraged me years later and rekindled my inspiration. Before I was inspired to create artwork for the sake of creation. I just enjoyed doing it. Now my inspiration is derived much from the knowledge that my artwork is procurred by others. It gives me a sense now that it can survive. That people are appreciating it. When I produce something that excites someone so that they desire to have it, then that makes me feel like one devistating event will not destroy everything that I've made. I trust expression again.

I've always been crafty. I just like to make things. When I was a boy our family moved into the countryside and my father built his own house. I also participated in the Tuscarawas County Soap Box Derby. Between these two things I developed carpentry skills. Even as a child I loved to get the crayons out and draw things. My wood skills led me to building Cornhole games and my artskills allowed me to advertise myself to decorate them with unique and requested themes.

I feel like I've been drawn to various forms of art for as long as I remember. Family was probably had a large impactive on me. I would often draw things or build things and show them to visiting relatives and they would always express encouragement. In High School I recieved quite a few compliments from both teachers and students. When you are a kid and other kids start asking for your advice or help on something you quickly realize that you have a knack for it. Although I truly believe anyone can produce art. But it doesn't just plop onto paper or mold itself to shape. You have to have a love for it. A desire to do it. Even when something doesn't work out right, you try again. Eventually your hand and mind become one to develop the image that you have in your head.

My five year plan.. Well, my hopes are that I'll have established myself enough that the interest generated will allow me to either weatherproof my workspace or build and dedicated Shop in which I can also display my work in a gallery. Because of the methods Spray Paint Art it is a very crowd friendly skill. People just like to watch the artwork come alive so quickly out of so much starting chaos. I live in an area with much Amish tourism so hope to tap into that.

My creative process... It's difficult to say. Sometimes I'll see work that others have done and want to try it myself. Other times I'm curious to see if I can accomplish it in another medium. Often I'm just struck by a concept. I am actually pretty bad at trying to do artwork on demand. If someone says "Can you draw this for me" I'll think 'sure'. But then struggle because I feel I'm just not getting it right. These kinds of pieces are the ones that I am personally most unhappiest with. I am my own worst critic. On the other hand, if I just start out with a very general idea of what I want to do and then follow the art as it develops I end up with things that I am very happy with. It is then that I could do something successfully by happenstance versus when someone asks for it specifically. I think this is the largest attraction for me about Spray Paint Art. I am building off the texutures and mixing of the paint to bring out the image that it is suggesting, not forcing into something I want. I am literally often surprised by the outcome of my own work when its done.

Although I'll do some pieces based on a theme, generally the message of anything I do doesn't realize itself until I am done. I'll start out by doing some clouds, adding in mountains, adding in some form of water and then develop the details as they appear to me. Then when I'm finished I'll look at it and think "what does this say to me" and generate a message from that. For example. A fall colored tree I painted. When I looked at it I kept thinking "that would be a great place to have a picnic on a romantic date". So the message, and title, lept out at me as "The Picnic Tree"

Meet Georgia and Kalyn from Wonderful Wishes...Wonderful Wishes is a craft and illustration team dedicated to bringing you art that delights and inspires. The studio is made up of two friends, Kalyn (programmer and geek extraordinaire) and Georgia (doodler and hair flower enthusiast). Kalyn specializes in crafts such as jewelry, hair accessories, and teddy bears. Georgia focuses more on illustrations. Georgia has been drawing for 9 years and Kalyn has been crafting for 5.

What inspires us.. Georgia draws inspiration from the beauty in nature and art. Bright gardens, rich skies and lovely landscapes all serve to fuel her imagination. Kalyn creates fun, shiny, beautiful, and cuddly things as a way to enjoy their unique beauty and communicate her own inner world to others.

How we got into our craft... Georgia entered the field casually, doing it for fun at first. Then she began to practice, study and hone her art skills. Kalyn made a Christmas ornament for a white elephant party and loved seeing how something she created could bring joy. Kalyn kept making more and expanding her skill sets.

We discovered our talent by trying out a format we saw others doing and finding we had a knack for it ourselves. Our creative process.. Georgia does a mix of sketching and digital art and Kalyn uses different beads, ribbons and fabrics to create her crafts.

In five years our goal is to create more, doing what we love, and always learning new ways to bring art to life! The message behind our work is that art can bring joy to both the creator and viewer. View more of our work at http://wonderfulwishes.weebly.com.