One More Day to Go!

Meet Sandy Taraba from Visions by Sandy...

Photography brings me closer to nature and my "Vision" can capture your forever memories.

My love of photography came from my Dad. I can't remember a time when he didn't have a camera in is hands. My own photography journey started with just taking pictures of my kids. They started calling me "The Momma Razzi".

After sharing Cheer pictures of my daughter, in 2015, I was asked to take the Berkshire Rec Cheer and Volleyball pictures, which I have done for the past eight years. My portrait photography took off from there and my husband bought me my first professional camera. I now do Portrait photography along with Sports. I get super excited when I get to capture forever moments and memories, especially Senior year pics. I enjoy finding their inner beauty and learning about their dreams for the future. I am honored  to capture their final High School picture. 

I also absolutely love to capture this beautiful world we live in. There is Mystery and beauty all around us and I enjoy sharing my "Vision" of it, through my lens.  Nature and Birds are my passion. In 2017 I entered my first photo contest and actually won first place..  It was of a Female Cardinal that I took through my sliding glass door. She was looking right at me with an expression of "Who Me"?

Then in 2018 I submitted a Pelican (named him Oscar) to a Smithsonian magazine contest and got "Honorable Mention". At that point, many of my family and friends had encouraged me to sell my images. I didn't even know where to begin. Then a dear friend literally bought me a website and "Visions by Sandy" was created. I sell my images online at Visionsbysandy.zenfolio.com as well as Craft and Art shows. 

I am passionate about capturing God's Artwork. I feel in my heart that since it's His Artwork I'm going to put His Word on it. 

"His Art, His Word". You will find some of my favorite images with my favorite scriptures on them. Will happily put yours on as well!

I am self-taught and still have a lot to learn. I have definitely stubbled and failed miserably along the way.   My failures in photography haven't been a dead end, but a stepping stone towards my true destination.  They have guided me, shaped me and revealed hidden paths that have lead to my growth and purpose. I stumble but gain wisdom and know that my failures have put me directly on the path where I'm supposed to be. 

I love this Photographers poem:

"Life is like a camera. Just focus on what's important and capture the good times. Develop from the negatives and if things don't work out just take another shot". I look forward to seeing where my next shot will take me and what beauty I can capture.

The "Vision" in my Images are personal. You'll find a piece of my heart in every single one. 

Meet Eva Zala from Zara Designs & Services...

What inspires me to create.. My hungarian heritage inspired the use of materials showcasing the matyo and kalocsa fabrics from Hungary. I started sewing market bags and kept learning new things to sew. The rest is history!

How I got into my craft.. I remember complaining when my mom signed me up for sewing lessons at Stitch in Time when I was 12. Now I look back on those 6 weeks and feel so grateful for learning the basics. 

I come from a family of artists. Some in fine arts, jewelry making, woodworking and culinary arts. 

My creative process... I see something that speaks to me, whether it's something to sew, or something to draw or paint. I feel fear and trepidation sometimes to try something new. I let that drive my creative process. There is nothing more fulfilling than to face your fears and see the end result that others appreciate too. Whether it's something they purchase, or even just give a compliment when they stop at my booth!

Meet Rourke Stubna from Art by Rourke....

I am a Kent based artist, currently working in the environmental industry at a Greenhouse.

I've been into art ever since grade school. I started to get more into my artwork in high school, thanks to my school's many art classes, I took every art class available. These classes included drawing, painting, sculpting, ceramics, and other art fundamentals. After high school, I started taking commissions, mainly doing pet portraits. In 2017, I joined an art group, The Novelty Collective, located in Avalon, Pennsylvania (https://www.thenoveltycollective.org/). Their annual Novelty Collective Art & Music festival was my first time being an art vendor. I have been a vendor at their annual festival each year since 2017. This year, 2024, is the first time I'm applying to other art and craft shows. In 2023, I decided to make a career change, running my own art business. While I've enjoyed my work in the horticulture industry, art is my true passion and I'm excited to pursue that passion and make a career out of it.

While I'm not longer interested in an environmental career, my work allows me to be in nature and that is shown in a lot of my work. The beautiful plants I work with, I found painting the plants to be a lot more fulfilling. The various birds I see are perfect subjects for an afternoon painting (and they're my most popular artworks). The landscapes I see inspire my simplistic watercolor landscapes.

My inspirations don't stop there. I am greatly influenced my popculture and music. Often times a song will influence what I create next. The song "Autumn Leaves", or "Les Feuilles mortes", inspired my painting "The Autumn Goddess" (attached), a tree woman, also inspired by the Walt Disney Silly Symphony "Flowers and Trees."

My fantastic art teachers in high school got me into art, and my art community, family, friends, and partner continue to support my art journey.

Years of practice is how I discovered and continue to discover my talents. I enjoy trying new things and learning new techniques. My work is constantly evolving. I'd say my talents are making connections with people through my art. Even if it's as simple as "I like birds, and I Iike your bird artwork."

My creative process is pretty simple: I see it/think it, I like it, I create it. On top of that, I'm always thinking of ways to improve my following pieces or utilize different techniques to keep my art interesting.

My five year goal... I see myself working for myself and making a career with my art. I'll be doing art events all around the country. I also see myself working with other great artists, collaborating on projects.

The message behind my artwork is making connections. Pop-culture is really a unique thing that allows a sense of community, connection, and relatability. In all my art there is some form of pop-culture reference. Such as my Lemon oil paintings are directly inspired by Beyoncé's visual album "Lemonade." My "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rihanna" stickers is a quote from the show Broad City. My Blue Bird painting is inspired by Bestrice from Over the Garden Wall. I think there is a deeper connection someone might feel with a piece, not just because they think it looks cool, but also because they connect with my inspiration behind it.

Meet Logan Carmichael from Red's Custom Woodworking...

I am a medically retired veteran that started woodworking about seven years ago. I was a medic in the United States Army with two deployments to Iraq and six months in Kuwait. I moved here to Ohio about 5 years ago from Minnesota when I met my girlfriend on one of my motorcycle trips. 

Chagrin Falls will be my 4th Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show as I just started getting into the craft show scene!

My inspiration to create wooden works of art comes from both my imagination and the mind of those that I create it for. People give me an idea of what they are looking for, and from there, I just start making sawdust. No blue prints, no Auto-CAD, no drawings, just a visualization in my mind and I start creating. 

Both my dad and my grandfather are amazing wood working artists, both in their own style, so I take what I learned from them, and add my own little flair to it. In five years, I see myself still creating works of wooden art. 

I use wood working as a therapy for my PTSD. I know alot of Veterans out there that suffer from it and I guess my message behind my work, is to find a hobby you love and run with it. It's helped me out immensely and I have made many connections along the way!! 

I just recently created a linktree to my social media accounts that have a few works I've created over the past few years. I can only hope that the recipients of my work enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them!! So when you're at the next craft show, if you see the big sign that says, "Red's Custom WoodWerx", stop by and say hello, I love to chit chat!!

2024 Chagrin Falls Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday and Sunday, May 4/5, 2024

Saturday- 10:00am-4:00pm

Sunday- 11:00am-4:00pm

Chagrin Valley Athletic Club

17260 Snyder Rd.

Chagrin Falls, OH 44023

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

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It's Show Week!

Meet Maddie Burland from Noodle Works...

I am currently a sophomore at Bowling Green State University studying art education. I grew up in Ohio, just outside of Cleveland, with my mom, dad, younger brother, younger sister, and our dogs, Olive, Bob, and Kaiser. My favorite art medium is ceramics, but I also enjoy drawing and photography. Some of my hobbies are reading, writing, and more recently, knitting.

I’ve always loved making art and doing art projects, so I’d say I’ve been an artist pretty much forever, but I got really into ceramics and photography in high school, and I really only started drawing a lot this past summer. I’ve also only just started attending art shows, though I’ve participated in school art shows before. This will be my 2nd Avant-Garde Craft Show. I decided to start applying to and selling art at these shows because I already make a ton of art on my own and for my classes, and since I am a poor college student, I thought it might be nice to make some extra money and get some exposure as a new artist. 

I wouldn’t say that I discovered a talent for art, I’ve just always known that I like art and that I’m good at it. I took art classes all throughout high school and decided to pursue a career in art education because of how much art and creating mean to me. That being said, I also wouldn’t say that any one thing inspires me to create because the things I create are inspired by many things. If anything, I would say that I create because I simply can’t not make art. Even when I find myself in a bit of a rut I always have some ideas floating around, and can always find something to draw or make. 

I think haphazard is a good word to describe my creative process. I’m never quite sure when I’ll have ideas for drawings, or when I’ll have the time and energy to actually draw them since I’m usually pretty busy with classes. When I do have time and ideas, the process for my drawings usually goes through the steps of having the idea, drawing sketches or a sketch with notes and possible adjustments, drawing the final copy on larger paper in pencil, and then adding color to the final copy, usually with markers. When I do ceramics, the process is even more involved, because many ceramics pieces require multiple sketches, since ceramics is a 3D medium, and I don’t make many coffee mugs. 

In 5 years, I hope to be an art teacher, in whatever school and district that will take me. But in terms of selling my art, the plan is pretty much to keep doing what I’ve started doing this past year, drawing and making art as much as I can, and applying to and attending shows whenever I can. I wouldn’t say there’s any real message in my work, like “stop pollution” or that sort of thing. The things I create are simply a reflection of me and how I see the world, and my attempt to capture what I see in some physical form

Meet Karyl Lee from One Row to Hoe...

I am a retired former vegetarian chef from Charleston, SC who lives in Oberlin, OH. I moved here in 2008, and since have fallen for the local art scene and opportunities for visual representation. I work in water media and with beads and ceramics, and have illustrated a children's book. I have been a working artist for more than 50 years, and a beaded jewelry maker for a decade and this will be my first Avant-Garde Show!

I discovered my talent when I was encouraged as a child by my father to explore color and media and have never stopped. Then, living in Oberlin where there is a great bead supply store, I saw a lot of nifty stuff and wanted to make my own. I love colors, textures, and shapes, and enjoy making unusual things happen in different media. Usually, I sit with a tiny pen or pencil sketch and consider what I want the ultimate illustration to look like, or else I pick up a ceramic piece and just apply color! sometimes I find a focal bead that makes me want to string things with it that will showcase just that one piece.

As for the future, I think I might be retired for good as a business but who knows, maybe the second book I am working on illustrating might lead to other related work. My main message is that art should be accessible and enjoyable in a multitude of ways. Everyone can find something creative to express themselves with or through and I hope my multi-medium approach stimulates that.

Meet Lynn Pelka of Lynn Patricia Designs…

Creating my handbags and accessories brings me much joy.  I love working with the fabrics and textures making a classy looking handbag that may be just right for you. We, as women, look for a handbag that is specific to our needs whether it has pockets, zipper closer a certain kind of strap/handle. I create my handbags with a full front pocket to hold all your important items at your fingertips with soft webbing handled for a comfortable fit. I also offer handmade zipper pouches, mini wallets, and lip balm totes as well as special character handbags for the little girl in your life.

Even though I’ve been sewing since childhood, my business began when I launched an Etsy store 2011 listing, at that time, my very colorful handbags, tea bag wallets, and water bottle totes. With experience over the years, my design has settled down to a more classic handbag style in neutral colors.  Things have blossomed and I am now established both at indoor and outdoor shows. It is always a pleasure meeting and chatting with those who stop at my booth.

The future looks bright with the hopes to one day retire from my day job as an office manager at a dental practice and participate in as many shows as possible. I’ve found the Avant-Garde shows to be expertly done with vendors who produce beautiful and interesting items making for an enjoyable shopping experience. So hope you enjoy your day at the show and be sure to stop by and introduce yourself as one who has read this blog.

                                              

2019 West Geauga Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Date: Sunday, March 17, 2019

 Time: 8:00am-3:00pm

West Geauga High School

13401 Chillicothe Road

Chesterland, OH 44026

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

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