Meet Alexandra Zeller from Alyphira Crochet...
I started crocheting around July of 2022, and haven't put it down since. I am 26 years old and a proud native Cincinnatian. I'm very excited about being able to attend my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show!
At first, I just created my items for my own personal use. However, after sharing a few of my projects with others, I found that I loved making plushies, blankets, and clothing for others. Their happiness was infectious, and I found that it spurred me to create even more. It was the beginning of 2022 when I found myself in the throes of figuring out what was causing my chronic illness. I spent numerous days in doctors' offices, and found myself a few times in the hospital. During those times, I needed something other than the "Game Show Network" to do, and thus, picked up Crochet. It was portable and could follow me everywhere. It became a comfort for me and grew from a simple hobby into what it is today. Although I was terrible at first, with time and effort I've found a style and craft I've grown fond of!
I crochet only things that I find myself passionate about. When I get an idea for a pattern, I generally start with mood boards - then decide if I want to go for realism or cartoon features. From there, it's all about shaping, counting, frogging, and repeating until I find a pattern I'm happy with!
I've found that by doing what makes me happy, I can help bring that happiness to others! Within the next five years, I hope to adapt my style of work more, and also develop new and unique patterns as well as plushies.
I've found that by doing what makes me happy, I can help bring that happiness to others! Within the next five years, I hope to adapt my style of work more, and also develop new and unique patterns as well as plushies.
I hope that through my work, people are able to connect with their inner child and find inspiration to create what makes you happy!
Meet Lee Baker DeVore from The Elfin Peddler...
I received a BFA in painting from Miami University of OH., and then worked for 35 years in my family's landscaping business where I took care of the nursery, office and I worked with designing. I retired to Oxford, OH., where I have become involved in the local arts community, exhibiting regularly there, and continue to be a lifelong student of nature, wonder, and artistic expression in a wide variety of mediums— I do everything from painting to fairy houses! I began to participate in local craft shows in 2018, focusing mainly on elf and fairy houses, depending on the given space. Sometimes I include my paintings as well!
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I’ve always created; drawing, painting, constructing, writing, imagination spilling out into creations. My mother encouraged me from early on, and was playfully creative and artistic herself. I'm lucky that in my life even while working I've been able to maintain space for creativity. Now that I'm retired, I am surrounded by a creative space!
When it comes to my elf and fairy houses, I have been creating them off and on for both indoor and outdoor use since 2003, developing the smaller ornament stock in 2015 forward. Really, though, this art started in my childhood, when I was playing in the woods and hedges, making fairy homes. My passion was later revived as an adult on one family vacation around 2001 at Lake Huron, where I spent the week building an elf house of stone, bark, and woven twig on the edge of the rocky beach under a tree. According to the cabin owner, the house still exists today!
I gather my inspiration by taking time to deeply connect with nature. My proclivity for collecting sticks, stones, shells, and other cool natural materials spurs my imagination on what I can create with them, and these natural objects not only get used in the fairy houses, but they manage to find their way into my paintings and collages!
These fairy houses are a natural outgrowth of my habit of arranging natural objects into habitats and dwellings, both inside and in the landscape. When other people expressed interest and delight, I decided to try developing this skill/play into saleable creations.
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To gather inspiration while creating the large fairy houses, I like to imagine how a fairy might use them to create a home before I begin. To get started, I will assemble possible items on a table and shuffle them around, and then sketch out possibilities. After that comes the engineering phase of working out supports and joints, roof and rafters and floors and lofts and such. This is important especially for hinged door frame construction and placement. Some are mostly planned out with construction drawings ahead of time. Others grow more organically, particularly with stone construction, with design breaks along the way. With the smaller ornament sizes the process is more task oriented of cutting and construction first, then the decorative flourishes involve a more intuitive, creative process. I surround myself with the potential materials at any given point, as having wide choices is key to personalization.
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The message within all my work is that people need to take the time to see, not just look, and to enjoy, not just work. Live attentively, gratefully, thoughtfully, playfully. Be sure to follow the light in your life!
Meet Fran Kellington from Fran Kellington Designs...
Making jewelry holds a special place in my heart. It is the activity that my sisters an I have loved doing together our whole lives. It started in our childhood and still continues to this day!
My jewelry designs are eclectic, inspired by nature and combine harmony, class and sometimes whimsy.
My background is a Bachelor of Science in Fashion design. Then, about 25 years ago, I switched over to Interior Design. I’m an independent designer, working purely in residential projects. My business has only grown with the word of mouth.
I have been creating things since I was a child. It still is a major part of me, and I love keeping as many of my creations as I can, but I can only keep so many things! So I decided to start selling my jewelry creations by request of family and friends. And that was the beginning of my participating in Art & Craft shows.
Meet Tessa Woody from Tessa Woody Art and Design...
I am a graduate of Northern Kentucky University, with a Bachelor's of Art in Visual Communication Design and a minor in Creative Writing. I recently accepted a job at PL Marketing as a Web Content Editor.
I would say that my most notable accomplishments include graduating Magna Cum Laude, volunteering as Senior Art editor for Loch Norse Magazine, directing my small-town indie bookstore's online presence for 2 years— after working my way up from the basement to co-managing within 5 years— receiving publications for both my artistic and written work, receiving the Outstanding Minor Award from NKU's English Department, and continuing to be 100% who I am.
My work is inspired by my spiritual adventures. I love to expresses my witchy aesthetic through my art work. I am also inspired by the things I love, such as gemstones, vibrant colors, and social issues that I'm passionate about!
I discovered the crafty side of my fine art talents in order to best fit my customer needs and my own curiosity as I explore new mediums that I have never worked with before. I blend my fine art and design skills with these new craft techniques.
My creative process is always evolving. The more I try new things, the more I fail and learn! Projects start as a vision in my head, move to sketches on my tablet, and eventually come to life in physical form, whether it’s a painting or earrings!
The message behind my business is to be 100% authentically yourself and to be in-tune to the higher self. Your path is different from others for a reason, so you shouldn't let the looming rules of how a 'normal life' is supposed to look like take over what your soul yearns for!
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