i art a day.

(top-most photo of the Felties booth by Sqrl&BeeStudio – Melissa Frueh)

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the semi-annual Philadelphia Buyer’s Market as a member of the press for the Handmade Philly blogging community, and what a show! Many of the artisans that I spoke to who had done the show previously remarked that it was a small show, but my mind was blown as it took me 3 hours to walk from one side of the convention hall to the other looking at all of the work.

The Buyer’s Market is a private show, usually only open to those who wish to sell their handmade goods wholesale to industry professionals. It’s not like an art/craft show in that buyers are there to look at and order work in bulk.  The investment on the part of artists exhibiting their work is high (usually a booth space costs between $1,500 – $3,500 a show), with the potential for a big return if their work manages to charm a couple of wholesale buyers. The work ranges from jewelry, wood, mixed media, paper goods, fashion, beauty, ceramics, glass, sculpture, fine art, to housewares.

With over 1,500 artists displaying their work, there’s no way I could fairly summarize everything I looked at and loved. So, instead I’ll be highlighting about a dozen sellers that really caught my eye over a 3 part blogging adventure! Let’s get started!

1. Homemade Circus by Tammy Smith

This whimsical little booth delighted me to no end with circus themed wire lamps, wall hangings with attached brooches, standing sculptures and big top flare. “On an abandoned pier in Brighton, England I found my inspiration. The carnival on the pier had burned to the ground. Only the steel frame existed and hundreds of birds had made it their home…this became the basis for a lot of my work,” wrote Tammy Smith on her website. A little sweet, a little dark and completely delightful. For your buying pleasure more Homemade Circus is also on Etsy at homemadecircus.etsy.com.

2. Dovetail by Margaret & Josh Smith

Simple and elegant ceramics with charming hand drawn designs. Each piece is handmade with several illustrations including bicycles, alphabets, chairs, neighborhoods, ocean life, and poppies. Way cooler than white Ikea plates. Pick up some of your own at the Dovetail Etsy shop: dovetail.etsy.com.

3. Revolutionary Designs, Inc.by Rick & Donna Chrisman

These baskets are so finely made that it’s stunning how consistant the craftsmanship is for handmade baskets and boxes. Working in Arizona, the Chrismans base much of their work on Shaker crafts and designs. Not only are they exceptional baskets, but the wood and oils smell so great!

4. Christine Originals

These shadowbox dioramas remind me of travels and beloved classic movies, with scenes set in Paris, New York, Florence, and Venice among others. There are also color dioramas of nursey rhymes and fairy tales, as well as fantastic still lives (some even light up!). Shown just a tad smaller than actual size – amazing, right?!

Part 2 of the Philadelphia Buyer’s Market review on Friday!

At the beginning of the year I found myself in a couple of uninspired positions, including an empty sketchbook and dried up palette. Over the past couple of months, in an attempt to recharge the drawn and painted batteries I’ve been searching for what it is that has inspired or prompted other artists. More specifically, what do their sketchbooks, letters, and scraps of drawings look like? What were they thinking during the slow times as well as the explosive times? In the process I’ve picked up a couple of books that have reignited some of my creative exploration.

At the moment I’m about halfway through An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory, and the inspiration to sketch all day every day is overwhelming. There seem to be a couple of cliches with many of the artists featured (a lot of New Yorkers, scribbling away in their Moleskines while waiting for the subway or train), but the work is so wide ranging in both content and talent. It has reminded me that I can really put whatever I want down in my sketchbook. I’m the type of person who’d like to have a couple of guidelines for my sketchbook (otherwise it’d be filled with grocery and to do lists), and it seems like with a little bit of thought and a lot of passion is really all you need to keep a sketchbook. Some of my sketchbook “rules” are:

1. No tearing out of pages – even if it’s incredibly terrible. If it really kills me I’ll gesso over it and draw something else.
2. Use every page. This is a new one since I’ve never finished an entire book, so it’s really more of a goal this time around.
3. Sketchbook is only for sketching and some supplementary writing. Unless it has something to do with the drawings on the pages it belongs in my separate journal. Some things have to be entirely private and other people look through my sketchbooks occasionally.

Other than that I’m open for anything these days. Flipping through An Illustrated Life has sparked so many new ideas while reading that I’m torn between reading more or putting it down and running to my sketchbook. It’s great to see rough thoughts of other artists rather than elegantly finished pieces hanging in a gallery. The sketchbook is a platform for personal and raw ideas which often translate much clearer in their preliminary forms than in a final image. If you’ve got a couple of minutes it’s definitely a book to peel through at the bookstore or checkout for further investigation at the library.

I’m currently in love with the new King & Queen of Hearts stamps. I mean – what’s not to love? I’m not one to go into the post office and pick up one of the boring first class stamp books, no no – it’s always the fun stamps, and why not since they don’t cost extra. I just finished using up my Star Wars stamps (no, I’m not kidding – I’m that big of a dork) so hello love stamps. Which brings me to another point. Why don’t we write love letters anymore? Or for that matter, any letters? I try to write as often as possible, at least a postcard – but there’s really no way one can compete with the internet. It’s just a shame that the people who see most of my cute stamps are the people I pay bills to. That’s it, today I write letters.

Polaroid film is pretty expensive these days, around $20 a pack. Most of the film I use is anymore. Medium format hits the wallet at around $8 a pack, not including another $15 for processing and printing. No wonder why digital is so popular. I feel like in many ways we’re losing as much as we’re gaining. Sure, we can now create any image we desire, but what about the simple pleasure of holding your favorite instant photo in your hands moments after it’s been taken? I don’t want to scan and reproduce these, I just want to enjoy them. Are we sucking the pleasure out of photography?

Walking around outside on a beautiful and bright afternoon in Philadelphia. I love these buildings, they’re so much more than the stones, brick and glass that physically define them. I love these trees. I’ve never noticed how they seem to shoot up through every crack in the concrete before. Their fuzzy pink blossoms take me to my very own intoxicating poppy field.

Sure, it’s 4:10 on Friday afternoon. If you haven’t gone home for the weekend yet there’s a chance you’ll see this here blog, but I’m betting this baby isn’t getting read until Monday. Anyway.

Is anyone else even slightly…I don’t know the word…unappetized…by the use of Hiroshi Sugimoto‘s gorgeous photo on the cover of the new U2 album?

 It makes me really sad for some reason. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a fan of U2 and I think they’re the ultimate “sell-out” band – or more specifially, Bono writes terrible lyrics. I’m sure the actual band is still capable of writing music, but I just can’t see past the atrocity of the lyrics. It’s not even that they’re getting too old to pull off the tough guy rocker image (hello Rolling Stones?) – I still listen to Madonna albums for crying out loud. Yay older people making music. I think it’s just that I have the utmost awe, respect and affection for Sugimoto’s images – and watching pop culture package and toss his very meaningful and beautiful work into the “U2 brand” without any regard for the meaning of such an elegant and breathtaking image – well, it’s just wrong. It’d be great for people to recognize his image on the level of say – Ansel Adams – but I’m not sure this is the correct venue for it.

Anyway, it’s supposed to be warm & sunny this weekend! Looking forward to hiking in the park, movie watching, maybe a little art-ing at Studio 27.28, and trying to remember setting my clock forward Sunday morning for daylight savings! Have a good one!