Strongsville Avant-Garde Art & Craft Shows: November 2019

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Countdown to Crafts Begins, Strongsville!

Meet Brigette Lasko of The Bookish Hooker...
Hi! My name is Bri and I’m the face behind The Bookish Hooker. I live in Avon Lake with my husband. I hold down a full-time day job and also help my husband out with his business, Bottoms Up! Yoga & Brew. My hobbies are baking, reading pretty much anything I can get my hands on, and fiber arts. I’ve been making crafts for as long as I can remember, but I’ve been crocheting regularly since early 2017.

I’m the type of person that has a lot of anxious energy so I need a creative outlet. I have another business, Baked By Brigitte that I started in 2015 to create custom cakes, cupcakes, and desserts. I created The Bookish Hooker as a creative extension of that business to showcase my other hobbies outside of the kitchen. My Nana taught me to crochet when I was about 8 or 9 and I never really got into it until about 2 years ago when I wanted a way to create fun gifts for my niece. I grew up around my mom who is incredibly crafty and she fostered a love for creating things in me.

I filter through Pinterest and Ravelry a lot for inspiration photos. From there I tend to customize patterns into exactly what either myself or a client is looking for. My husband always jokes that I create a “nest” wherever I decide to work on a project out of blankets and craft supplies and I tend to not come out until I’m done.

I’m lucky right now in that I’m in a position to pick and choose what projects I’d like to work on. In five years I’d still like to be enjoying what I do without being in the “I have to get this work done” mindset. I’d like to work on publishing a few of my custom patterns, but otherwise I’d just like to still be in a place where I can create and enjoy what I do. This will be my first ever show that I’ve participated in and I’m really looking forward to it.

There’s not any particular message behind my work other than just to fill my desire to make pretty things that people can enjoy. I always say that I don’t consider myself a particularly creative person, I just really enjoy making something physical that someone can get a little joy out of.

Meet Anna and Sam Weisend of ReAmused...
Anna and Sam Weisend are the mother/daughter team behind ReAmused. Anna is an accomplished sugar artist and pastry chef and Sam has an art studio degree and is a practicing artist. When Sam discovered her love for hand binding books, she made a blank book for her mother using Anna’s favorite game board, Scrabble, as the cover. It sparked a flame in both of them to rescue and recycle old game boards and make them into something that could continue to amuse even the most serious adult. As they did that, they started finding new uses for the game pieces as well. The journals did not fit in with Sam’s more ‘serious art’ pursuits so, after much discussion, Sam and Anna joined their artistic talents and formed ReAmused. They are hoping that through this joint venture, they can bring smiles to the masses.

Sam has been binding books for over a year and Anna has joined her in the last 6 months. We both have the ability to see and appreciate the beauty and potential in unwanted things and it gives us the desire to find ways to use them so that others can appreciate them as well.

Our creative process can be described as the following: We tinker. We play with things. We think about it. And then we go back to tinkering. In five years, we can envision new product collections and a larger, supportive fan base. The message behind our work is that, first, just because things are old does not mean they are worthless. Second, day to day adulting does not need to be so serious.

This is our first Avant Garde Show and it is also the first show we are debuting our work to the public!

Meet Nate Schultz of Nate Schultz Photography

I am a full-time math teacher, who is always looking for ways to stay busy and be invested in various projects and conversations with people. My wife and I have a Chocolate Lab that we treat as a child; and we also had our first baby girl in June! We love finding new places to explore, eat, and have a good cup of coffee. I became a part-time barista at a local coffee shop, which allows me to pursue conversations and share my interest in coffee with new people. I also love to spend time in the woods, preferably near a lake or waterfall. These types of hikes are my favorite scenes to capture and I attempt to bring them back with me through photography.

A few years ago, I had a combination of life events and stress that led to a group of friends suggesting that I spend time in nature to provide me a “reset.” My wife and I started hiking at Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the local metro parks. I discovered the value of these great places and one day I happened to take an old camera with me to grab a few photos. It did not take long for this to develop into a passion that I could not resist trying to improve upon daily. I have benefitted from the advice and help of many friends in creative industries! The more and more I shared my love for landscape photography, people started asking for prints. So, I decided to start matting photos and seeking out opportunities to share my work with the public!

One of the things that I love about landscape photography is the interaction with fellow artists. I enjoy talking with local photographers and artists to hear about places they have explored and to share my own suggestions. Also, just seeing the other styles of photography reinvigorates me to try something new.

I love the outdoors. I have heard too many people say that they feel like they need to take big vacations to see exciting and beautiful sights. I believe that Ohio has a unique blend of nature, cities, and culture that provides for great one-day trips in our own state.

This is my first Avant Garde show! I am looking forward to meeting other creatives and customers!

I’ve just begun exploring the business aspect of photography, and I look forward to seeing where it takes me in the next five years! It could be continuing to sell local landscapes, traveling for photography, finding more opportunities for event photography, furthering my portraiture work, etc. It is a lot of fun for me to learn about different types of skills in this hobby.

As a man of faith, I am fascinated with God’s incredible design of nature. I also love using this outlet as an opportunity to show value in other people and to speak life to them as we interact about hiking or photography.

2019 Strongsville Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday & Sunday, November 22 & 23, 2019

Strongsville Ehrnfelt Recreation Center

18100 Royalton Rd.

Strongsville, OH 44136

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

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Friday, November 15, 2019

Strongsville Crafters Coming Your Way!

Meet Sharon Gerchak of Pet Portraits by Sharon...
My name is Sharon Gerchak, I am married with one son, retired and am 76 years old. I have lived in, or around Cleveland all my life. I have been drawing since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I took art at school and went to Cooper School of Art after graduation. I did a mail-order course (kind of like on-line but through snail mail) and after I retired I went to Tri-C for two terms. I now do acrylic, watercolor, colored pencil , pastels and pen & ink.

I have never done an Avante Garde show before, in fact, this is only the third show I have done. I love animals, and I love to draw them. I started drawing horses when I was about ten and have progressed to all kinds of animals, even an Iguana.

I retired a few years ago (about 10) and had lots of time on my hands. I took a few art classes and started painting. Then I did a picture of my dog, who was getting old. I was glad I did, because he died a few years later. But, now I have his picture on my living room wall and feel like he is still with us. The same thing happened with my cat. They are up there, side by side, even though they never met each other. I love being able to see them and remember all the good times we had. This made me think about my friends and their pets and started painting them too.

I go to a lot of craft shows with a friend, and we have never seen anything like what I do and she suggested I try it. So, I am. There are a lot of people who have fur babys that might like a picture to remember them by when they pass away. A picture on your phone is fine, but a painting on the wall is even better.

In 5 years I hope to still be doing what I love!

Meet Caroline Lawrence of Crochet by Aunt C...

Hi, my name is Caroline Lawrence. Over the years, I have crocheted gifts for people at the holidays, but I never found anything I could do year-round. Then a few years ago, I saw a sign in a pet store about an animal rescue looking for dog coats and I thought, "Hey, I can crochet dog coats." Well it turned out that the rescue was asking for dog coats not for their rescues, but for dogs whose owners were having financial and housing problems.

Suddenly, my crocheting dog coats went from, "Hey, I can do that" to, "Wow, I need to make coats that are warm, thick, adjustable, washable, and very sturdy." I also made them pretty and colorful because my philosophy is that having financial problems doesn’t mean you can’t have something nice.

I still donate my dog coats, but suddenly my friends, co-workers, and their friends wanted me to make coats for their dogs. Then my god-daughter, who is much craftier that I, mentioned selling her crafts at a craft show. So here I am with my dog coats and coordinating scarves (because what dog wants to be seen walking with an owner wearing a scarf that doesn't match his or her coat) about to participate in my first Avant-Garde Art & Crafts Show. Joining me with her intricate ornaments and enticing cat nip toys is my god-daughter.

As for our inspiration, both of us are inspired by colors. When I’m shopping and slowly drift to the yarn department, it’s all of the beautiful colors that get my creative juices flowing. I am also inspired by the cold weather. My dog is not fond of cold weather. When it snows, he gives me a questioning side eye as if to say, “You work from home, why do we live someplace cold?” He has an impressive wardrobe of coats as a result.

Meet Denise Sutak of Designs by Denise, Just Beads...

I retired from corporate America in January 2017. Now, my days are filled with volunteer work for the American Cancer Society (I drive patients without rides to their appointments), visiting the Cleveland Metro Parks and working on creating jewelry pieces.

I actually started crafting in my 20s when my neighborhood held art and craft classes for children during the summer months and I was always there. I had to put it aside as my children and marriage took precedence. I took it up again once I retired. I love jewelry and believe it should be worn all the time. I believe fine pieces can be mixed with artsy pieces. Jewelry should enhance your mood and make you smile.

I decided to start selling my jewelry when one day I made a piece of jewelry, wore it, and received many compliments. So, I decided to give it a try. My creative process involves putting the right colors and enhancements together comes from nature. It takes a while to put together just the right feel.

This will be my second Avant-Garde show and I hope the attendees see from my work that my jewelry is fun, simplistic, and goes with everything!