Strongsville Avant-Garde Art & Craft Shows: November 2023

Meet Megan and Katie Gordon from Nine Blooms..

Megan and Katie are sisters who love to help people! Once we learned about crystal healing, we knew we had to bring it to as many people as possible to help the world feel better! We have been making crystal jewelry for the majority of this year, but we just started selling in July. This will be our second Avant Garde Show, and our first was an absolute blast!

Bright colors and certain healing properties inspire our designs. When we started learning about crystal healing, we noticed that most of what was for sale were muted colors. We wanted to create a space where every color is represented. Not only can we help you find your perfect healing crystals, we can make them match your style! I discovered my talent for making crystal bracelets because my wrists are small, and I could never find a bracelet to fit me! I noticed my family had the same trouble, and soon discovered that there are many different wrist sizes in both directions. My goal became to help everyone find their perfect fit!

In April of 2023, I (Megan) was laid off from my job. The process of sending out hundreds of applications in this job market became extremely depressing. I started making one bracelet for every job application. At a certain point, my family encouraged me to set up a table and start selling, and here we are! Katie came on as my Assistant Designer, and we are helping the world heal one crystal at a time! We have since expanded to necklaces, lanyards, ornaments, and soon...earrings!

Creating a healing bracelet is so fun because depending on the day, we can be inspired my Taylor Swift and create bracelets inspired by her different eras, by each astrological sign and the crystals that are best for each, perhaps our client is going to an event and wants a bracelet and necklace set that not only has certain healing properties...but also matches their outfit! The inspiration comes as we learn more about each client. The process itself is very meditative. We keep the energy high when we are making them and set the intention that each piece will find the right owner!

In five years, we see ourselves being able to do this full time and create jobs for our friends and family members.

We hope to heal the world one crystal at a time! If we can help you feel even 1% better, we have done our job.

Meet Adrian Ross from AbrianaArt...

My name is Abriana Rosu! I am an artist, designer, and owner of the Etsy shop AbrianaArt. I work in a variety of mediums, from illustrative 2D work to crafty works in 3D. I enjoy using art as a means of expressing myself while also connecting to others. In my shop I sell a variety of things, including unique earrings, stickers, and zines. This will be my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft show!

I have been doing arts and crafts for as long as I can remember. I made my first pair of earrings in November 2019, and I opened my Etsy shop in May 2020. Being creative is ingrained in who I am. I can’t explain exactly why, but I must create. I am always finding new inspirations. I love being able to spread my love of what I create to other people.

I enjoyed crafts as a child but started to lean more towards fine art as I got older. After feeling like I had tried almost every 2D medium, I decided to give sculpting a try. I soon learned how much fun it is to be able to make my own unique earrings with clay! Now, four years later, my crafting operation has expanded. I absolutely love being able to think of an idea and make it happen. There’s so much joy in that! I think the first time I remember feeling like I had artistic talent was in elementary school. In my art class, we were assigned to do a drawing of Venice in crayon. I became so invested in the drawing that I took it home to work on it longer. I spent at least 10 hours on it. When we hung the drawings up on display in the hall, several people told me how impressed they were with my drawing! In the years since, I have used my talent to develop skill.

When a new idea comes to me, I make sure to write it down, or I will forget it. I like to start working on my new ideas quickly, before my passion for them fades. With something crafty, I can usually dive right into the project. For something like an illustration, I go through a process of sketching and reworking before I can create a finished piece. When I don’t have an idea come to me naturally, but I know I want to make something, I often turn towards sources of inspiration, like my sketchbooks, observations and thoughts, or other artists’ work. Often, my best ideas come to me when I am incredibly bored. In today’s entertainment-rich world, boredom is an undervalued tool.

In five years, I would like to see a lot of growth and improvement with my business. In just the past few months, I’ve dedicated more time to my shop than I had in its first three years of existence.

The earrings I make are about fun. My goal is to have a novelty earring for every occasion. My other work can carry lots of different meanings. Sometimes my work is personal, but I find so much joy in my art making a connection with a viewer, whether for its humor, emotion, information, or beauty.

In the coming years, my hope is to be able to bring joy to more people through my art.

Meet Joe Herrera from Joesoswag:

My name is Joe and I’m a Fashion Design/Studio Art graduate. I’m queer, Hispanic, and I’ve been drawing ever since I could remember. This is my first Avant-Garde show and I’m so excited to participate and hopefully keep doing more shows in the future.

I am inspired by so many things. I love the dark and macabre, I love animation, music, movies and video games. Anytime I see something cool, I immediately want to recreate it, whether it’s through drawing art or crafting. Once I’m inspired, I get into it straight away usually without much preparation or planning.

In 5 years, I see my business growing and I see myself continuing to be inspired and create more and more. Sometimes, I want to send a message of acceptance; to create a safe space of inclusion with my LGBTQ+ works, for example. Most of the time, I just want to express myself and be creative without needing to send a bigger message across.