Artist of the Week- Claudia Carreón
July 6, 2010
The St James Court Art Show Artist of the Week is Claudia Carreón from Hilliard, OH. Claudia, a jeweler, is in the Third Street section of the Art Show. Booths have not been assigned yet so pick up a free program at the art show or check out the web site for Claudia’s booth placement.
SJCAS: Tell us about yourself, your company - how did you get started, what makes you go to the studio every day?
Claudia: I started designing and making jewelry after taking metals and jewelry classes at RIT in Rochester, NY in 2001 having as teacher my paisano, Juan Carlos Caballero Pérez, an awesome metal artist. In 2002, I joined my brother Gustavo, who has been making beautiful copper and brass pieces for over 25 years. Together we create the pieces you have seen in my shows. Our pieces are signed with our last name. I live in Hilliard, OH with my husband and two small boys.
What makes me want to do my work is the joy I see in people’s face when they say how many compliments they get when wearing my pieces, but the biggest accomplishment is that part of my sales go directly to help patients at Children’s Hospital in Morelia, Mexico, my hometown.
On Dec. 2009, 18 children received winter jackets and clothes. I also collected gently used clothes and blankets for the parents of those children who, due to lack of funds, camp outside the hospital waiting for their children to be discharged. Temperatures this past winter were as low as 30 degrees at night. My goal this year is to help 35 children, most of them being in the oncology and burn units of this hospital. I will also pay for the stay of 5 families at a guest home near the hospital.
Claudia Carreón, Copper, Brass and Silver Designs provides exquisite handcrafted jewelry, picture frames, candle holders, belts, purses and jewelry boxes.
All items are one-of-a-kind and lead free. Oxidized pieces are made of recycled metal, a small way to help the environment. Please know that all raw materials come from Michoacán, México, where many copper mines are located.
SJCAS: What is the price range of your work?
Claudia: $24-$225
SJCAS: What is your web address that you would like to share?
Claudia: www.claudiacarreon.com
SJCAS: Where can the art patron find you — what other shows/galleries are you doing this year?
Claudia: Galleries and boutiques carrying my work are:
* Ursus Arts Space, Upper Arlington, OH
* Damsels in this Dress, Worthington, OH
* The Market at Serendip, Powell, OH
* State House Museum Shop, Columbus, OH
People can see my website and look at the calendar of events to know what shows I’ll be doing.
SJCAS: Any other comments?
Claudia: I won first place this year at By The River Fine Arts Festival in Savanna, GA in the Metals/Jewelry category. I also won first place in jewelry in Rochester, NY’s Park Avenue Festival in 2009.
Artist of the Week- Dolan Geiman
June 7, 2010
The St James Court Art Show Artist of the Week is Dolan Geiman from Chicago, Illinois. Dolan, a mixed media artist, is in the Belgravia Court section of the Art Show. Booths have not been assigned yet so pick up a free program at the art show or check out the web site for Dolan’s booth placement.
SJCAS: Tell us about yourself, your company - how did you get started, what makes you go to the studio every day?
Dolan: That’s a lot of questions wrapped up in one question! My name is Dolan Geiman. I’m a mixed media artist currently based out of Chicago, Illinois. My artwork incorporates painting, printmaking, and collage techniques and uses 75%-100% recycled materials. My tagline, Contemporary Art with a Southern Accent, is derived from my rural upbringing in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I’m a combination of a country mouse and city mouse creating artwork inspired by my love for the South, the natural world, and all things old and crunchy.
My mother, Lisa Geiman, is a full-time watercolor artist. Because of her, I’ve been making art since I could walk and selling art since high school. I received a BFA from James Madison University with a focus in printmaking and sculpture. Following graduation, I worked for the USDA Forest Service guiding families through the flora and fauna of the George Washington National Forest. Soon after, I decided to return to my artwork and moved to Chicago, Illinois. It was there that I met my present-day wife and business partner, Ali Marie. We began seriously traveling for art fairs in 2003, participating in both the Uptown Art Fair and the Saint Louis Art that summer. Today, we do 18+ art fairs a year as well as sell my artwork through our online Etsy shop, nationwide retailers, and interior designers.
I make new work every day. I love what I do and cannot imagine a different career path!
SJCAS: What is the price range of your work?
Dolan: I create everything from small paintings on wood (Panel Paintings - $45 each) through large-scale, elaborate mixed works on wood ($350-$4200) with all sorts of sizes and prices in between. I also sell unique reproductions of my work printed on wood called DG MINIs and BOX PRINT® reproductions. These are high-quality archival reproduction, with the look and feel of an original artwork, but available for a more affordable price point.
SJCAS: What is your web address / facebook page/ Twitter, that you would like to share?
Dolan:
Website: http://dolangeiman.com
Online Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/dolangeiman
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dolan-Geiman-Contemporary-Art-with-a-Southern-Accent/38525551636
Blog: http://dolangeiman.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dolangeiman
I can be reached 24/7 via e-mail at info{at}dolangeiman{dot}com.
SJCAS: Where can the art patron find you — what other shows/galleries are you doing this year?
Dolan: All available works are posted to my online Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/dolangeiman. Individuals may also visit http://www.dolangeiman.com/locator.php for a list of upcoming fairs and events as well as nationwide retailers.
Shop owners, interior designers, and art consultants may visit dolangeiman.com to apply for a wholesale or trade login. Pricing, images, and other resources are all available via login. Retailers may also request a mailed copy of my annual wholesale catalog. See http://www.dolangeiman.com/wholesale.php
On the horizon for 2010:
June 5-6 | Chicago, IL
57th Street Art Fair
June 12-13 | Chicago, IL
Old Town Art Fair
July 10-11 | Madison, WI
Madison Art Fair on the Square
August 6-8 | Minneapolis, MN
Uptown Art Fair
August 28-29 | Chicago, IL
Bucktown Arts Fest
September 11-12 | Chicago, IL
Renegade Craft Fair Chicago
September 18-19 | Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Arts Festival
October 1-3 | Louisville, KY
St James Court Art Show
October 9-10 | Houston, TX
Bayou City Art Festival Downtown
October 21-24 | Nashville, TN
artclectic
I look forward to introducing my work to Louisville during my first year at the St. James Court Art Show!
Artist of the Week- Conni Togel
May 25, 2010
The St James Court Art Show Artist of the Week is Conni Tögel from Anderson, South Carolina. Conni, a painter, is in the St James Court section of the Art Show. Booths have not been assigned yet so pick up a free program at the art show or check out the web site for Conni’s booth placement.
SJCAS: Tell us about yourself, your company - how did you get started, what makes you go to the studio every day?
Conni: To my artist mind, nothing is more stale than the conventional - but: it is only the framework within which an artist searches for that elusive innovative idea. Then, on some rare days, that innovative idea will skip across your landscape painting in the form of a sheep - my Sheep Incognito series was a “happy little accident” waiting to happen to my canvas.
Since then, the sheep have decided to make a run for it, and go for broke; they have infiltrated every serious still life, every moonlight kissed landscape that flows from my paint brush. And they seem to always bring along a smile to share with my patrons, that are located around the world. As with most sheep flocks, mine has grown to include over 350 Sheep Incognito paintings, some oils, others acrylics, some of those turned into giclée prints, all of them with Sheep Incognito’s ewenique view of the conventional.
I embarked on my artistic journey as a four year old (Didn’t we all? Some of us just turned a different way at some point.). It has been a journey filled with an apprenticeship as a window builder in a traditional German window company, an internship in a nursing home overlooking Lake Neufchatel in Switzerland, a dreary time in a wholesale fishing tackle warehouse, an interesting time learning computer aided drafting when it was a new concept, a crazy time studying graphic design for three years in Germany, an exhilarating time running my own graphic design company, and sixteen years and counting, an attempt at being the best mother in the world to my three children.
All of those road pointers have led me straight to the sheep pasture, where I’ve found that the sheep are quite often right about their wry observations on humanity. Sheep don’t care too much about appearances, but instead, they look beyond the obvious, pointing out the ridiculous or touching elements in life. Those things that might otherwise be overlooked or dropped by the wayside unnoticed. To me however, those are precisely the moments that count in life - the Sheep Incognito series is the loudspeaker for those moments. The sheep became messengers of insanity and camouflaged comments on social and political happenings.
The sheep have allowed me to be as silly as they are - as crazy as they are - as warped as they think we are - and also, they have allowed me to travel the world to bring the smiles they cause to people from East to West, North to South. They even made me take them on road trips to Australia so they could bring their smiles to the people at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show, the world’s largest sheep show.
Sheep being who they are, insist art should never be too complicated to understand. Instead, art should increase understanding, and if possible, not only stimulate and revolutionize thinking processes but broaden views, entertain and make people want to “get it”. But I wouldn’t know anything about that….all I know is, they make me smile while painting, and they make people smile - and a smile is always worth sharing.
SJCAS: What is the price range of your work?
Conni: $0-$5000. From free collectors cards to originals on canvas - smiles are available for everybody.
SJCAS: What is your web address / facebook page/ Twitter, that you would like to share?
Conni:
Web: http://www.charisma-art.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Conni-Togel/38344439143
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sheepincognito
SJCAS: Where can the art patron find you — what other shows/galleries are you doing this year?
Conni: 24/7 at:
http://www.sheepincognito.com
On the road at:
Estes Park Wool Market, CO
Australian Sheep & Wool Show, Bendigo, Australia
Ravelry Germany, Backnang, Germany
Atlanta Arts Festival, GA
New York State Sheep & Wool, Rhinebeck, NY
Craftsmen’s Classic in Roanoke VA, Chantilly VA, Richmond VA, Columbia SC and Greensboro NC
I’m looking forward to St. James Court Art Show. It is an amazing experience for both artists and visitors.
Artist of the Week- Ronetta Krause
May 17, 2010
The St James Court Art Show Artist of the Week is Ronetta Krause from Silver Moon Studios in Pennsylvania. Ronetta, a jeweler, is in the Fourth Street section of the Art Show. Booths have not been assigned yet so pick up a free program at the art show or check out the web site for Ronetta’s booth placement.
SJCAS: Tell us about yourself and how you create your jewelry.
Ronetta: I design art jewelry to make a statement. I see design everywhere and in everything and I bring that vision alive in my jewelry. Using both traditional and non traditional techniques I have created a style of my own incorporating PMC, fused glass, kemboo, and mixed metals. Free flowing and unconventional styles make my work unique in appearance and symbolizes my creative nature. All work is fabricated by myself and my husband in our studio at the base of the Blue Mountains in Pennsylvania.
SJCAS: What is the price range of your work?
Ronetta: My price range is $35 - $1500.
SJCAS: What is your email address?
Ronetta: My email is ronettakrause@yahoo.com
SJCAS: Where can we find your work besides The St James Court Art Show?
Ronetta: Our work can be found in museums, galleries, and boutiques across the United States.
Artist of the Week- Andy Chen
May 10, 2010
The St James Court Art Show Artist of the Week is Andy Chen, photographer from Indianapolis, Indiana. Andy is in the South Third Street section of the Art Show. Booths have not been assigned yet so pick up a free program at the art show or check out the web site for Andy’s booth placement.
SJCAS: Tell us about yourself and how you create your artwork.
Andy: I got started in photography in high school working on the yearbook staff. They gave us manual cameras with unlimited film, but no instructions on how the cameras worked. We took so many poorly exposed pictures and had to spend countless hours in the darkroom trying to compensate.
Many of my current photographs are taken during daily walks in the woods and extended backpacking trips. I went on my first backpacking trip in March of 2005. I was going through a divorce and preparing to shut down a software company that I helped to start. During this time, I had to surrender concepts of my family, work, home and friends. In my mourning, I was encouraged to hike fifty miles through the canyons of southern Utah. I walked through the desert and considered my identity.
I started to dedicate more time to photography and transitioned my work into the arts. I wanted to explore ways of interacting with nature that would balance our urban lifestyle. We have instincts refined through thousands of years of pre-industrial culture that are now denied by the controlled, disciplined fabrications of urban living.
SJCAS: What is the price range of your work?
Andy: My price range is $45 - $1500.
SJCAS: What is your web site address?
Andy: My web address is: http://www.whatandysaw.com The website includes galleries of my work, upcoming exhibits and a blog where I journal about my process and finding my way in the world. You can also follow me on twitter (http://www.twitter.com/whatandysaw) and facebook (http://www.facebook.com/whatandysaw)
SJCAS: Where can we find your work besides your website?
Andy: I’ll be participating in about 15 art fairs around the Midwest this year. My work is also represented by galleries and art consultants. If you’re ever around downtown Indianapolis, you’re welcome to see work at my studio. Upcoming exhibits are listed on my website at http://www.whatandysaw.com/events.html
To view March & April Artist of the week click here.
