Announcing our 2012 market vendors!

Row by row, left to right:

Blackbird Letterpress, The Knotty Owl, Peppermint, Katrina Rodabaugh, Vintage Refashioned

Row by row, left to right:

Dulcie Miller, Ink + Wit, Erica Bello, The Maple Ridge, Small Bird

Row by row:

Humunuku, Second Seed, Lost Girl Metal Works, Kala Stein, Shanna Murray

Row by row:

Amy Greenan, Pistachio Press, Abbey Hendrickson, Lizz Switzer, Penelope Rakov

Row by row, left to right:

Mina Georgescu, Sara Silvio, French Press, Marlene Heuer, Fuzzy Bunny

Row by row, left to right:

Margaret McGowan, Interstellar Love Craft, Happy Owl Glassworks, Hey Buddy, 

Buffalo Craft Company, Made by Rachel, Andrew Cho 

Row by row, left to right:

Lisa Wright, Sewindie, Amanda Preske, Lymric, Cecelia Hayes

Not Pictured: Luna Bella

Hooray! It's quite a line up, don't you think? We're downright pumped about this year's market. There's so much wonderful work to share. Each week, Tuesday through Thursday, we plan to showcase a new market artist, their work, and a little peek at where they make the magic happen. We hope you'll join us, it's sure to be an interesting and inspiring way to tick off the weeks leading up to Second Storie, 2012! We already pretty excited about November, what about you?

Congrats to all of you fabulous folks! We're over the moon to have you.

xo,

Shanna, JoAnn, Cris, and Rachael

2010 Vendor Spotlight: Smallbird

We have been happy to have Jenna Thompson of Smallbird as a vendor with us almost from the very beginning. The delicate, organic shapes she creates with sterling silver and precious gemstones give her jewelry a perfect mix of earth and elegance.



Where are you and your studio located?
My studio is in my home in Rochester, NY.



How did you get into jewelry-making?

I took jewelry classes in college, but didn't come back to the medium until much later. Several years ago I became interested in using precious metal clay, and worked my way back into soldering and stone setting as I continued to develop my style.

What has been influencing your current designs?
I'm often inspired by the materials themselves. Finding a fantastic gemstone and designing a piece around it is always fun. I'm also influenced by other indie artists. In my sketchbook, I keep little scraps of things that catch my eye. Sometimes it's a pattern in a piece of fabric, or a drawing with lovely line quality, or even just a mood conveyed by a certain photograph. I'm also very much drawn to the combination of grungy and pretty. That seems to be a recurring theme in the art pieces I enjoy, and I think that often comes through in my jewelry.



What is your favorite part about making jewelry?
I love both functional art and wearable art. There's something very special about wearing something handcrafted; getting to carry that little piece of art with you throughout the day.

2010 Vendor Spotlight: Vicki Hartman

What can we say? We are all just smitten with with Vicki Hartman. Every year she brings a different focus and sophistication to her work and this year is no exception. I can't wait for you all to see her amazing wall hangings!

Where are you and your studio located?

I work out of my home in the South Wedge neighborhood in Rochester, NY. My attic is where I work with wet clay and then down to the basement I go to bisque fire, glaze and fire again. It means a lot of shlepping heavy clay up and down stairs, but I am so delighted to get to work out of my home.



How did you get started in clay?

I started working with ceramics seriously in college in 1996. I was originally attracted to clay for its pleasing tactile qualities, I love the feel of it in all its stages and how forgiving it can be; soft and manipulatable. I grew to love it more when I really started to appreciate how ubiquitous it is, how almost everyone has some connection to it. Its universality and inclusivity is meaningful, it is accessible and not precious, we have all touched it and we all use it daily.



What are influences your work the most?

I am conceptually influenced by human relationships. Also by human interaction with landscape and architecture. I am inspired by abstract expressionist painters, and contemporary ceramic artists like Jun Kaneko and Mary Fisher.



What is your favorite part about working in clay?

The part where I let go of everything and turn the kiln on and hope for the best. After hours of firing and then cooling, I get to open the kiln and see what happened. That letting go after so much involvement is always a little hard and exciting, it is a kind of surrender, which for me always feels relaxing and tense at the same time.



If you happened to be in the Syracuse, NY are this past weekend, perhaps you saw Vicki at the Salt City Urban Art + Craft Market. You can also find her work here and here.

2010 Vendor Spotlight: Mani Designs

Today we sit down with Amber Mahler of Mani Designs to talk about jewelry, nature and how the two can be one. Amber casts flowers, leaves and anything "nature" she can get her hands on to make her amazing jewelry.

Where are you and your studio located?
I just moved into a renovated high school in North Carolina from the turn of the century that had flooded and been condemned before a local artist found investors and bought the building. It's so nice to be doing whatever I want to do in a classroom. Plus, there are blackboards! Also, I'm sharing with a potter, we both work with fire on some level, so I think it's going to be a good fit.

How did you get started in jewelry?
I was taking a paper making class at Penland School of Crafts and one of my friends was taking a jewelry class and had bored into a river rock and set it in a silver bezel. I was shocked, I had never seen jewelry like this. I didn't know jewelry could be so interesting and accessible. I had to try it myself. I secretly think, every crafter or perhaps every woman, has an inner jeweler waiting to be let out.

What is influencing you the most lately?
I am currently scouring my new backyard for some. I've been finding a lot of spiders and a few old plant friends that I didn't suspect would be this far south.

Also, I've been reading the Omnivore's Dilemma and he has a daily link on his site that led me to Stefano Mancuso, a wonderful botanist who gave a TED talk about the intelligence of plants.You can find it here.

This has gotten me very excited about my collaborators -- the plants I use in my work.

What is your favorite part about jewelry making?
It never ceases to amaze me when a plant casts successfully into silver. It's a sort of magic I can't seem to get enough of.

Have any special events coming up before Second Storie that you'd like everyone to know about?

Doing a trunk show at one of my favorite stores in San Francisco, Paxton Gate, on October 22nd. I'll also be selling my work at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire that same weekend.

2010 Vendor Spotlight: Bookhou

We are so thrilled to welcome Arounna Khounnoraj from Bookhou as one of our newest vendors. From a beautiful tea towel to a lovely pillow to an incredible linen basket, we know you're going to be as smitten as we are! I know my Christmas list just got a bit longer!

Where are you and your studio located?

Our studio and shop is located in Toronto, Canada. Our building is a combination of home, studio and shop.



How did you get started with silkscreen and textile design?

I went to art school and did mostly sculpture work. A few years after I finished school. I did a residency at Harbourfront Craft Studios and was reacquainted with silk-screening and really liked how I can interpret my drawings on textile.



What has been influencing you lately?

My current influence is repetitive patterns found in nature and my urban surroundings.



What is your favorite part about Bookhou?

My favorite part would have to be that I am able to wake up each morning practice my art/craft. I am a real tactile person and the touching and manipulating of the surface and object is very real to me.



What else do you have going on, in addition to Second Storie?

The weekend of Second Storie (November 27 & 28) is the same weekend as the One of a Kind show - a big craft show here in Toronto. I guess I will see how well I can juggle.

Well, we're excited to see! Can't wait for November? Check out all of Bookhou's incredible wares here, or better yet, stop into their store in Toronto and say hi!

2010 Vendor Spotlight: The Fuzzy Bunny

Liz Yockel of The Fuzzy Bunny has been joining us at our show for a few years now, and I think she has successfully gotten each one of us hooked on her amazing bath + body products. We each have our own weakness for her deliciously scented soaps, lip balms lotions. The Fuzzy Bunny also offers beautiful hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn.

Where does The Fuzzy Bunny call home?
The Fuzzy Bunny World Headquarters recently relocated to Canandaigua, NY after a decade away.

What brought you to soap-making and yarn-spinning?
I have always been addicted to bath + body products and I made many experimental scrubs and balms in high school. It wasn't until college, when I took organic chemistry, that I learned how to make soap. This came at a time when I was becoming more aware of the environment and sustainability in general, so I tried my hand at making vegan bath + body products, loved it, and never looked back.

Then I moved to Vermont, where I encountered my first sheep and wool festival. I went to the festival in search of hand spun yarn for my own knitting, but ended up in a beginner's spinning wheel workshop and decided I liked spinning even more than knitting. Of course, once I started, there was no end. If I knew how to spin, then I wanted to learn how to dye, and if I knew how to dye, I wanted to learn how to prepare fiber from raw fleece. And now I want sheep and fields of flax and dye plants.

What are your current influences?
Jacey Boggs of Insubordiknit is an amazing spinner of art yarns and I could scroll through photos of her yarn for hours. My nose is highly influential when it comes to soap making.

What is your favorite part about your craft?
Color. I'm all about the color, whether I'm dyeing fiber or picking brightly colored paper to package soap. Intensely saturated colors and the realization of an especially appealing color blend can make my day.

You can find The Fuzzy Bunny Bath products here and their hand-spun fibers here.

If you're in the western New York area you can find them at the Junior League of Rochester Holiday Market, October 16 + 17. And if you miss them there, try the Mayday! Underground Crafts + Art, November 6. And, of course at Second Storie November 27 + 28!

2010 Vendor Spotlight: Red Prairie Press

Good morning, and happy Monday, friends! Today we are pleased-as-punch to introduce you to one of our newest friends, Rachel Bone of Red Prairie Press. They offer hand screen-printed clothing for ladies, gents and little ones.

Where are you and your studio located?
Red Prairie Press is located in a cozy row house in Baltimore, MD. The entire bottom floor of our house (read: basement) is my studio, and we have two offices upstairs. One for me and one for my husband, Phil.

How did you first get involved in screen printing?
I started screen printing in college for some friends' rock bands - posters & t-shirts to sell at concerts, and occasionally an album cover. When I moved to Baltimore in 2004, I started Red Prairie Press in my free time, but was working for an art print company during the day (we supplied hotels, conference centers & the like with lifeless ugly outdated artwork in mass quantities, and I was the office manager. A truly unfortunate & depressing business to be in as an artist. I absolutely despised it.) I quit & went to full time with Red Prairie Press in 2006 and never looked back. I can't imagine doing anything else.



What influences you and your work?
Folk art, Americana, Oaxacan textiles, nature, vintage wallpaper, fabric pattern design, children's book illustrations, old china, craft fairs... a little of everything.

What is your favorite part about what you do?
I absolutely love working for myself. That's my favorite part about my job. In terms of screen-printing, I think my favorite part is pulling the first print from a freshly burned screen. You know what you designed, and you know what color you're printing it in, but even so - it's always a surprise.

Rachel (also a painter) currently has a one-woman show up in Philadelphia's Art Star Gallery & Boutique featuring 51 new paintings (above). You can check them out and buy prints of the paintings online here. She'll have these prints for sale at Second Storie. Yay!

In the meantime, you can find Red Prairie Press online here and here. You can also stay updated via their blog.

Hooray!

Here they are! Our 2010 vendors! We were, like always, humbled by the talent of all of our applicants. The group of artists and crafters we have joining us this year will have some familiar faces, and some brand new. All will bring a wealth of awesome to Rochester come Thanksgiving. We thought we were excited before, but now we really can't wait!

clicking on the images will take you to their maker.