Sunday, December 13, 2015

Craft Fairs

I've had the pleasure of participating in several professional craft fairs recently. Over the last few years Calgary and Edmonton have seen a rise in high quality curated craft fairs including Market Collective (Calgary), New Craft Coalition (Calgary), Royal Bison (Edmonton), and Make It (Edmonton and Vancouver).

Other ACAD school of communication design alumni are participating as well. The motivation for their involvement varies including some who have developed stand alone business ventures, others an extension of their design or illustration practice, and some I suspect do it just for the kicks. We are doing it for all of the above reasons in addition to research for an upcoming picture book series set in a craft fair.

Here are a few of the school of communication design alumni that have participated in these craft show recently include:

Suzanne Lemermeyer
http://fine-mesh.myshopify.com

Suzanne creates custom designed t-shirts and tea towels which her brother Robert Lemermeyer silkscreens.



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Stephanie Buchan
Chelsea Montgomery
Stephanie and Chelsea have created a boutique stationery design studio with a passion for weddings.



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Kyle Chow
http://www.plantterrariums.ca
Kyle expands the footprint of his Inglewood store, bringing a sampling of his miniature plant world's with him.



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Michael Mateyko
http://www.komboh.com

Craft fairs give Michael the opportunity to create fun self directed designs and projects.



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Curtis Sorensen
http://www.vancharlesart.com

Through his photo illustration canadian landscapes,
Curtis fosters an appreciation for the natural environment.



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Kelly and Byron Eggenschwiler
http://byronegg.com

Byron has been exploring his interest in silk screen by designing and hand printing his own hipster shirts. Kelly has combined her design skills with good old fashioned sewing.



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Kim Smith
http://tuckedaway.com

Kim is showcasing her picture books and illustrations for posters and cards.



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Emily Chui
http://heyemilychu.com

Emily features illustrative and pattern based prints, cards, and portraits.



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Dena Seiferling
http://www.pickleandfrancois.com

Dena is bringing her lovely wool sculptures to the public.



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Jenny Bonar
http://www.jennybonar.com

Jenny has just started showcasing her work but already has a professional and comprehensive collection.



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Chika Ando
http://chikaandoillustration.com

Chika features her illustrated characters and thoughts on cards, prints, buttons, etc.




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Heather Reinhardt
http://www.mumbletease.com

Heather is a veteran of the craft fair scene with her unique multi-color designs she silkscreens herself.



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Jason Blower
http://www.jasonblower.com

Jason is a one man crafting machine!



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Lyndsay Wasko
http://www.lyndsaywasko.com

Designer Lyndsay Wasko likes to create cute critters and such in her spare time.



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Mike Kerr and Renata Liwska
http://www.randmcollective.com

Last but not least I've been focused on rolling out collaborative art cards.



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