Twist and Shout Outs!

T-Minus 11 days 'til Twist and there are still a million things to do. This will be the first of my shows this season and (hopefully) will involve the most preparation. The other ones will be a piece of cake after that right? RIGHT?!

So as I'm spending most of my time preparing for shows (Bazaar Bizarre will be a whole other post unto itself) I find my days are pretty uninteresting as far as blogging material goes. "Got up and worked all day, blah blah blah. Made more pieces, yadda yadda...".


So in lieu of filling you in on the minutia of show preparation, I thought it might behoove me to give a little love to some of my personal favorite Twist vendors and entice you, my lovely readers, to attend the show and see (and perhaps buy some of) the goodies for yourselves!

First up, my friend Maeg Yosef of Edison Rex. She makes amazing prints of her original artwork and word on the street is she's got some new toys to debut at the show this year...


Another favorite 2D artist of mine is Julie Beck. This woman does things with acrylic paint that would make a tube of oil paint blush. I own a couple of her pieces myself and if you have the means I highly recommend picking one up- they are so choice.


In a more three-dimensional arena there are such wonderful things as jewelry from DA Metals- she makes these totally fun, colorful pieces of jewelry from silver and enamel in all these different modular designs. Very cool things.


Maybe an amazing belt from AWC Designs?...

...Or fantastic measuring spoons from Beehive Kitchenware?

I could go on forever.

There are so many talented people in this show, I am honored to be among them. SO, guys and gals- the long and the short of it is, you should come to this show.
Northampton Center for the Arts
Friday November 12th from 6pm-9pm and
Saturday November 13th from 10am-6pm.


P.S. Did I mention there's beer and food?

Meet the Maker

My name's Kerri and I make things. LOTS of things.

I started making things, as most makers do, when I was a kid. Never one for sports, instead I spent my days on the important things like making clay bumblebees and drawing princesses, mostly with their hands behind their back (and trust me- if this method were still a viable option every person I drew would still have their hands behind their back 'cause you know what? Hands are hard).
When I grew up, I was going to write and illustrate childrens' books. I decided this pretty early on and so when it was time for college, I went and learned to do this:

When I graduated however, I didn't make children's books.

Instead I got full-time a job making custom signs for a grocery store. So then, I found myself making these:

After a few years of sign making (wherein I honed my abilities to both paint a multitude of foodstuffs and pun the jokiest huckster under the table) I decided that it was time to branch out a bit more.
This is where things start to get a little crazy.
I decided to start a jewelry business.
Why you might ask? Where did this heretofore unexplored genre of craftiness come in to play? I wish I had an answer for this but the best I can do is to say that I'm pretty sure it was largely due to a hidden desire to return to making clay bumblebees. So then I started making these:

You'd think that illustrator/sign-maker/jeweler would be enough crafty hats to wear but if you were me, you'd be wrong.
In moving to a new town I discovered this wonderful felt store. What would even compel me to go in? I don't felt....and yet....
So yeah. I went in. And now I make these:

So this is me. I make things.
I know that all you makers of things out there can relate to the feeling of being a plate spinner. Once you decide to turn what you make into a business, you just start stacking more plates onto the pile. You go from illustrator/sign-maker/jeweler/needle felter to photographer, designer, advertiser, marketing expert, bookkeeper, etc..

And with this post, we officially add blogger to the list.

Welcome to the journey of keeping the plates in motion.