Yesterday I attended the summer iteration of Shadow Art Fair at Corner Brewery in Ypsi, and it was just as awesome as the last time.
This time, I splurged a bit and got a necklace (by Wei’s Open Secret) and a photo print (by Ann Arbor’s own Peter Baker) for myself, as well as a birthday gift for my mom.
I also traded some postcards and stickers, and ran into some other Ann Arborites happy to escape the art fairs in town this past week.
Some of my favorite artists there this time:
Peter Baker: hand-printed film photographs of locations all over the United States. Find him at peterbaker.com (photography), elevatedworks.com (design and development), or ptrbkr.com (blog).
Amanda Marie Edmonds/amepix: buttons, magnets, stickers, and accessories with a garden and localvore theme. Find her at amepix.etsy.com (store) and amepix.net (photo gallery).
On Friday morning I’ll be traveling with a colleague to parts north to attend BookCampToronto on Saturday. Sessions are being held at the UT iSchool, with the requisite happy hours and meetups. The organizers have appeared to have done an amazing job dealing with high demand, sponsorships, and venue updates. I’m excited to talk to other book and web nerds about the future of publishing, writing, and books in the DigitalAge™. Sounds like things should be well wired/wireless, so I look forward to tooting the events of the day.
After the conference I’m going to stay on for a couple days to visit a friend, then take the train most of the way home on Monday evening. I like trains.
It’s a blind sort set of 20 creatures in little train carts. The idea is to get all of them and construct a 3-inch-tall train of strange animals. I generally don’t buy things from sets, but I genuinely like all of the toys as illustrated on the boxes. I wouldn’t mind getting any of them. So I will probably buy a couple more, at least.
This one was a very serious deer who likes bling.
A very serious deer.
The workmanship is quite good; his little antlers came in separate little baggies, and his necklace is actually a separate rubbery piece. The wheels roll, of course. Each toy also comes with a card depicting the doll and giving its number in the series (the deer is 2/20).
On Saturday night I saw the Handsome Furs at the Blind Pig with someregular partners in crime and additional brave compatriots. After a delicious homemade dinner of fish stew and wine, we trundled downtown and got a pitcher* in the 8 Ball, then headed upstairs in time to see the second opening band, Child Bite (think: tenor-sax-wielding bastard child of Man Man, Les Savy Fav, and the hardcore band of your choice).
Handsome Furs are a husband-and-wife duo from Montreal. He plays guitar and sings, and she pushes buttons and wears amazingly absurd outfits. They were incredibly energetic and excellent performers.
Their most recent video, for a song on their new album, Face Control, has zombies and making out:
*The conversation when the $4.75 pitcher of beer was brought to the table went something like this: Jane: What did you get? Jessica: Very cheap beer. Jane: But what kind? Me: OLD STYLE. Jane: … Matt: It doesn’t need a name. It has an adjective.
Update: I am reminded by Une Petite Friponnerie’s post-show post of one of the other conversational highlights of the evening. The Handsome Furs rolled into Ann Arbor on St. Patrick’s Day Observed, and at the beginning of the main set, vocalist/guitarist Dan Boeckner described what they’d seen as “Mad Max meets American Pie.” Having passed some underdressed, green-bedecked undergrads on my way to dinner, I can imagine that the carnage was alarming.
As a fan of basement apartments (see 3 of the 5 places I’ve lived since I moved to The Deuce), and a fan of all things Cat and Girl related, I would like to share this delightful video showcasing the talents of The Basement Apartments, and Mr. Chen in particular for his video/animation skillz.
I recently received a painting by Mr. Chen as an early birthday present, and had a brief but delightful email exchange with Dorothy Gambrell about it. I really can’t stop gushing about these people. They are everything that’s right about making stuff.
There were many great vendors, but I collected cards from a few I either bought things from or would be particularly interested in checking out again:
allthingsgrow: I bought two prints from Marcy Davy when I saw her at the Etsy Fair at the Artisan Market in Kerrytown a couple of months ago, and I was delighted to have her recognize me. Marcy screens nature-inspired canvases and paper prints.
FartsyArts/norma: Casey Janowski’s line of decoupage jewelry and luggage tags, as well as handmade muffs (with cellphone pockets), are kitschy and classy.
letterform: Julie & Andy came all the way from Chicago to sell lovely foodie-themed printed cards and flour sack bags. They also designed the poster for the event.
Lish Dorset: Lish had a vast array of jewelry, magnets, and odds and ends, many of them Michigan/mitten/zombie themed.
Nonfiction Design Collective: This group is based on Columbus. They had restaurant-quality dishes and studio porcelain printed with illustrations of invasive species.
RiffeRaff: Extremely pretty silkscreened papers and cards.
Roos Roast: John Roos’s artistic medium is coffee. He was there to provide excellent lattes, tea, and related delights. Throughout the afternoon I overheard him happily bartering with artists for bags of coffee.
Runaway Fashion House (Holly Haynes, Owner): This young lady had really lovely knitted and crocheted items for sale. I bought a bright yellow knit scarf.
The Silent Giants: These gentlemen design and print concert/event and art posters and cards.
St. Joshua Norton Press*: Thomas L. Kula writes haiku and publishes zines. I purchased a $1 coupon (good for one year) for a haiku on a topic of my or the recipient’s choice.
*This is especially awesome because I am reading a collection of Sandman stories, lent by a friend, and one of them features Emperor Norton, one of my favorite true American legends.
Everyone at the Fair (artists and attendees) gets my admiration for going out on a snowy day in a bad economy. The presence of beer, coffee, and a very modest entrance fee (2 cents) helped, I’m sure, but going to events like this makes me happy because people who make awesome stuff tend to be awesome people, and it’s good to know they’re out there.
The mural in the alley near the Michigan Theater is kind of a local institution, but based on the Snooze article, it seems the original artist is pretty cool with the role of public (i.e., transitory) art. Since the original mural series, the alley was already a palimpsest of graffiti and flyers. And gum. Is the new piece an improvement or not? You decide.
On a totally personal note, I’m flattered that one of my photos of the alley was included in the Arbor Update article. Here’s to Community Commons.
Hi. This blog is by Devon Persing. She mostly writes about work (information science and publishing), food, and crafts. You can write to her, if you'd like. You can also follow her on twitter or check out things she saves on delicious.
