April Artist of the Month~ Boxboy!

There are some people you know and you don't quite remember how you first met them. It is like that for me with Paul, the artistic mind behind Boxboy. I don't remember the first time I met him, because it seems his zany creations have always been a part of my world. Approachable, affordable and just plain fun, I hope these boxes become a part of your world too.

Q~How did you get started?

A~ I used to own a gift store in Knoxville, TN, called Objet d'art (I should have known then the store name was too fancy for the folk in East TN); I came into possession of a very old and beat up wooden trunk made in Central America. It occurred to me to try and decoupage it. Nothing inspired me to do so ... at the time Rosie O'Donnell was bragging about her pitiful attempts at decoupaging on her awful TV show (her decoupage was awful, too). She was NOT an inspiration. I just started cutting, pasting and varnishing. It actually turned out quite well, and I received many compliments on it. It eventually sold (at a way too low price) and my decoupaging took off from there. Over the years the boxes have gotten smaller and smaller, but I am always experimenting with new media and different techniques.

Q~Why do you continue?

A~I absolutely love what I do. Besides making a little money at it, it is therapeutic and it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble. Of course, I have never been one to flit about on the streets or get into any kind of trouble! It's a good BoxBoy line to use on customers, however.

I don't remember the last time I had a "real" job in the real world. At this point in my life, I am too old to be employed by the man and too set in my ways. What else could be better than sitting on the floor, doing the decoupage thing and listening to Tiny Tim sing "Tiptoe Through the Tulips"?



Q~What is a great success story?

A~To be truthful, when I hear from a customer who is just absolutely thrilled with a BoxBoy creation. This is even especially more true when the compliment comes from a fellow artist. I mean, I have talent in what I do ... there is an awful lot of crummy decoupage out there ... but when a person who can actually draw, paint, sculpt, etc., rants and raves about my stuff, wow!

One of my favorite BoxBoy moments occurred several years ago at Eastern Market. A very nice gentleman was searching for a special box to hold some of the cremated remains of his recently deceased lover. He told me his story and found the perfect box at my booth. What an honor for me. Plus, it made me weep.

Q~What is one of your greatest failures?

A~No one humongous failure in particular ... probably many mini-failures. I probably should be more aggressive in marketing my products. I really can't get too big as I am a one-person show and there is a limit as to what I can do numerically. Well why not hire apprentices (for lack of better terminology) or teach classes? Because I don't want to ... nobody can do it better than myself (not egotism, just the facts, ma'am).

I would love to travel to other cities and do some shows, but that is just not in the cards. The fact is I do well enough in the DC area to make ends meet, and that's fine with me. I am not greedy nor do I have any aspirations to get rich. I am the quintessential bohemian artist, and am glad to continue in that role.

Q~Where do you get your inspiration?

A~Honestly, I don't know. One of my artist buddies asked me once what artist(s) inspired me, and I couldn't answer the question. It may sound self-serving and self-indulgent (the latter term I borrow from American Idol judge Simon Cowell), but the inspiration comes from within. The ideas just pop into my BoxBoy brain, and I run with it. The idea make take years to come to fruition in the form of a tangible
product, but eventually it blooms, ripens and falls from the tree.




Q~Why do you make/create what you do?

A~It's all I know to do at this point in my life. Plus, people like weird, kooky things ... not that all of my creations are weird and kooky. I am glad to fulfill a need in the DC area. Somebody observed once that people seemed attracted to my booth at an outdoor show as if I was a magnet. Well, that's a great compliment. I am happy when my customers laugh at something they see, even if they don't purchase it. Then I have done my job.

Q~Where is your favorite place to sell? Or Favorite show?

A~I sell every Sunday during fair weather months at Eastern Market (the school playground side) and have done so since 1999. I love it for many reasons, mainly that it attracts visitors from all over the world and has an ever changing weekly audience. Plus, it is run by very professional personnel, as opposed to other markets in the area.

My favorite single shows/events of the year are Art on the Avenue in Alexandria in October and the Downtown Holiday Market in the District of Columbia in December. Besides being my best moneymakers of the year, they are just fun to do ... my fellow vendors have incredible goods there and everybody is so nice. I think we're all here to help each other, and those two shows epitomize that. Some shows/events, it's an "all about me" attitude by some vendors. These people I have no use for ... and I could name names, but I won't!



Q~What is one thing you love about your business?

A~That I have the freedom to do whatever I want on every conceivable level. I set my own work hours, I choose the designs I want to use, I decide when and where and how I want to sell, etc., etc., etc. BoxBoy is not a job, it's a year-long working vacation almost.

Q~What is one thing you loathe?

A~Well, I could write a book and could go in any number of directions. But I'll be honest ... I have no tolerance for people in my booth who have no sense of humor. ;) Oh, I'm used to the ignorant remarks of "$16 FOR A BOX?" I guess I take things too personally. Not everybody shares my warped sense of humor; so that's why I take the low road and when I'm in a bad mood ... when somebody gives me attitude ... I give it right back. I am not the most professional salesperson in the world, nor do I strive to be. But you know what, when you know the idiot isn't going to buy anything in the first place and you're never going to see the idiot again, why not get if off your chest? The last time I snapped was at the DHM in December just before our first snowstorm of the season. A lady picked up a box and asked, "Why is this $20?" I responded, "Because that's what the market will bear and this is how I make my living." She said, "Well, that's a fair answer." My next door neighbor was greatly amused by my honesty. Frankly, it was the mildest retort I had used in a long time. Maybe I am mellowing with age...



Q~What is your dream about your art?

A~Well, it's on a monetary level. This is my sole source of income. How I am able to support myself and indulge in my vices is beyond me, but I do it. I hope that people continue to be kind to BoxBoy and allow him to continue to do what he does. I greatly admire people who have full-time jobs then do their artwork as well. I am so very, very lucky.



Q~Where are you based?

A~I work out of my home in Fairfax County, Va, near Mount Vernon. My art studio is in my basement and I am surrounded by my compact discs, artwork from around the world and scary clowns dangling from my ceiling.

Q~Where would you live if you could live anywhere?

A~For some reason, I would love to live in rural New England in an old farmhouse. Fall is my favorite season and heaven on earth would be to live amid foliage in September and October. Also, I have also wanted to experience at least one winter in the north. After 60 inches of snow in DC this season, that desire no longer exists.

Q~What would you be doing if not this?

A~Excellent question. In my previous life, I was a journalist. That was never my calling, however, and although that trade could be picked up again, I have absolutely no desire to do so. An extremely complicated chain of events brought me to decoupage, so this is where I am meant to be and this is my destiny.

Q~What is next?

A~I think this is it. I have lived in many parts of the US, but I hope DC is my last stop. BoxBoy can't go on forever ... I think there is about 10 years left before BB retires. I choose to adhere to the Scarlett O'Hara philosophy of reality ... "I'll think about it tomorrow, for tomorrow's another day."

Q~ What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen sparrow?

A~Hey, I was a smart guy in school/college, but math was never my thing ... and it's still not. I never understood how "if x plus y equals z, what is the value of x?" could be useful in life. There are calculators for that.



Boxboy, and his warped sense of humor, can be found at many markets this year, as well as online. Click here for his website and here for his schedule.

Happy April Fool's! ;)

My Butterfly Effect

According to Wikipedia, "The concept of the butterfly effect is frequently referred to in popular culture in terms of the novelty of a minor change in circumstances causing a large change in outcome."


My older sister and my grandmother's hands with a butterfly, photo taken by my younger sister.


I'm sitting in an atuobody waiting room. Well, rather, I am camping out in an autobody waiting room. I was in a car accident last month and the trunk is still leaking. They are working on it and I am working on all that I brought with me. I can't just sit. Rather, I can't just sit here and read, or do nothing for 3 hours, the time they quoted it would take. At 2.5 hours now, I think they might be right about that estimate.

I sat, working on various bits of things, a little computer work, a little pinning and cutting of projects. I also brought along some new crochet bags to work on. Likewise, I am listening to an audio book, The Possibly of Everything, by Hope Edelman. It is a memoir of a California writer who chronicles a trip with her toddler and husband to Belize. There is a butterfly on the cover of the audio book case.

As I work, some of the employees are interested in my bag. A woman mentions it looks like a crocheted rug she has, made by a friend's mother, which she says 'is very dear to me'. I nod and tell her that the bags are being made from rag strips that my grandmother, who passed in the fall, had prepared for her own rug making. I explain that I am using them to make bags, rather than rugs. She says they look good and we go back to what we were doing.

On CD player, Edelman details a visit to a butterfly farm, where her family has bright blue South American insects land on them and they gape at the beauty. This, too, reminds me of my grandmother. In August, when she was still able to get out and about, my family took her to a butterfly festival at a local nature center. They set up a mesh tent with a variety of fluttering things. At the festival, my older sister wheeled my grandmother into the tent and tried to get one to land on her hands but they were somewhat spooked, as too many 4 year olds had been clutching them all day.

The crochet bag, the woman's comments, the audio book and, just like that, I am utterly, completely missing my grandmother.

The colors on the bag in front of me blur and mush as I tear up. I can feel them about to spill over and I hear my grandmother's voice asking “What will people think?” Yes, Gram, what *would* people think at me crying over you in an auto body shop? I can barely contain my laugh at her unexpected chiding and the tears slip back into my eyes.

While her love in my life had an undeniable affect, so did her quirks and it was those that just saved me from crying in the waiting room of an auto body shop. And, thus, my butterfly effect is complete for today.

"In the Bag" - Making New Accessories from Recycled Fabrics

Still have time to register for the In the Bag Workshop!

All materials are provided!

Fun is guaranteed!

Details:
Create a bag from recycled materials, old clothing, your favorite dress, vintage towels and more. Learn about suitable fabrics, patterns, interfacings and other materials.

When:
Friday, March 12, 6 pm -10 pm

Where:
Del Ray Artisans Gallery
2704 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301

Registration Fee:
$40 for DRA members / $45 for non-members

Other Details:
Basic sewing skills needed
Suggested supply list will be provided prior to the workshop
Sewing machine usage will be available

Instructor:
Jen Athanas (jenafusion.blogspot.com)
571-332-0181 or jenathanas@hotmail.com

Happy International Women's Day!

What will you be doing to celebrate International Women's Day?

Well... It is not only IWD but my birthday! So, I always celebrate it by thanking my mom for raising a strong woman (actually, three...) but usually, I let myself go a little on this day. I am a self named workaholic, so I typically give myself the day off from work, no matter what I have going on or what projects I have on my plate... and today will be no different. However, I had a really hard time figuring out what I wanted to do. Normally, I challenge myself to do something more unique, more artistic, more outgoing than I do on a day to day. But, this year...

A museum? Been there, done that...
A day trip? Nah...
Time in the studio, to clean? BLAH!
Rollerskating, ice skating, sky diving, hang gliding, horseback riding, motocross racing?? DONE THEM ALL. Nope ;) Not that last one...

Stay at home in the kitchen, cooking all day? Hm... Now, that *is* different!

See, in my day to day life, I just don't have much time (read no time) to cook and bake and make all those yummy, wholesome things that my body needs to be a big, strong woman. I recently went wheat/gluten free and while it has been somewhat easy, I do miss baked goods and yummy, bad for you things like pizza. We made gluten free pizza last night and it was really good (perhaps it was the bacon *and* ham we put on it??). However, the GF prepared goods are probably just as bad for you as the wheat versions and the mixes are quite pricey... So, I decided to 'stay in' and bake all day, freeze and have on hand all those things I'll then be able to eat for the next few months....

What a great way to celebrate International Women's Day than throw the windows open and breathe in the spring fresh air, with the scent of fresh baked bread?

Wait, what did you say? "HOW does this give homage to millions of persecuted, enslaved, undernourished women all over the world?"

It comes down to choice.

While there are millions of women (and men and children) all over the world and throughout history that do not have the choice of lifestyle, career, home life and a multitude of other things. I am so fortunate to live in a place and time that I CAN choose my lifestyle and career, where I want to live and what I want to spend my time doing. The mere fact I am sitting in a beautiful apartment and writing this on a Monday morning is proof enough that I have greatly benefited from the sacrifices of others.

So, as I measure the rice flour and blend the xanthan gum, as I bite into the first GF muffin I'll have made from scratch, I will think about all the women forced into the kitchen and give tribute to them. And, be glad I was able to choose to be there today.

'I'm one of those girls that *likes* to eat!' ~ Sarah Jessica Parker, Failure to Launch

March 2010 Artist of the Month~Jetsy

Jenny Hoffman is a woman divided, by passions, by interests, by a desire to do it all. Artist, mother, Arbonne saleswomen and health nut. While not hanging out with her adorable little girl and husband, she's networking and running her business. In her downtime, she creates cutie little pieces of jewelry and upcycled spice tins. I personally wonder, when does she sleep? ;)

Read on for more about this amazing multi-tasker!



Q~How did you get started?

A~My good friend Jen (newmoonpie.etsy.com) taught me the basics of jewelry-making, from how to use a bead board for designing to how to attach bead tips. I craved a creative outlet, and I wanted something productive to keep my hands busy while I watched t.v. to unwind. (Kind of oxymoronic, I know!)

Q~Why do you continue?

A~I keep finding pendants that just cry out to me to be made into a unique necklace.



Q~What is a great(or greatest) success story?

A~I also like to take those old metal spice tins and upcycle them into something useful. I made a couple of these and put them up in my Etsy shop. A woman in Ohio, who was opening her own brick-and-mortar store, contacted me and wanted to buy a dozen of them! I really had to scramble to find that many spice tins, but I was so proud of the results.

Q~What is one of your greatest failures?

A~I have the hardest time with knots. Consequently, I have wasted lots of jewelry wire because I've put a kink in it somewhere conspicuous trying to tie a knot. Sometimes, I have to re-string the entire necklace, but I want to get it right. Because if your knot isn't done well, the necklace could fall apart on my customer!

Q~Where do you get your inspiration?

A~My inspiration comes from my goth and punk rock roots, as well as motherhood, books, songs, friends, and family. Influences include The Cure, Mary Englebreit, Ani Difranco, Ansel Adams, Monet, Eric Carle, Naomi Wolf, The X Files, Ska, Yoga Asanas, Led Zeppelin, Twin Peaks, mother nature, Anthropologie, and Mother Nature.



Q~Where is your favorite place to sell? Or Favorite show?

A~My favorite place to sell is Etsy, because their fees are very reasonable, and because I feel good about the caliber of work represented there.

Q~What is one thing you love about your business?

A~I love it when I get positive feedback from my buyers. It feels good to know that my mind created something that is out there making someone else happy.

Q~What is one thing you loathe?

A~There is one thing I don't like about Etsy, and that is the shear volume of artists on the site. It's practically impossible for someone to stumble upon your shop by accident. So you really have to drive traffic to your shop yourself.



Q~Where are you based?

A~I am based in Odenton, Maryland, in the center of the Annapolis, DC, and Baltimore triangle.

Q~Where would you live if you could live anywhere?

A~I live exactly where I want to be. I'm originally from Texas, but these are my people here.

Q~What would you be doing if not this?

A~I also have a growing business with Arbonne International (JennyHoffman.myArbonne.com), so I spend the majority of my time networking. My art is taking a back seat for now, but someday I will be able to retire off my Arbonne riches and let the creativity flow!



Q~What is your favorite quote?

A~"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anaïs Nin

What a talented fish! Happy Birthday to Jenny~ a Piscean celebrating her birthday this week!

Changes!

I don't usually think of myself as a person adverse to changes. I really like to go to new restaurants, towns and have new adventures. But, tooooo many changes at once can just be a little overwhelming.... AND exciting! Here are some great new changes going on around here.


Learn How Jen-A-Fusion Does it!



Workshop: "In the Bag" - Making New Accessories from Recycled Materials

When: Friday, March 12, 6 pm -10pm

I'll be teaching a workshop about how to create a bag from recycled fabrics, old clothing, your favorite dress, vintage towels and more. Learn about suitable fabrics, patterns, interfacings and other materials. Basic sewing skills needed.

Plenty of free materials provided along with sewing machine usage. Instructor will provide a suggested supply list prior to class.

Advance registration is required by Tuesday, March 9 at www.thedelrayartisans.org.
Fee is $40 for DRA members / $45 for non-members, this includes many materials!

Jen-A-Fusion has been Bamboozled!!

Bamboozled:
bam·boo·zle: verb:
To take in by elaborate methods of deceit; hoodwink

Well... perhaps this does describe this hidden little gem. Tucked in a seemingly innocent tiny strip of shops, this great store might hoodwink one into thinking it was just another gifty shop. So not so! Bamboozled is a hard store to describe. Part exotic clothing boutique, part baby shop, part jewelry book, this shop defies description. It is in this light that I am so happy to be carried there! Stop by to check out the little zipper bags and coin purses they now have on hand.

Bamboolzed
4929 Saint Elmo Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 907-9020
www.yelp.com/biz/bamboozled-bethesda

Likewise, I'm working on new products that will go hand in hand with the farmer's markets soon to be going full swing. Looking forward to getting out to shows again...if this snow ever melts!~Jen

February 2010 Artists of the Month~ A Fresh Perspective Photography by Andrea and Zak Metz

You know that little fluttery feeling in your stomach, when you find out someone you know is doing some cool, good stuff out there in the world? Stuff that you might have had no hand in, no effect on, but you are still so happy for them and just wish them the absolute best?

Yup, I feel like that when I look at Zak Metz's photos.

In the world of people who are content at being good at one or two or three things, Zak is A Modern Renaissance Man. Pretty much self taught in every venture he tackles, he approaches each new challenge with curiosity, an open mind and an unwillingness to be defeated. He learns, he does, does well, does to the extreme and then moves on to the next subject to dominate. Whether in his day job of writing computer code to his side love of this photography business, Zak and his wife and partner, do not stop at less than exceptional.

It does not surprise that the images he captures are nothing short of awe inspiring.



Although A Fresh Perspective is a combined effort of a wife and husband team, Zak is the creative director and thus, answered the following questions with thoughtful wit and modesty.


Q~ How did you get started?

A~ It all started when I was about twelve or thirteen, I borrowed my dad’s SLR camera and 35mm wide-angle lens, the only lens he had. I had found a screw-on macro lens and was fascinated with the detail it revealed in leaves and flowers. I bought a roll of 36-exposure ISO400 and explored my backyard and my neighborhood, carefully using up those 36 frames. I spent days on that project and couldn’t wait to see the results.

When I unloaded the film, I discovered that I hadn’t loaded it right. It hadn’t captured a single image. I was heartbroken. It seemed unlikely that I’d ever take a picture again.

Fast forward to High School and begin again.



It all (re)started when I was in High School. I had an art teacher who realized I had an artistic bent and who encouraged me to try new things, to hell with the curriculum. Another student and I hid away in the unused second art room while the rest of the class learned about perspective and other basics that I had already taught myself.

I drew. I painted. I felt like there was something there, but I didn’t feel like I had discovered just what. I liked the results, but it still felt like work. It felt like I was trying to get perfect results with imperfect tools. The lines were never perfectly straight, the paint never perfectly smooth. I didn’t know what that meant or why I wanted it so much.

Like every teenager, I was into music, so in the evenings when I had ample free time thanks to insomnia, I started an online music magazine. This was before the Internet, so I distributed my album reviews on a much smaller network called FidoNet. I had letterhead and envelopes. I was getting a couple CDs a day in the mail. I called my magazine Clandestine Record Reviews.

It got some attention and I had some readers. My parents found it quite amusing that record labels were calling me to arrange interviews and concert reviews hoping for
some good press. The local newspaper printed a few of my reviews, but I knew inside that this still wasn’t the artistic outlet I needed.

Suddenly I got married, had a kid, and the magazine went silent.




A few years later I started it back up, this time on the Internet, and with a new name: Distortion Music Magazine, “Friend to the Fringe.” Still looking for a real connection to art, I found myself attracted to experimental music. It spoke to me, but I struggled trying to find the words to express how it made me feel. I just didn’t have the vocabulary to do it justice.

I had started taking pictures at the shows with my Kodak point-and-shoot. When writing became more effort than it was worth, I started feeling sadly under qualified to be a critic. But with photography, well, I felt like I was getting somewhere. A coworker saw
my photos and talked me into getting a real camera, a Canon EOS 10D. I shot a couple more rock shows, and it became obvious that it was what my soul needed. I acquired more technical skills and I found myself getting images that I was proud of and that the musicians were thrilled with. I gave up the writing, again, and threw myself headlong into photography.

A couple years later, my wife, who has her MBA, (blogger's note: she has two Masters!)suggested we turn photography into a side business. She had the smarts and I had some talent. We suspected that we were the double threat. It’s been quite the experience, but I’d say that overall we’re having fun. We live in a pretty conservative area, but even here we’re finding people who are looking for something new, creative, and edgy.



Q~ Where do you get your inspiration?

A~ It finds me. Of course, luck favors the prepared. It’s there when I venture out at dawn or dusk. It’s there when I study a person or family in the studio. It’s there when I’m looking for fine art. Or when I’m looking for bugs to shoot with the macro lens.



Q~ What is one thing you love about your business?

A~ I love exploring who people are, to catch that special something that only they have.

Q~ What is one thing you loathe?

A~ Trying to collect money.

Q~ What is your dream about your art?

A~ I crave external validation. I’d like to achieve a PPA (Professional Photographers of America) degree, and that requires achievements in their print competitions.

Q~ What is your mission?

A~ My mission is to let that inner need have a voice. Whether that’s walking around in the snow capturing the sunrise through the trees, or taking a portrait that captures someone’s soul, I’m always looking for a unique angle. That’s why I named our business “A Fresh Perspective Photography”.

Q~ Where are you based?

A~ I live in a small town called Kenyon in Southeastern Minnesota, about half way between the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Rochester, the home of the WFMC (world-famous Mayo Clinic). It gets really cold here in the winter. We haven’t been above freezing for a couple months. It was -8 when I took my kids to daycare this morning.



Q~ Where would you live if you could live anywhere?

A~ I’m not a big fan of winter. I lived in Miami for a couple years. Hot and humid every day is fine with me. I think we’ll find our way to Austin, TX before too long. Austin has a hip, young population and a great music scene. I can see us there.

Q~ What would you be doing if not this?

A~ Photography is not my day job. I’m a software engineer. While I fantasize about being a full-time creative, I’m not sure it’s realistic, and it would be hard to leave behind the benefits of my career. I would like to mold the photography business, though. I have a ton of fun shooting high school seniors, and it’s hard to imagine
anything greater than spending the day with a couple about to be married.

Q~ What is next?

A~ After the slow winter season, I look forward to more weddings and high school seniors, meeting more new friends and getting more people excited to have really good images that will be cherished for untold years.



For more photos, please check out A Fresh Perspective's website. Some of the are just breathtaking.

It is always good to get caught up on old friends, no?

I am just so happy for Zak and Andrea, good, old friends. Such good friends, I was in their 2004 wedding! I miss the heck out of them, living in Minnesota, but I love doing what I am doing now, checking out their photos and listening to their wedding CD. Actually, double wedding CD, that Zak created himself!

So, learn about my old friend and also get nostalgic about your own past. What else do you have to do in the winter? ;) ~Jen