There’s nothing like the feel of an old motorcycle jacket, but sometimes they don’t last forever. Deborah Adams puts the bits of salvaged leather to good use by turning them into beautiful leather bags. Her fashion-forward designs speak to a classic aesthetic (nice lines, not too much hardware), but with enough of an edge to make you look twice.
Claudio Ghirado is a varied and prolific artist – cards, graphic novels, prints, paintings, all with with a surreal, slightly macabre point of view. Perhaps that’s why his work appeals to us so much and why we are happy to have him taking part in the Toronto Indie Arts Market.
Between now and April 13th, we’ll be giving away over 50 passes to the Toronto Indie Arts Market. Official giveaways will start the week of April 8th, but in the meantime, many of the participating vendors are running contests as well.
Check out these artisans and try your hand at their various contests to get on the guest list!
Ada Adams is giving away passes via RaffleCopter.
Sprouts Press is doing a Twitter retweet contest, and has other passes to give away as well.
Answer a skill-testing question to win passes from artist Claudio Ghirardo.
Artist Alley Toast also has passes to give away.
Torched Studio is giving away passes via Facebook.
Check back over the next week or so as we add more vendors and more contests to this list.
For many people, there is nothing as exhilarating as a new notebook. The smell of and feel of the paper, the possibilities – to write, to draw, to muse… or for some of us, to organize and make endless lists. Carolyn Eady creates beautiful books for just this purpose, using recycled materials whenever possible, but always honouring the end user’s needs and desires for a beautiful thing that may be the catalyst to their own creativity.
Maybe it’s my inner Duran Duran fan coming out, but the allure of the paintings by artist Nga Dinh is very much their Nagel-esque qualities, for me, anyway. The combination of porcelain-faced women and tropical backgrounds makes Rio run through my head when I peruse her samples. (That’s a good thing, by the way.)
There they are, all 56 of them. Phew! (I feel like I’m announcing Miss America contestants!) These are the fantastic folks who will be taking part in the April 13th market at The Gladstone Hotel, and we are so pleased to be working with them.
Some things you’ll find: comics, cookies, soap, soap shaped like cookies, suspenders, bowties, baby bibs, jewellery, books, toys, fine art, experimental music, comedy club tickets, burlesque show tickets, ceramics, colouring books, paper dolls, masks, corsets, purses, scarves, kits to make your own stuff, kimchi, fashion magazines, t-shirts, notecards, accessories made from duct tape… and a box of magic potions.
For your pre-shopping pleasure, we’ve linked to a website or Etsy store for each vendor so you can get a sneak peek of what they’ll have on offer.
Because we know guys like to be stylish as well, we are super happy to include local menswear and accessories company Civic Trust in our upcoming market. The “Chap” trend is currently big in the UK, and if it means that men in Toronto start dressing with more panache, we’re all for it. Fortunately, Civic Trust has everything a man of style needs to to look swell.
We were drawn to the textile products from Natalie Eldershaw’s Prints and Needles because they were light-hearted and fun. Silk-screening everything from tea towels to scarves, t-shirts to zippered pouches, Eldershaw’s work has an appealing minimalism and a fun pop-culture aesthetic.
Darlene Martin’s beaded jewellery caught our eye during the vendor selection process because her pieces are not just the same old beads available to most jewellery designers. The more we looked at the images of her work, the more we noticed the great details – the beautiful stones, the intricate metalwork, and the edgy feel to many of her pieces that elevated them to wearable art.
Check out her artist statement for a better idea of the inspiration behind the work.
We’ve started to add a list of confirmed vendors to the front page of the website. Drop by and check it out to see who will be taking part in the April 13th market, and to get a glimpse of some of their fabulous merchandise.
This is a partial list – more vendors will be added as they are confirmed.