We've been spotlit!

The wonderful and talented Senora Muertos has graced us with an Artist Spotlight! Check it out here, and read hers below! http://senoramuertos.blogspot.com/2009/08/featured-artist-beqi-clothing.html

Meet the St. Louis Craft Mafia! Senora Muertos

Senora Muertos is a friend and fellow mafiosa in the St. Louis Craft Mafia. She's got two awesomely cool kids, a very funny husband, and a thriving Day of the Dead sculpture business. Being a rockabilly/punk rock girl (not unlike myself) her subjects differ from traditional Dia de los Muertos subjects because they're drawn from pop culture and music references. I have love for her art and mucho respect for her as a person. (and not just because she's like, 70 feet tall) But I'll let her tell it in her own words:

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your shop:
I am a married mother of two school age kids who are just as creative as their momma. I was raised Catholic with a strong Irish roots. My family is very superstitious and funerals were always a celebration. I think that is where I developed my love for the different ways death is viewed though out the world. It was almost natural for me to gravitate towards a holiday where death was looked at as a celebration of life.

2. What is your favorite item from your own shop?
Right now my favorite item is the Day of the Dead Elvis. (shown below)



3. Who or what gives you inspiration?
My kids, my family, my friends and the other talented artists inspire me daily. Around Halloween I get nostalgic and I get inspired over memories of Halloween's past. I also look to religious art throughout the ages and all of the Mexican folk artisans who never have received credit for their incredible work.



4. Explain your art- what exactly is it you do?
I do mostly papier mache' Day of the Dead figures. My main medium is papier mache'. It actually started with me making Halloween decorations for a Halloween party. I was trying to be frugal. I am still very frugal and use a lot of recyclable items to create the armature and bases for my pieces.

I love papier mache' because it is a multi-step process and it is so much fun
to watch a piece slowly come together. Plus again, I am a frugal artist and papier mache' is a very frugal art.

I also use polymer clay for my smaller pieces as it is easier to work with
on a smaller scale. I also make bottle cap jewelry and decorated bottle cap crosses. I try to use only bottle caps from smaller microbreweries or local, though I will use others when I run out. I don't really drink beer often so I have friends,
family, etc. save them for me.



5. What is your favorite project you've finished so far? I love my Day of
the Dead 50's style waitress.

6.Where can we find your work?
My etsy store is http://www.senoraalegremuertos.etsy.com, and
My blog is www.senoramuertos.blogspot.com

And of course look for my on facebook and fan me under Senora Muertos.

Senora Muertos, along with me and most of the STL Craft Mafia members, will be vending at this years' Strangefolk Festival in Fairview Heights, IL. Come check us out, chicas!

ONLY 2 WEEKS TILL BIG ASS INDIE CRAFT!!!

Starting July 31st, Mad Art Gallery will be again hosting the annual Big Ass Indie Arts & Crafts Fair!

Performing at this year's event will be none other than the Queen of the Gem Sweaters herself, Leslie Hall!



Be there or forever rue the day!

Last Call for Artists!

St. Louis's biggest collection of alternative art and crafts.
The Big Ass Indie Art and Craft Show showcases St. Louis's finest artists and crafters in a department store style show.
With locally made goods, great food and big ass entertainment!

Call for art/crafts runs until May20th. See www.bigindiecraft. com for more info.

GWI!!

Well, Green with Indie went off without a hitch! If I'd remembered to bring my camera, I'd have lots of lovely pictures to show you, but as it is I'll just have to regale you with text. The weather was lovely (if windy) and so were the participants and clientele. We got to hear some lovely music, see a remade and recycled fashion show (Including a dress decorated with seed pods!), and mingle with St. Louis's like-minded sustainable living crowd.

I met a lot of awesome, stylish people, and spent most of the day with the uproariously funny Lauren B. (whose tattoo-inspired painted goods can be found at the Show Me Handmade store in Crestwood Court) and Kelly Hogan of Hoags Bags, who was made even funnier by the percocet she ingested to help her with her broken foot.

Thanks to the St. Louis Craft Mafia and Webster University for having the vision to put on this event, and remind us (gently) that everything we do to help the planet sustains us all in the end. Cheers to ya.

Strange Days are here again

(Borrowed from my friend Robin's blog SAHM I Am)

BY SCOTT WUERZ News-Democrat
O'FALLON --

--Started three years ago as a way to give hip, young artists a creative outlet, the Strange Folk Festival has grown into a two-day extravaganza that has seen participation increase five-fold since 2006.

Organizer Autumn Wiggins said 20 vendors signed up for the first festival. This year, 120 will be there selling artwork, eclectic clothing, purses and other crafts, many of which are made out of recycled materials.

"The response, it's been just great," Wiggins said. "We have vendors signed up from all over the U.S. and Canada. The selection was juried this year, we had a lot more applicants than the 120 we approved.

"The festival runs from Saturday through Sunday at O'Fallon Community Park.Wiggins said the festival, which drew small crowds on one rain-soaked day three years ago, could draw as many as 10,000 people this year. "When it was on Saturday only, some people had a tough time being here," Wiggins said. "Now that it has been expanded to Saturday and Sunday, it's only going to get bigger."

City Administrator Walter Denton is thrilled to hear those projections for several reasons. "There are community benefits to festivals like this," Denton said. "First, it is an opportunity for residents to come together and enjoy a local event. Second, it is important to quality of life to support cultural events like the Strange Folk Festival. Third, these events have some economic impact in that visitors who visit the festival may stay in our hotels and shop in our stores."

In addition to a broader slate of vendors, Wiggins said a slate of musical acts are planned and food options will be greatly increased as well. "This sort of event usually does pretty well in big cities, but I wasn't sure at first how it would go over in the suburbs," Wiggins said. "But it is one of the best-attended shows of its kind in the country. As far as local participation is concerned, it's one of the best shows there is."

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Needless to say, this is where I'll be parking my buns come this Saturday and Sunday. I'll be next to my impeccably dressed friend Robin, of Bag-A-Gogo fame, and surrounded by many STL Craft Mafiosas as well as the fabulous owner of Circa Boutique in Belleville, IL. See you there! I'll be the one running her mouth like my jaw is greased. ;)

Check out our interview on Show-Me St. Louis!!

I was interviewed for Show-Me St. Louis, along with other members of the St. Louis Craft Mafia!!

Check it out here!