Blog
Up and Coming: Get to Know These One of a Kind makers
04 . 06 . 2023
Coming in hot! We spoke with four emerging artists new to the One of a Kind Show. Meet them in-person in the Emerging Market at the upcoming Spring Show, April 28-30!
With her paintings, Shraddha Dharia desires to capture the essence of the natural world and abstract it so that it becomes an invitation for everyone to look beyond the here and now.
What is your creative process?
Shraddha: My process like many artists is certainly not a linear exercise but often a back and forth between inspiration, imagination and execution. I go through multiple rounds of these exercises as I work to acquire the right resources. I find myself most effective, however, when I maintain consistency in my daily practice. I try to do warm up works and color studies as much as I can so I don't feel out of touch at any given moment.
What led you to become an artist?
Shraddha: Since I can remember I have always been drawn to color in art, fashion, jewelry, detail work in embroidery, you name it. Painting always leads me to a calm and meditative state and I need to do it for my own satisfaction.
What does handmade mean to you?
Shraddha: To me handmade means made with attention to detail, sustainability and with the larger intention of building communities locally and globally.
Alana Nelson and her mother Kathleen teamed up to share their family's best kept skincare secret, luxurious goat milk soaps and lotions.
Tell us more about your products.
Alana: We are very proud to make goat milk soap using organic oils, butters, and milk from our own goats with our own custom recipes. Our colorants are all-natural, plant-derived, and we stay away from nut oils to cater to those with allergies. We work very hard to ensure that our soaps are clean, natural, and contain only the best ingredients that have been responsibly sourced. We also take great pride in every single soap top, pattern, and design that we come up with for each new season’s releases.
What led you to start your business?
Alana: My great grandmother made soap as did my own mother. I grew up using goat milk soap and wanted my kids to have the same excellent skincare. I love that I am involved in every part along the way: milking the goats, tending to the babies and mommas, creating the recipes, designing the bars, and making every single batch.
What else should people know about Hickory Grove?
Alana: We make custom gifts boxes with our own soaps and lotions as well as items from other local women-owned artisanal businesses. Our collaborations with Riley + Wheat and many others are one of our favorite parts of the business!
Tadas Raudzius has always had an overflowing passion for photography but for most of his life it was just a hobby. After years of never-ending practice, determination and patience, the hobby became the ultimate life-long goal and he was able to finally to see and accept himself as an artist.
Tell us about your work and creative process.
Tadas: I love being outdoors, which is evident in most of my pictures. Walking around the city can sometimes become too loud, not only for the ears but the eyes and mind too. Hence, I look for the details through the lens of a camera. It helps me focus and show others what my eye catches. Editing of the photos is a big part of my creative process, as I let myself and mind wander. This allows me to find unique colors or forms in the picture that I haven't seen before.
What inspires you?
Tadas: The ability to share my captured moments, the empowerment and encouragement from loved ones, and even the people I don't know, the connections that I make with others, the conversations that my pictures start, and the passion and love I have for this world are just some of the things that inspire the creativity in me.
What are you most excited to bring to this year's Spring Show?
Tadas: I'm most excited to bring my perspectives of the City of Chicago as well as of nature from my recent travels.
In 2022 Daniel Eggert decided to make the switch from a career in corporate graphic design and advertising to freelance artist. Today his style is influenced by the cubist art movement.
Tell us about your creative process.
Daniel: I am an abstract painter and photographer. My creative process varies depending on the project. I love to conceptualize a series or particular piece and then decide what medium I would prefer to use. From there, I either dive right into the piece or I sketch and am a bit more meticulous with what I am doing.
Why did you become an artist?
Daniel: Art has always been a big part of my life ever since I got my first easel when I was 4. I am constantly creating and experimenting. It was inevitable that I became an artist. I cannot imagine a life without it.
What does handmade mean to you?
Daniel: Handmade is something that is created using my hands. I do believe that definition is evolving a bit with the digital world being a big asset in art creation. Whether the piece is paint on a canvas or a digital creation that is then made into a fine art print, if it is something I have made, it is handmade.
Meet and shop from these artists and hundreds more at the One of a Kind Spring Show, April 28-30!