Issue 248 - August 2009

The Artists of Craft Lake City

The alternative craft scene in SLC is alive and kicking. 70 artists will be featured in SLUG Magazine’s first annual Craft Lake City
festival. Here is a sneak peak of some
of the talented people who will be there.

Real Life Renegade, Andy Leyba

“I’m a cutter, that’s why they call me Scratch,” Leyba let me know. Andy has a rich history of violent, aggressive, drunk behavior that has kept him in jail for the better part of the past decade. 

 

Localized

August’s Localized features three punk bands that seem to hold their high-energy performances together with a healthy (and sometimes excessive) amount of booze. Negative Charge and Dubbed each had plenty of booze-fueled stories to share with us. Check out the show with openers Desolate on Friday, August 14 at Urban Lounge.

CLC Artist: Gentry Blackburn

Everything Blackburn makes is immediately recognizable as her own.  Her style evokes a sense of playfulness and nostalgia, recalling pop art from the 40s and 50s.  She says she aims for  “that State Fair, wholesome apple-pie” aesthetic (in fact, she regularly submits to the Utah State Fair, and has won the blue ribbon for a plush pig sty play set). 

CLC Artist: Chelsea Stephenson

t’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … Chelsea Stephenson with Soaperhero! She’s here to get you clean and smelling good with—dog poop soap? That’s right, one of Stephenson’s made-from-scratch, melt and pour soaps is shaped like a piece of dog shit, but don’t worry, it smells like apple cinnamon coffee.

CLC Artist: Claire Taylor

Claire Taylor has an abiding love for animals. Wolves, lambs, pigs—subtly anthropomorphized beasts are her adopted symbols. “I choose animals because I relate to them,” she says, “You can be completely comfortable around animals. They’re totally non-judgmental and accepting.” Whatever the finished product, Taylor’s distinctly spare, dreamy and beautifully sketched style is always readily apparent.

CLC Artist: Carrie Eldredge

When not slaving away at Salt Lake City’s own FICE, Carrie Eldredge spends her time recycling. That is, she recycles things that other people have discarded into her own art. “I like to take objects that I consider to have spirit or soul and continue that feeling, especially if they are objects that have been somewhat cast aside. Things that most people would consider trash, I can still see value and beauty in,” she says.

CLC Artist: Julie Stutznegger

Julie Stutznegger is a busy, busy lady. She has no time for bullshit as she is frequently performing with her punk band, Azon and working as a full-time artist. She has been working with stained glass since 1995, and has been fusing glass since 2005. She’s been playing in local bands for over 20 years. She is a master of her mediums (glass and music) experimenting with new techniques any chance she gets.

Beehive Bazaar

 “Most craft boutiques are, in reality, snooze fests,” Molly Call says casually. It’s not the sort of opener I’m expecting from the demure mother of four who, along with Noelle Olpin, coordinates the Beehive Bazaar in Provo.