On Aug. 13, 2023, I went to the 35th Art on the Commons Festival in Kettering, hosted by the Rosewood Arts Center. The Play Kettering website proudly declared “the festival’s live music, top-notch artists and family friendly interactive elements make Art on the Commons a destination for several thousand art lovers and community members every year.” With a statement like that, it’s easy to see why I and so many others were intrigued.
There were demonstrations on watercolor painting, wire wrapping, sewing, plein air painting, wheel pottery, figure drawing, and metalsmithing along with local bands playing live music. These artists included Anna Marie, crabswithoutlegs, Jojomber, Kyleen Downes, and Nick Kizirnis.
I walked around Art on the Commons while listening to stellar music, making sure to talk to a few artists whose work popped out to me.
About the Artists
Derek Dammann
Category: Photography and Digital art
Instagram: derek_dammann
Derek told me his interest in photography was a “very convoluted road.” He says he always roamed around the woods as a child, “admiring the beauty of nature.” He then bought his first camera 20 years ago and started photographing horses. After some years of that, he started photographing his travels around the world. He has now been going to art shows to sell his beautiful prints for the past 10 years.
Shelly Knup
Category: Glass
Facebook: Fused Glass Creations LLC
Phone: (937) 545-4904
Email: skknupp@ameritech.net
Shelly owns Through the Fire: Fused Glass Creations LLC, which sells her glass wrapped jewelry, glass wall sculptures, and many more. She said that she has been doing this beautiful artwork for 12 years. She first started because she got a cancer diagnosis, and “melting and sculpting glass became therapeutic for me.” She also makes glass wall sculptures for Kettering Cancer Care.
Loretta Wikstrom
Category: Mixed media
Etsy: LorettaWWikstrom
Phone: (732) 673-9823
Email: lwikstrom@aol.com
Loretta said she has always been interested in art since a young child: “I’ve been sketching since a child.” She says she even still has her sketchbook from when she was 12 years old. She grew up in a log cabin that her “father built in the Great Depression.” She then “moved to a large house on a dairy farm where (she) was exposed to the wonders of nature while herding cattle and sheep.” Her artwork reflets this beauty of nature. She has been exhibiting her beautiful art in juried shows since 1966 and has won numerous awards. Her work consists of varied mixed media, “such as watercolor, acrylic, inks, colored pencils, etc.”
Karen Storer
Category: Jewelry
Facebook: Jewelfish Creations
Phone: (614) 517-4839
Email: jewelfish@columbus.rr.com
Karen Storer is the owner of Jewelfish Creations, where she sells her “original handcrafted jewelry.” She describes how she got into this hobby as a “total accident that bit me.” She had retired from teaching Liber Arts and started sewing more. On the way to see family one day, she stopped at Michales to grab some crafting supplies: she saw beads, bought some, and never turned back. She has been beading for over 20 years, and selling for 17. She says that once she starts beading, she can feel her whole body just relax: “my shoulder relax, my breathing slows down, and I just start singing.”
Liz Strutzman
Category: Fibers and leather
Goodsie: vintageliz
Instagram: vintageliz
Email: vintageliz@gmail.com
Liz owns VintageLiz where she sells handcrafted leather accessories. She describes her craft as “badass style.” She has been in leather crafting work for countless years, making this her full-time job. She travels to Michigan, then Ohio, and then all the way down to Georgia to sell her beautifully handcrafted accessories. I personally bought a bracelet from her booth.
Those are just a few of the many talented artists at the Art on the Commons festival. I felt like a chicken with its head cut off walking around admiring so many talented artworks. There were ceramics, fibers and leather, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography and digital art, printmaking and works on paper, sculptural, and wood. Make sure to come next year to the Lincoln Park Civic Commons for the 36th Art on the Commons Festival! Admission, as usual, will be free.
Kay Tillie Peters
Staff Writer