Thanks to Kristen Edwards from LEX 18 news for this interview. She asked what it’s been like as an artist during 2020 and also had me share excitement about the opportunity to be at Julietta Market with the Lexington Design Collective. The full article along with other interviews from the Julietta Market is here.
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I was asked to be one of the artists interviewed by WKYT for the Waveland Art Fair. Many thanks to Charla, who runs the show! You can see the full tv interview here.
Thanks to The Lane Report for including one of my journals in their promotion of the Kentucky Arts Council's Give a Gift from KY! To learn more about Give a Gift from KY, go here.
You can see more of the Lane Report here.
I'm excited to be included in Kentucky Monthly Magazine's 2013 Holiday Gift Guide! You can see the whole gift guide here.
I'm so excited to be the Kentucky Arts Council's featured artist for September! Being a part of KY Crafted has been really given me many fabulous connections and opportunities. They've been great! You can view the porfolio they posted online here.
My mini-book necklaces were featured in Insight, a retailing insight magazine. How fun is that?!!
KY Crafted asked several artists to participate in a radio interview with Nick Lawrence on WUKY. Nick Lawrence features interesting guests from the central Kentucky arts community on his show Curtains @ 8. I was asked to join them along with wood artist Mick Shambrola and musicians Mitch Barrett and Carla Gover. We talked about our businesses, Kentucky Crafted, shopping local, how the holidays are a great time to discover Kentucky art and artists, giving handmade for the holidays, and upcoming holiday art events.
Nick Lawrence and I
Carla and Micth playing while Mick listens
Nick Lawrence hosting
This past weekend at the Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art® - Madison, IN was gorgeous! Thanks to all the people who came out! I loved hearing all the stories from repeat customers of how these journals had been used and who all they were given to.
Also, I had a write-up in Round About's Madison Chautauqua guide. To read it, go to http://roundabout.bz/. Click on "Madison Chautauqua" on the left and then click on "Eco-friendly Artist". Thanks to Stevie Moore of Studiospectre for adding his two cents :)
Business Lexington recently pubnlished an article about ReImagined by Luna. It's a nice overview of the business and my perspective on why I do what I do and why I work with repurposed materials:
“I’ve kept a journal since I was six or seven. It’s been an ebb and flow of how often and how much I write, but I’ve always had one,” Oesch said. “When I first started thinking of bookmaking as a business, I thought I could do it part-time through the winter and farm the rest of the time. I quickly learned that any small business is full-time — and overtime — and chose to pursue bookmaking after doing a year of farming.”
“When you recycle something, you take it and break it down and then re-create something out of it, like paper for example. When you repurpose, you go ahead and take a material and reuse it. You don’t have to take it and break it down to make something else,” Oesch said. “I think it is also helpful to use recycled materials because it stimulates other people’s creativity. If I repurpose something you might otherwise throw away, you might not be as likely to toss it next time around.”
In preparation for the Berea Craft Festival, I joined Tara Bellando at WKYT. It was on July 4th for a short interview about the festival. I said it there, and I'll say it again...Indian Fort Theater is one of my favorite venues. It is such a beautiful wooded area and feels enchanting with all the high quality artists that participate in this festival. Some of my favorite artists are there, and it really feels like we are all a family getting back together.
This year, the weather vacilated between clear skies and sunny to torrential downpours. It went back and forth every day throughout the show. One of my booth neighbors luckily had a shovel so I was able to dig a trench and divert the rivers that wanted to pass through my booth. I felt like a little kid playing in the mud. We also have had such a drought that we needed the rain. During one of the rain storms, Josie (of Mayapple Creations) and I grabbed hula hoops and danced around in it. Sometimes, it helps to just go ahead and embrace the inevitable.
Oh, I also finally got a new chair and am so excited that I simply must show you.
Another artist, Steve, gave my a labyrinth that he made. He had seen my labyrinth logo at a gallery show we did together and was inspired to do the design. I love that he shared it with me!
I'm in Lexington's Southsider Magazine!!
"For Melissa Oesch, the notion of reinvention is incredibly inspiring. Oesch takes discarded materials such as leather, fabric and old hardback books and “upcycles” them, creating journals, sketchbooks, datebooks and iPad cases..."
If you missed it, here I am with Tiffany Wilson of LOCAL 12, WKRC-TV, the morning of Summerfair! I love how she keeps shaking one of my bell journals....fun! ( I'm near the beginning and again near 6:30)
First time being on the radio! I went on with Rebbecca Kaplan of La Percha Designs to promote our businesses and Mayfest Art Show in Lexington on WRFL (the public radio station in Lexington).
Eli Scarr filmed and edited this video. He created it for consideration at the downtown Lexington Pavillion screening by the Lexington Film League on April 22, Earth Day. Scarr has other community-themed videos on his youtube channel: cineaste16. His youtube video Clean Acres Farm was produced for Alltech's online film festival last year.
Here is an excerpt from my interview with Bluegrass Boogaloo:
Apart from creating things, what do you do? / Is creating art your full-time job, or do you work outside of creating these magnificent items?
I create full-time, over-time, most of the time. I also write and read quite a bit while enjoying a cup of hot tea. I love frolicking through the woods, camping beneath the stars, and watching the moon’s travels. I look for adventures on a somewhat regular basis, dance frequently, and research whatever pops in my head.
Please describe your creative process.
Oh, well, this changes frequently. I have several lines of work now and tend to create what I need to fill orders, re-stock, etc. Then, *bam*, inspiration happens and I’m researching new shapes and histories on certain images and creating something new. This inspiration is more directly sought after when it comes to custom orders as I am working with a deadline; however, I appreciate the challenge and continue to be surprised at how fabulously it keeps “working”.
You can read the 2011 Holiday Gift Guide in it's entirety here.
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.
–Howard Thurman.
Ah, it's been a good four-week-run of festivals every weekend. I've thoroughly enjoyed the bit of traveling and meeting and spending time with so many wonderful people.
I participated in St. James Art Show a couple weeks ago in Old Town Louisville. Here is a peek at the fountain on St. James court in the wee hours of the morning. I found out when I was setting up that I was scheduled for a t.v. interview on Friday morning at 6am. I had planned to drive to Louisville on Friday from Lexington. This means et up really early. There was something nice about being at the show while it was dark and still, before all the bustling began. You can check out the t.v. interview here. The rest of the weekend was pretty constant. I got to see and meet some amazing customers and friends. Plus, my friends, Amanda and George, made me Vegan lasagna, which was quite tasty!
Last weekend, I was at the KY Guild's Fall Fair. It took place at the Indian Fort Theater, which has to be one of my favorite venues ever. All of the artists are literally in the woods along a trail. And with it being Fall, it couldn't have been prettier. Some of the leaves had changed, and the weather was sunny and fabulous. We could not have asked for a better weekend!
"The Lexington Rescue Mission has reinvented a section of its thrift store at 720 Bryan Avenue to serve residents of the North Limestone community. In addition to providing a place for local artists to sell and display their work, The Bazaar and The Gathering Place at The Bazaar offer a free, creative space where members of this resurging neighborhood can come together...
Artist Melissa Oesch, owner of ReImagined by Luna, crafts journals from recycled material including old book covers and re-claimed leather. Oesch said members of the artistic community, who often experience difficulties supporting themselves while developing their craft, sympathize with the Mission’s efforts to fight poverty. She hopes her booth presence at The Bazaar will extend her passion for journaling to members of the North Limestone community."
Check out the full article here. Thanks to Elizabeth Troutman for the write-up!
Oh, fun! One of my journals made it into the Weekender and get a brief mention in regards to The Bazaar's grand opening tomorrow. Read more here.
