4th Street Festival artists touched by effects of technology

Robert Taylor sat hunched over a piece of copper tubing, chisel and hammer in hand. With these two simple tools, Taylor tapped an intricate pattern into the metal.

“They were doing the same thing 100 years ago,” he said.

But no matter how traditional he tries to be with his work, this arts and crafts artisan from Birmingham, Ala., wouldn’t have been in Bloomington if not for the Internet.

Taylor was one of 120 artists at the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts this weekend and one of 458 artists who submitted digital photos of their work and applied online before they were invited to the Festival.

Like many other arts fairs, the annual Fourth Street Festival celebrates unique and often hand-made products in a time of large-scale production and mechanization.

However, even this festival isn’t immune to the effects of technology.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The Fourth Street Festival is a juried show, meaning a panel of jurors decides who is allowed to exhibit and who isn’t. Martina Celerin, Festival committee president, said the online application enhances the jurors’ selection.

“It allows us to tap into national artists to jury the show, which gives us a certain prestige and reflects the type of audience we get,” she said.

With QR codes on vendor signs and artists who are increasingly reliant on their websites, the skill set required to be a successful artisan seems to be expanding beyond simply creating something.

“To be an artist it takes two people,” said Thomas Dumke, a wood furniture maker from Oconomowoc, Wis. 

Most artists work in teams — one person makes the craft and the other markets it.

“Because of the way business is done these days — because of the Internet — marketing is 90 percent of it,” said Dumke’s wife, Linda, who created his website and manages the business side of the enterprise. “Tom is production. I’m everything else.”

The Dumkes use their website primarily as an educational tool to show how Tom does his work and what type of furniture he produces. As of now, they don’t sell anything online.

The reason for this, they said, is because their demographic is mostly people 45 years and older who aren’t very computer savvy.

Celerin, who is also a local fiber artist, saw so much value in being able to share her creative process online that two years ago she created a weekly blog on her website.

“It allows me to express what I’m thinking and where my art is coming from,” she said.
John Schirmer, a woodcut printmaker from Fairfield, Iowa, uses his website as both a source of revenue and an informational tool.

“I love having a Web page because it says everything about who you are and what you sell,” he said. “It’s easier to be an artist now because of technology.”

Faces of modern artisans

Martina Celerin
Craft: Dimensional weavings
Location: Bloomington
Website: MartinaCelerin.com

Celerin, who was born in the Czech Republic, now resides in Bloomington with her husband and two sons.

A one-time molecular geneticist at IU, Celerin now creates fiber art full time.

“My husband gets to do all of the science now,” she said.

One particular piece, an envelope on a blue background, comes out of Celerin’s childhood when her grandmother used to send air-mail letters from the Czech
Republic.

“You would literally have to pay per weight, so she would use this incredibly thin, blue, onion skin paper, and she would write long letters, so all this love would come pouring out of the envelope,” she said.

From biking the B-line trail to the gardens that her sons forget to water, Celerin incorporates her everyday life into her work.

“I have an absolutely wonderful life,” she said. “My art reflects the stage my life is at right now.”

Thomas Dumke
Craft: Wood furniture making
Location: Oconomowoc, Wis.
Website: www.thomaswilliamfurniture.com

There was a time in Tom Dumke’s life when he had no interest in woodworking.

His father had always had a small woodworking shop, but a machinist by profession, Dumke had never thought he wanted to create things out of wood.

But when his wife Linda found a $2,000 bedroom set she wanted from Sears, Dumke decided he could make it himself.

“That’s when I realized I had a gift,” he said.

Dumke started creating furniture part time in 1996 and full time in 2003.

“I was a machinist for 23 years, and I’m not going back,” he said. “That was a lifetime ago.”

John Schirmer
Craft: Woodcut printmaking
Location: Fairfield, Iowa
Website: www.schirmerwoodcuts.com

Sitting barefoot underneath a tent, soft-spoken Schirmer describes his work as the lowest tech possible.

In order to create his pieces, Schirmer carves a scene into a block of wood, inks the woodcut, makes a print on paper and then colors the print with watercolor.

Schirmer’s background also includes sculpture and jewelry making, and he wrote and illustrated a children’s book.

The idea for the book came from a trip to the circus with his daughter.

“A clown came out with a bird on his head and said, ‘Has anybody seen my bird?’ and of course all the kids loved it,” he said.

Despite his varied background, Schirmer seems to have found his place with woodcuts.

“All of the arts are in printmaking,” he said.

Upcoming regional art shows

Penrod Arts Fair
Sept. 10
4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis
Miles from Bloomington: 53

Lakeview East Festival of the Arts
Sept. 10-11
Broadway Avenue, Chicago
Miles from Bloomington: 234

Rising Sun Festival of Fine Arts and Crafts
Sept. 17-18
Rising Sun, Ind.
Miles from Bloomington: 109

Oktoberfest
Sept. 24-25
Dayton, Ohio
Miles from Bloomington: 164

Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art
Sept. 24-25
Madison, Ind.
Miles from Bloomington: 82

Carmel International Arts Festival
Sept. 24-25
Carmel, Ind.
Miles from Bloomington: 78

St. James Court Art Show
Sept. 30-Oct. 2
Louisville, Ky.
Miles from Bloomington: 105

Hyde Park Square Art Show
Oct. 2
Cincinnati, Ohio
Miles from Bloomington: 129