Meet the 2023 ArtsFest artists: Passeri, Todd, Patterson
Community, Weekend May 5, 2023, Comments OffA show-and-tell displaying how full-time artists prepare for this highly-anticipated Springfield event
Springfield Regional Arts Council’s ArtsFest returns to Walnut Street this weekend, on May 6 and 7. Rain or shine, a great variety of local artists will be showcasing and selling their works from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. on both days.
Three of these local creators–Linda Passeri, Rachel Todd, and Janelle Patterson–will display their assorted techniques and styles at each of their booths.
Many motivated creators of ArtsFest have been working steadily for months on end to prepare for Springfield’s first tremendous outdoor art event of the warmer season.
Even though these three aforementioned artists craft in all different mediums–ceramics, fiber arts, and painting, respectively–they do have something in common.
These artists tend to gravitate toward bold, bright colors, which draw attention to the mastery of their techniques.
Linda Passeri: Sculptor and Painter
Just north of Commercial Street lies Springfield’s Moon City Creative District which holds a treasure and creative spirit unlike any other. A crafted sign announces the location of Linda Passeri’s Moon City Arts studio, introduced by her vibrantly painted birdhouses and distinctive checkered tulips.
Passeri, tending to every detail, notes, “Usually when you look…and see the coolest flowers, they’re usually the smallest ones.”
No intriguing detail is too small to overlook when it comes to Passeri’s craft. This weekend, she will attend her third ArtsFest as a vendor and exhibitor of various mediums of widely styled pieces.
Nearly every handmade item in Passeri’s studio will be packed up and put on display for SRAC’s popular community event. A wide variety of ceramic sculptures, including handcrafted planters she calls Sill Sisters, will be available for sale. Original paintings that pop with 1960s-inspired psychedelic style and retro colors, as well as reimagined prints of these, will be part of her purchasable collection.
Passeri cultivated her marvelously meticulous methods as a sign painter for much of her career. College couldn’t be a part of her early plan, so, she reflects, “I made the conscious decision that whatever job I got…was somehow going to be a job in the arts.”
From this opportunity, she perfected hand-lettering, until that job was digitalized and came to an end. Now, after 10 years as a full-time fine artist, Passeri is still proud to be able to use this valuable skill of a trained hand to create bold messages in her art, even those without printed words.
A mystically illustrated question mark stands out from a collection of Passeri’s prints being organized for ArtsFest. Passeri, recalling the inspiration, tells about former collaborator Jerry-Mac Johnston. He was “a local actor here in town who had written a book…he actually passed away two days before our meeting where I was going to show him all my [illustrations] for his book.”
“This is in honor of him, I call it Jerry’s Question,” she says.
She explains, “The reason I like them is because I can hand-embellish the edges on them, so each one’s different…It’s a really fun way for me to use my work and get a different product at a lower price point…and I can add glitter to it and make it fun.” Passeri is eager that these decorative pieces will encourage a more varied audience at ArtsFest.
In addition to ArtsFest, Passeri has been involved with SRAC by leading workshops for artists who wish to participate in art festivals.
“I’ve produced some shows, been in shows, been at juries, and I try to be in all different parts of running a show, so that it makes me a better show artist, too,” Passeri expertly explains.
She emphasizes: “I encourage people always to volunteer for ArtsFest, if they even think that they want to sell at art shows, they should definitely volunteer because it gives an insight into how much work it actually is.”
Passeri, the artist who is confidently “not afraid of color,” aspires to showcase and sell her art at the highly competitive St. Louis Art Fair in the near years to come. For now, she focuses on honing her art skills for the Springfield community, teaching a weekly class, and continuing to create in the studio she decorates.
“My goal is to plant two thousand tulips,” Passeri laughs, “I haven’t reached it yet, but I have enough to make the weeds look better.”
Linda Passeri will be in booth 106 this weekend at ArtsFest, by the main John Q. Hammons Blvd. entrances.
Rachel Todd: the Cyclist-Turned-Artist
Right in the heart of Springfield, the founder and maker of Sew Bueno Company expresses joy while she works at home amongst curious creatures. If only they could come along with her on her bike rides…but that idea will just have to wait for now.
Rachel Todd enthusiastically pedals her local operation from her home office in Springfield, where her three beloved cats and her rabbit can come and go by her feet as they please. She sits at her sewing machines for hours at a time to craft and assemble a number of durable cycling bags and everyday accessories.
“Good bags for good people,” are what Todd is selling this year at her second ArtsFest. Her brand’s motto is no exaggeration about her enthusiasm for her products and process.
She tells, “I just love seeing the bags out in the community, too. There are people… I don’t even know them but I see them bike by and they have one of my bags and it’s super exciting.”
The easy-to-spot colorful bags, sporting Sew Bueno’s logo, can strap onto cyclists’ handlebars, frames, or seats, depending on the item. The Burrito Bag, which even comes as a more deluxe “Enchilada Style,” is a hit amongst social and serious cyclists alike, because of its capacity to carry snacks and other essentials on long rides. The Enchilada can be attached to a shoulder strap, converting it into a convenient cross-body bag.
Other designs hold different options, like the Peach Pocket, which can hold a bottle and snacks by the handlebars. The Buns Seat Bag straps underneath the bike seat to carry tools and small items. The latter was named after Todd’s bunny, Buns.
Todd also designs everyday bags, such as the cross-body Bagel Bag, and the Duggie Hip Pack, titled after her cat named–you guessed it–Duggie.
Sew Bueno Company just seems like something that was meant to come together, no matter what. Being the granddaughter of a fashionable seamstress, and the daughter of artists, specifically glassblowers, it makes perfect sense that Todd has a talent for the tactile.
After being gifted a sewing machine for Christmas in 2020, Todd and her husband, both avid cyclists, discovered a want to make their own bicycle accessories. Rachel Todd then adopted the name “Sew Bueno” for the company, as a way to “choose a name that reflected myself and my family… and would honor both sides of my [Mexican/German] family,” she expresses on her website.
Initially, Todd planned to create a quilt. However, this new and exciting endeavor eclipsed all ambitions previously in the idea queue. She laughingly reflects, “I still haven’t made that quilt…I started this, so I just fell in love with making bags and things that are useful.”
And so after the idea was set in motion, the grand setup was installed: the sewing machine on top of a small white table in the spare office. Gradually, since mid-2021, the workspace has grown with an assortment of materials that Todd uses to make the Sew Bueno bags that are “meant to last a lifetime,” she affirms.
These materials are listed under each item sold on her website, and they include recyclable liners, made-in-America straps, and high-quality zippers.
As well as quality resources, a sticker collection has been accumulating on the sewing table. Todd’s enticing collection includes adhesive pieces depicting cats and bicycles, and cats on bikes, but also stickers from local brands, such as Sunshine Bike Shop, which sells and promotes Todd’s products to the cycling community.
Although she kicked off her business by making her mark in this community of local cyclists, Todd has now found that she has a place in the local arts community, too.
Last year’s ArtsFest was Rachel Todd’s first show, and “it was a really awesome event,” she says. “You kind of just make friends because you’re there for two days and you just talk to each other.”
Since, she has gained more experience by participating in Pickwick Street Fair, and Bentonville Bike Fest.
“Local artists are good references for more shows,” Todd says, also expressing hope in getting more in touch with these local creators.
“I’m so thankful for every purchase because it allows me to keep doing this full-time,” Todd says. It’s no doubt that her pets are content with this career too.
Rachel Todd of Sew Bueno Company will be located at Booth 18A, on Walnut Street.
Janelle Patterson: The Evolving Painter
Janelle Patterson’s basement painting studio looks very different during different parts of the year, especially leading up to ArtsFest. Most months, Patterson’s home is richly decorated with her own art she has made throughout the year. In April, the walls of her house and studio are overflowing with canvases, representing many days and months of creative efforts.
Now, in preparation for this weekend’s event, the vast majority of the colorful canvases, wood prints and painted glass have been packed up and prepared for sale.
Patterson has now been painting for her own business for 10 years. She started off with painting glass after moving on from her four-year teaching job. She taught a separate class in Springfield where she taught how to paint glassware, such as wine glasses, mugs and pitchers. She still happily paints glass but has since evolved to paint on canvases that range from a few inches long to several feet tall.
Her usual subject matters include landscapes and animal portraits and they blend with her personal creative process in a collaborative way. Patterson mentions her best friend who allows her to paint some of the photographs from her travels, making for some uniquely interpreted scenes.
“I have another friend who is an art teacher, and I’ve been buying some of his photos…he has lots of animal things and I like to paint animals,” Patterson says. “I started trying to use my connections a little more this year.”
Painting animals is one of Patterson’s many talents, and she does so on her usual canvases, as well as making custom watercolor pet portraits. She also gets creative with imaginary companions, such as with her recent commission for a purple phoenix.
Patterson describes the process of painting this piece as “different for me…but it’s been fun…since there isn’t a photo to work from, it’s piecing together things from different birds.”
More “random” pieces like these are often what help her to “loosen up” or refocus herself when she works on larger-scale, more precisely detailed series.
“Bigger things, smaller things…as long as I can work on several things at once, I’m all set,” Patterson says.
One of those recently completed series is “Between,” which “focuses on liminal moments – moments between one action and the next,” Patterson writes on her website. Each of her six paintings features immense detail and purposefully lacks context, acting as a standalone snapshot or part of an imaginary bigger picture.
These darker tones are unusual for Patterson’s work, but the vibrancy is all the same. “I don’t gravitate toward neutrals, it takes some real restrain for me,” Patterson laughs. This series shows her development as an artist, especially over this year.
“A goal this year was to push my realism [painting skills] a bit more…I’m really excited to finally be putting them up.”
For ArtsFest, Patterson will be bringing mostly large paintings and mini canvases, as those were her bestsellers last year, “surprisingly…looking at the economic trends…and the interesting dichotomy of it,” she says.
This is the first year she will be offering wood prints of paintings, as well as her classic glass items.
Patterson eagerly explains, “We got a bigger booth this year, a bigger tent, and a bigger setup so I am bringing everything. It will be a lot more than what we’ve had in the past, so it will empty out here [in the basement].”
She uses “we” to refer to the two main characters of Janelle Patterson Art: herself, and her husband Jay, who is instrumental in the business aspects of her work. He helps with “technical things, marketing, the website…he’s been in marketing and business for a long time, he fills in the gaps of knowledge,” Patterson says.
Together, they dedicated the basement of their house fully to the business about five years ago, complete with a photography room to shoot products for a professional online portfolio, and to ensure authentic prints.
Patterson hopes to come home from ArtsFest inspired, with many pieces sold, her walls will be a blank slate for many new ideas. One year, she painted a black cat after an ArtsFest goer recommended that she “paint more cats.”
Along with the annual Lawn Art With Neighbors events, Patterson says that SRAC’s ArtsFest is one of her favorite things to do every year for fun. She and her husband will resume their creative processes after ArtsFest, piling paint onto the palette she’s had for 12 years.
“…I think it started out as one of my dinner plates from my college dorm,” Patterson says, “and I’ve just been piling paint onto it ever since.”
Janelle Patterson can be found at booth 32 at ArtsFest, nearby the center stage.
Article and all photos by Gisele Ortega
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