Artists

Rockets are Red

Jeffrey Everett is a successful designer, illustrator, and author working outside of Washington, DC. Jeffrey has had the pleasure of designing and illustrating for a wide variety of entertainment, corporate, and non-profit clients. Jeffrey has created designs for such bands as Jason Mraz, Social Distortion, Foo Fighters, The Decemberists, Flight of the Conchords, Gaslight Anthem, Lou Reed, The Bouncing Souls, and A Day to Remember. He has created work for companies such as RedBull, Simon and Schuster, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washingtonian, Variety, Universal Records, LiveNation, Dreamworks, and more.

Jeff’s work has been published in numerous books such as "New Vintage Type" and "Design Entrepreneur," and seen in major magazines including Print, Rolling Stone, Rock Sound, Alternative Press, HOW, and Step Inside Design. He has his MFA in Graphic Design from The School of Visual Arts in New York City, NY.

http://www.rockets-are-red.com/

Keystone Sign Co

My name is Christian Cantiello and I am a full-time, self-taught sign painter from Philadelphia. Over the past few years I've researched and studied the core principles of this age old craft and I continue to study and learn everyday. My background in design gave me a head start in the world of traditional sign painting. Already having learned the rules of good layout and design, sign painting was a welcomed, natural progression for me.

My main goal at KS&Co. is to keep the traditions that this industry was built upon alive and thriving. To achieve this goal, I aim to execute sign painting the same way it was done more than 100 years ago - with hard work and skillful precision, embracing modern technology whenever necessary.

http://www.keystonesignco.com/

Kris Reardon Witman

Kris Witman is the owner and artist of Whimsical Wonders by Kris. She got her artistic start by saving bottle caps for projects that she could do with her son, who would hammer the bottle caps flat and put holes in them and she began to create garlands and keychains from them. Kris and her husband, John, have always enjoyed drinking beer and in the mid-1990s, they were introduced to craft beer. In May 2012, they went to their first beerfest and they were hooked! Witman recalls that many of the attendees were dressed in matching shirts as well as fun and unique headgear. When they made plans to attend another fest in October, Kris thought that it would be a great idea to wear a skirt made of bottlecaps! After months of hard work and some trial and error, her skirt was finished, but she also fashioned a crown/headband to really make the outfit complete. She received so many positive remarks on her ensemble that she realized that she might be onto something. In a moment of serendipity, Kris was gifted a bunch of bottle caps from Lucky's Last Chance bar in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia.
When Witman delivered a "Thank You" basket, she discovered that the bottle caps were originally earmarked for a wall mural. This inspired Kris even further and she decided to create something special for the bar, beginning with experimenting with resin. After creating a couple of samples, she met with the owner and he asked her to decorate an 8-ft x 1.5-ft table for the bar. She took two weeks to create the design and with John's help, they applied the beer caps and labels set aside for the project, mixed and poured the resin, and then allowed it to cure before presenting it for use.
The positive reaction gave Witman the confidence to begin displaying her creations, beginning with the inaugural Lancaster Craft Beerfest in August 2013. It was during the following year's Harrisburg Brewers Fest that Kris heard about Troegs Brewing Co.'s annual The Art of Troegs bottle cap art contest and she decided to enter. She fashioned a working lamp with a spent Troegenator beer bottle for the base, bottlecaps on the outside of the lampshade and Troegs labels on the inside of the lampshade. This garnered her First Runner-Up and her lamp was put on display at the front desk of the gift shop. She has opened an Etsy shop (www.etsy.com/shop/kriswitman) with the initial offerings including coasters and trays although she has since added tables, jewelry, glassware, wind chimes, ornaments, and recently, cans. Witman says that she has seen pictures of her creations being worn at the Great American Beer Fest (GABF) and her goal is now to make art out of everything included in a case of beer. As such, she strongly urges others to reuse and recycle.
Ale Street News April/May 2016

Facebook:
https://facebook.com/WhimsicalWondersByKris/
Etsy shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/kriswitman