SOUTHEAST PUNK FLEA MARKET INTERVIEWS: PT. II

From the SEPFM Website:

“The SouthEast Punk Flea Market is an event that focuses on underground art, alternative fashion and anything that surrounds the culture while giving like minded individuals a place to showcase their creations and hopefully make a little extra money selling their goods. If you are a fan of weirdo art, vinyl records, vintage clothes or possibly a collector of strange and unusual things, this event is for you!”

This event made its way to Hickory on March 28th and 29th at the Hickory Fairgrounds.

They had a building full of vendors selling shirts, art, records, trinkets and more; all with the punk-rock ethos of DIY. It was so great to see this type of event in Hickory, so I went there to check it out and to try to catch a word with some of the vendors.

SPOOKY TWINS

I ran into Tonia walking by her booth, she offered me a free bracelet and we got to talking. Based in Shelby, NC, Spooky Twins is run by sisters Tonia and Tonie, who are in fact twins. They’ve been running Spooky Twins for a couple of years now but say they’ve always made art in general. They started out at a shop called Mystic Artisans about 15 years ago then slowly started doing Pop-Art and going to Comic-Con and other events. Eventually they rolled into the twin angle.

*“Our main problem is that we have too much! That’s what everyone always says.”*

They each specialize in different art, Tonia does these lovely and whimsical felt creatures and Tonie does a lot of intricate drawing and mixed media pieces.

*Tonia says her favorite piece currently is Hannah the Unicorn, a hand-felted piece with resin teeth and a real springbok horn (a species of antelope).*

Tonie’s current favorite is her Dark Crystal piece, which is wood-burned by hand and then gilded with silver and gold-leaf, or Bendy the Ink Demon from Bendy and the Ink Machine.

Bendy the Ink Demon is carved out of XPS foam and covered in black silicone. Tonie says it’s got about a tube and a half of silicone

“WE’RE HERE AND LOVE ART! YOU CAN ALSO FIND US IN A CONSIGNMENT SHOP IN CHERRYVILLE CALLED MONKEY BUSINESS, RIGHT UP FRONT”

CHIMERAS HAVEN

Chimeras Haven is one I’m familiar with, and my personal favorite. I met Emily, a resident of Concord, NC, for the first time at the Oddities and Curiosities Expo in Charlotte earlier this year where I bought some art from her.

*Emily holding her ‘Cerberus’ drawing. A constant source of motivation she says.*

She’s been drawing for a while now and got inspired by drawing things over and over, seeing her improvement, and it kept scaling from there. She says she would draw in sketchbooks and get inspired by other artists while trying to find her own style. I’m constantly finding myself drawn to Emily’s art and she is a master with pen and ink.

*Emily posing behind some of her mini prints.*

Emily’s paintings are all strictly made with traditional supplies like markers, brush pens, and pencils all done on paper. If it’s a collage drawing, she places a bunch of comic book ephemera she picks up from conventions and then photographs the art for printing.

Apart from drawing and making prints, she makes custom dolls, keychains, stickers, shirts and more. One side of her booth is dedicated to her mom’s Horror Bears; teddy bears that are customized and manipulated to be cute and scary. Campy and creepy.