Photos courtesy of Tiny CanaryPaul Roden and Valerie Lueth of Tugboat Printshop sell homemade art during last year’s Tiny Canary market. Tugboat Printshop is one of many vendors at the arts and crafts market for independent artists.
The second annual indie design market, Tiny Canary, will offer the opportunity to buy from independent designers as the holiday season rapidly approaches. The market will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 15-16, at Junctionview Studios, located at 889 Williams Ave. in Grandview Heights.

Founders Anne Holman and Aline Yamada describe Tiny Canary as a hybrid of an alternative craft show and a design show. Vendors at the show will sell homemade jewelry, clothing, art and prints, among other art.

Some of the local and regional vendors include Alison Rose, Anne Holman Jewelry Design, Moogan Creations, Tandi’s Glass Boutique and Tugboat Printshop.

Yamada created Tiny Canary after realizing Columbus’ need for another venue where local artists and designers can showcase and sell their work to the community.

“We wanted to do a follow-up of Craftin’ Outlaws because it’s a once-a-year event and we wanted to do something a little closer to the holidays,” Yamada said.

One Ohio State student said she was excited about a venue to purchase homemade items.

“I think a show of independent designers sounds like a fun place to find gifts for friends and family that will be a nice alternative to giving someone a gift card for Christmas,” said Krista Hernon, a senior in biology.

The venue is also a way to invest in the local creative community.

“We make our living doing this, as do several of the vendors that are going to be there, so it really helps support the local economy and your local artists,” said Yamada, who graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a fine arts painting degree.

Although all artists face the daunting task of creative invention, independent artists also face the burden of running every aspect of their business.

“You do all of the marketing, all of the accounting, you work with wholesalers, you sell your stuff online or go to shows, you create the products, you do all of the shipping and handling,” Yamada said. “All of the things you would think a company needs to have different categories for, you do it all on your own and on a much smaller scale.”

Both young mothers, Holman and Yamada have found that independent design is popular, creative outlet for women to earn an income.

“One of the things that we find amongst this community is that there are a lot of moms who are looking for a way to earn an income or a supplemental income,” Yamada said. “I can still stay at home with my son and am able to earn a better living online than I did when I was waiting tables.”

In order to ensure a wide range of authentic, homemade items for customers to peruse, Holman and Yamada created a selection process for vendors.

“We have limited space and we want to have enough diversity within the categories to allow for a good selection,” Yamada said. “We try to have five criteria that we look over: whether or not it is basically handmade, the quality of it, the aesthetic of it, how does it stand out among the other things that are out there and how they presented their work.”

For more information about Tiny Canary, visit www.tinycanary.com.

Megan Laney can be reached at [email protected].