Happy birthday to Pike Place Producers

You’ve laughed, cried, been surprised and stimulated, amazed, interested and even provoked. Above all we hope you’ve enjoyed reading this blog over the last year.

As we approach the anniversary of our launch we can take a look back with pleasure and pride at the amazing and eclectic posts that have provided a unique insight into the life and times of the crafts community at Pike Place Market.

The blog was born out of some friendly meetings at the studio I share with Lynn Rosskamp of PingiHats where, fuelled by good snacks and beverages, our creative brains turned to how we can make more people aware of who we are and what we do.

We knew there was a wealth of great stories to tell about our businesses and lives as artists and crafts people, and about our place in one of Seattle’s oldest institutions and major tourist attractions.

And admittedly there was a measure of frustration driving us. Daily we encounter at our booths so many people who are completely unaware that the Market has a vibrant crafts community, that we all make what we sell, that we are professionals.

Over the course of those meetings we agreed it made sense to collaborate to get the word out, and to utilize the interest we shared in online and social media to make that happen. We set up a Facebook page, a Twitter feed and this blog, and Kat Allen of Symbols in Art wrote the first post of June 13, 2011.

Since then we’ve included artist profiles, pieces about our inspiration and work processes, and lots of information about how crafts community at the Market works. We’ve addressed etiquette and some pet peeves. There have been lots of photographs, some super cartoons, even a song playlist. I encourage you to browse the archives to check out all the posts.

In the last year our blog has received over 10,000 views. Our busiest day was September 14, 2011 when my post about the thorny issue of pricing was widely shared. Also very popular was Kat’s post about Market lunch spots on March 8 this year, and the Where Are You From post by Laura Killoran of Croshay Design. And the recent tearjerker about How the Market Brings People Together by Kristeena and Ron Sabando of Sabando Design was widely read and shared.

We do a new post weekly and there is much, much more to say, so stick around, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page. Thanks!

Emma Roscoe, Red Delicious Bags

So – We’re going to have to work around the squid

Little did Ben Franz-Knight know the kind of decisions he would face when he took on the job of director of the PDA midway into our 3 year market renovation project.

Work moved forward. Scaffolding needed to be put into place. A beautiful glass elevator was being built. Squid, 200 pounds, 26 feet long and hanging 30 feet in the air of the Pike Place Market Atrium, needed a new home. Squid was in the way. Months of searching. How about the Seattle Aquarium? Nope. It’s an artists rendition and not anatomically correct.  The aquarium doesn’t want it. Now what?  Word goes out – Squid stays. We’re going to have to work around the squid.  Scaffolding was raised coming within inches of the unique and beloved sculpture.  Squid was safe. The Atrium renovation work and the elevator were completed under its watchful gaze.  Just one story of many in this latest market renovation.

And now – work is nearly completed on this well managed project. “Renovation News and Updates” – May 2012 – FINAL ISSUE !  Yes.  A sigh of relief is heard throughout the market.

Thursday, May 10, was set aside as a day for the PDA to say Thank You ! to the market community “in recognition for our patience and perseverance during construction and disruption”.  A buffet breakfast was provided and we sat together around festive tables.  Later in the day we gathered for hors d’oeuvres and cake in the Atrium. Squid overhead.  Fare Start was chosen for the evening catering.  Their chef walked through the market and was inspired by and created the tasty nibbles from the produce and fish he saw there. Why go any further than the bounty the market provides?

The cake was created by Sugar Rush Baking Company and the design spoke volumes. Pipes. The inner workings of the market. Designed by David Dickinson, Market Master Staff member, and a thoughtful choice for a cake commemorating a nuts and bolts renovation process.  Much of the work lies unseen under the “skin” of the market.

Commemorative brass pins were offered in 4 designs. My favorite – the squid.  Speeches were given. Thank you to the PDA council, The Market Constituency and Nick Licata to name just a few.  Would it be too forward to call Mr. Licata – Uncle Nick?  He is an ever present advocate for the market and through the market all of our small businesses.

Thank you Ben and PDA staff  for seeing us through.  Thank you to the contractors for coming in on time and budget.  Thank you to the construction workers who stopped at our tables and made purchases while on their lunch or on their way home.  You’re part of the market now. Don’t be strangers.

- Kat Allen, Symbols in Art

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Busking with Howlin’ Hobbit

Howlin’ Hobbit on the Desimone Bridge

Seattle is well known for its contributions to the American music scene, from Jimi Hendrix to garage rock to Sir Mix-A-Lot to grunge, and Pike Place Market is also humming with the sounds of the Northwest via our thriving community of buskers.  What, you may ask, is a busker?  Busking is the art of street performance, often music but also magic shows, mime, performance art, spoken word, juggling and dance.  Most of the Market’s buskers also perform in local clubs, tour regionally with bands and some have even gone on to popular stardom, such as Brandi Carlisle who got her start performing at the Market before she was old enough to play in bars and clubs.  Artis the Spoonman has been a Market fixture for decades and rose to worldwide fame through the Soundgarden song “Spoonman.”

One can’t just pick up a guitar, put out an upturned hat for tips and start strumming and singing on any corner at the Market.  Buskers must apply for and purchase a yearly busking license from the Pike Place Market PDA.  Over a dozen spaces that are zoned for busking are marked with a big red musical note painted on the concrete along with a number inside the note that indicates how many performers in a group are permitted in that space.  Amplified music and percussion along with certain types of instruments or performances are not allowed for reasons of noise and public safety.  No fire spinning or chainsaw juggling or adult language please!  Buskers are given one hour each for their show and line up early in the day to stake their claim for a specific time slot in the space of their choice.  Their pay is completely reliant on tips from the public and, for some, CD and merchandise sales.

One of the most illustrious buskers currently performing at the Market is a diminutive fellow with a jaunty mustache, a collection of handsome fezzes and a fabulous facility with the ukulele who goes by the intriguing sobriquet of Howlin’ Hobbit.  On a break between sets at his favorite busking spot on the front of the Desimone Bridge, Hobbit sat down with me to answer a few nosy questions about his life as a Market musician.

Now in his 28th (!) season performing at the Market, Hobbit started out at ol’ Pikey with a magic act that has evolved over time into playing the blues and, currently, he plays several ukeleles and the harmonica and sings, mostly jazz and popular standards from yesteryear.  Hobbit has a great affinity for the Weimar Berlin period between the two world wars and his style, both in fashion and song, reflects that.  He’s got a pleasantly raspy voice that sounds like it would be right at home in a smoky basement jazz club somewhere in New Orleans and is a versatile instrumentalist who counts not only the ukelele, harmonica and guitar in his arsenal but also plays piano, pocket sax, flute, bass and percussion.  When not busking solo at Pike Place, Hobbit performs with his band Snake Suspenderz at local clubs, festivals and other farmers markets around the Seattle area. They’ve performed at the Pike Place Buskers Festival, at the CanCan club in the Market, the famous Moisture Festival and even at Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony.  Hobbit has also graced a number of burlesque stages in the area, another art form Seattle is known for.

I asked Hobbit what he’d consider his most memorable busking moments.  He replied that seeing Billy Gibbons, guitar god of ZZ Top, give him a nod of approval from the crowd during a blues set at the Market was a real high point. He’s also spotted Gregory Hines grooving to his music while leaning against a pillar under the Market clock. Hobbit briefly considered calling out, “hey, this act could use a hoofer!” but thought the better of it, preferring to give the legendary dancer and actor his privacy.  When asked if he had any words of wisdom about the world of busking he’d like to share in this post, he replied, without missing a beat, “Busking is not for wimps!  And tipping for photos and videos is de rigueur!”  Having only experienced the world of busking from the sidelines of the crafts tables, I would definitely have to concur.

If you’d like to hear some of Howlin’ Hobbit and his band Snake Suspenderz’s music, visit his website at www.howlinhobbit.com  He’s got videos online and CDs for purchase.  He’s also always available for gigs!

by Lynn Rosskamp

www.pingihats.com

How the Market Brings People Together

Alyssa and her mom Karla

Every day we get the opportunity to set up and sell in the Pike Place Market. The market is such a unique place, where we get access to so many people coming and going. Some of our customers live in Seattle and others are just passing through.  People come to Seattle for  business, family, medical treatment and some just on a whim. One thing most have in common is that they have to come to the worlds famous Pike Place Market.

We have sold jewelry for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and we have met some amazing people over the years.  But I never thought that making and selling our jewelry could have overwhelming impact on anyone’s life but I was wrong.

What is in a ring? A pretty gem stone some shiny silver put together in a way we think is unique.  But one day a beautiful lady walked up to our table and picked up a ring and tried it on. We had a pleasant conversation and she walked off with her daughter.  A little while later her husband came back and bought the ring for his wife telling us that she never buys any jewelry for herself and fell in love with the ring. He had thanked us for being nice to his wife because she was in town for cancer treatment . She looked frail but had such a light about her as she went about browsing.

The next day we got an email from her husband thanking us again for the beautiful ring and our interaction with his wife and family. We were touched by the email and thankful that we could make someone happy.  A few months passed and we received another email early in the AM from her daughter, letting us know that her mother had passed away. Before she died she gave the ring to her daughter to wear as a memento.  She thanked us again for the ring and our conversation.  Every time I think about this family I cry and think about the profound impact a ring and a simple kind conversation can have on people.

We are fortunate to meet so many people with happy and sad stories. They all have an impact on our life as we have an impact on there’s.

We think about that day all the time and I had asked Alyssa if I could tell you this story. She told me that today is the one year anniversary of her mom Karla’s funeral and she would like me to share our story with you. This is a beautiful family and we are fortunate to call them friends now!

By Kristeena and Ron Sabando: Sabando Design

Hello visitors!

We welcome about 10 million visitors a year at Pike Place Market, many of them from other cities, states and countries. The Market is world famous and a must-see for anyone coming to Seattle.

Most people have heard about the fish-throwers, the original Starbucks, and the gum wall. But there’s so much more to experience.

So we were thrilled to read the Market’s write-up in the 2012 Washington State Visitors’ Guide, in which writer Rebekah Denn gives great pointers to other highlights – and shout-outs to several Pike Place Producers member businesses and supporters, including our friends the buskers.

Check out page 51 for mentions of Seattle Rainwater Soap, Croshay Design and Red Delicious Bags, plus the popular Market Ghost Tour. We hope this helps to bring lots of shoppers for the whole of the crafts daystalls and the rest of the Market in 2012.

The guide is a great resource for locals and visitors alike. You can see the whole guide online here, or go to the Experience Washington website to order copies.

by Emma Roscoe, Red Delicious Bags

Night Operations

It is 9:00 pm on a weekend night. The hustle and the bustle is over for the day. People wander down Pike Place on their way to the many restaurants and bars in the Market. Women in high heels teeter along the cobblestones. Valets in red coats are parking cars along the street and music is wafting out on First Avenue from the Can-Can. A single cut flower lays on a metal farm table. In the Market arcades, hoses are out & maintenance crews are cleaning the tiled floors.

The Market takes on a whole different feeling at night. The architecture is exposed, the arcades are bare expect for the sheen of water that glistens under the lights as maintenance crews work. There are 20 people working for the Market PDA at night; security and maintenance crews. The Market is cleaned every night. Security not only protects the people in the Market at night but also the 400+ residents that live in the district. The night operations are an integral part of the Market’s existence.

It takes many people to preserve and create the majesty of it all. Mike Downing, who heads night operations for the PDA said “for me the feeling about working at night is getting through the night and getting the Market ready for the next day.” Mike is a former security guard for the Market and has spent the last eight years working in the district. He does have to deal with emergencies, whether they are with the residents or the operations of the Market. “Usually it is pretty quite unless something happens; like a security problem, an issue with a resident or a fire alarm, water leak or some other emergency.”

It is an odd feeling at the end of the day when things start to close. The transition is stark. It’s also beautiful. If you find yourself there at 9:00 on the weekend take a moment to just stand in the empty arcades and look up at the bare light bulbs, the neon and the signage. Close your eyes and imagine the history of the place. You can almost smell the remnants of the day; a bit of fish, cut flowers, gasoline from exhaust, wood shavings from the crafts line, and the water from the hoses.

~ Mercedes Carrabba, Market Ghost Tour

Say cheese!

Many vendors at Pike Place have virtual daystalls in the form of websites to augment our presence at  the Market. Taking great product photos is one of the many skills that one picks up when building a website.  For my hats and hoodies, showing them off to their best advantage requires the use of great model shots so that buyers can see the fit of the clothing and imagine how cute they’d look wearing it.  Lucky for me, my fellow members of the crafts community are super cute camera hams and are very easy to bribe with snacks and free hats!

Here’s a sampling of shots I’ve taken over the past few months, from blooper reel outtakes, to cute candid shots, to the final polished images that viewers see on my website.  As you can probably guess, taking the photos is one of the most fun parts of my job and, I like to hope, a lot of fun for my models!

Our awesome photo set-up, courtesy of photographer Kelsey Kruger, who took almost all of the hoodie photos on my site.  She was absolutely fabulous to work with and I’d recommend her help to anyone in the Portland area.  Since she’s a friend, she was kind enough to travel up to Seattle to help out.

A deeply cheesy outtake of Becky Boutch of Seattle Rainwater Soap and yours truly as Unicorn vs. Bat!  They are natural enemies, you know!

A much more composed Becky, looking lovely in our kitty hoodie.  The background was removed and color correction was done using Photoshop so that the final photo looks exactly like what the customer will receive when they place an order with us.

For our baby hats, I selected the cutest little model I could find: young Finnegan, son of the lovely Tristen Warner, a professional model and a craftsperson as well.  We decided these shots would not only be awesome product pictures but also great ammo for prom night about 15 years from now!

This was, by far, my favorite outtake from this photo shoot! Finni makes one adorable raging rainbow unicorn!

Finni in a final image for the website.  He’s one handsome sock monkey – definitely giving us “Blue Steel” in this shot!

Fellow Pike Place Producer, Ron Sabando of Sabando Designs, giving me his best scary troll face at the Market.

And his lovely wife and fellow Pike Place jeweler, Kristeena Sabando, gives me fierce red panda on the Desimone Bridge.

And here’s a teaser photo I posted to the PingiHats Facebook page when I created the latest version of my moose hat.  Even a quickie iPhone photo can capture great images for promoting one’s work.

Thanks for checking out my little family album and please feel free to share any pics you’ve taken of yourself or your friends and family wearing Pingi hats on our Facebook page.  I LOVE getting photos of my hats out in the wild, being loved by their owners.

Lynn Rosskamp

www.PingiHats.com

Finding Om at Pike Place Market

OM Prayer. From the Heart Pottery, Shari Druckman

It’s always NOW. Buddha with OM Clock – Paper Scissors Rock, Pam Corwin

OM on a T. Das and Das Handmade Batik, Fran and Arun Das

OM on the wings of a Dragonfly. From the Heart Pottery, Shari Druckman

OM for the ears. Hammering Girl, Kathy Henning

OM on art tile. Symbols in Art, Jeff and Kat Allen

OM in Leather. Hammering Girl, Kathy Henning

OM in Bees Wax. Long Life Candles, Deena and Talbot

OM on Donna Rae. Striking her best OM pose – Donna Rae Davidson

OM in Wood. Tensing Momo

Visual Vibration of OM. Jon Strongbow, The one. The only.

An Easter OM. Pacific Cats, Carol Wolf

OM on a Pendant. Tensing Momo

OM on a Bag. Lungu Gifts and Antiques

OM on a Chakra Chart. Tensing Momo

COEXIST OM on a T. Thomas Graham

May I take a picture of your OM jacket? “What’s an OM?”

Thank you to the artisans and brick and mortar businesses of Pike Place Market who helped me to find OM this week. OM at Pike Place Market. A special thank you to the bemused visitor whom I asked to take a picture of. In a jacket. With many OMs.  Namaste. Kat Allen – Symbols in Art

Links to their web sites:
Das and Das Handmade Batik :  Fran and Arun Das – Artists on the craft line at Pike Place Market

From the Heart Pottery:  Shari Druckman – Artist on the craft line at Pike Place Market

Thomas Graham : Artist on the craft line at Pike Place Market

Hammering Girl :  Kathy Henning – Artist on the craft line at Pike Place Market

Jon Strongbow :  – Jon Strongbow – Artist on the craft line at Pike Place Market

Lungu Gifts and Antiques : Market Brick and Mortar

Pacific Cats : Carol Wolf – Artist on the craft line at Pike Place Market

Paper Scissors Rock :   – Pam Corwin – Artist on the craft line at Pike Place Market

Symbols in Art :  Jeff and Kat Allen – Artists on the craft line at Pike Place Market

Tensing Momo : Market Brick and Mortar

Om Sweet Om

Om - That energy that resonates through everything and everyone.

“Symbols in Art”. That’s who we are. What we make. Art tiles reflecting Christian, Judaic, Buddhist, Islamic and Hindu images. Researching heavily before beginning our drawing – the first step of any new piece. Some of our art tile designs are easily recognizable. Others more obscure. “Pick it up and take a look” I say to the curious. “They have a label on the back describing the image”.

“What is this symbol?” a visitor asks. I explain that it’s said to be the first sound of the universe or some people refer to it as the yoga symbol.  Aaahh – whoo – umm-  Once I sound out the syllable, the person instantly recognizes it but still knows little of its origin or meaning. It is written in Sanskrit, the classical language of Hinduism. Sanskrit – The oldest language in the world.

The label on the back of our “Om” art tile reads simply::
Charged with religious energy, this most sacred of Sanskrit syllables is often articulated at beginning and end of recitations and prayers. Early noted evidence of AUM (Om) use occurs in the Hindu text Rgveda, and dates in practice to at least 1200 BCE.

An utterance evoking peace and meditation.  Ahh-whoo-ummm-  ending with a humming sound and then silence.  The silence is important and counts as the fourth sound of the syllable.  It is necessary to be aware of stillness.  The focus is on the vibration and then the silence and stillness between the chants of ahh-who-ummm.

The Om, in Hindu belief, is in use daily. Hindus begin their day, work or any journey by uttering and chanting Om.  In some cases a newborn child is washed, then the sacred syllable is written on their tongue in honey. It is not a word but rather an intonation and like music, with proper intonation, can resonate throughout the body so that the sound penetrates to the center of one’s being. The past, present and future are all included in this one sound.

This is certainly a “nutshell” version of what Om is. The depth and breadth of this syllable is awe inspiring and will take a great deal of meditation to more deeply understand and to feel even a portion of the power that it contains.

A young child bought our Om art tile as a birthday gift for his mother who was turning 35. I can now hardly look at the Sanskrit writing of the Om without seeing the 35 that the child saw.

“Om is where the heart is.” – Kat Allen ~ Symbols in Art -
Art Tiles available on line or at our table at Pike Place Market.

Dog Friendly Pike Place Market

At Pike Place Market all dogs are welcome to bring their well mannered owners to come and shop.

We are all busy with work, friends and family so it is nice to be able to spend some time with our four-legged friends. With a limited number of hours in the day and so many tasks at hand with shopping for groceries and that special gift needed, our best friends tend to spend more time alone at home than with us. So it is nice to be able to have a place where you can do it all with your best friend at your side.

Along with shopping for everything you need the Market has some special things just for your four-legged companions.

Adventure Days Dog Treats, by Melody Price,  is your source for locally made, all natural, hand crafted dog treats and rope toys. They are most delicious dog treats made with human grade ingredients so you know you are giving your dog the best!

As a vendor on the craft line it is always nice to see the happy dog faces as they stroll along the North Arcade So the next time you need to get a special hand crafted gift for yourself or a friend or want to pick up some fresh produce don’t forget to bring along your very best friend.

Check out some of our four-legged market friends:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

by Kristeena and Ron Sabando, Sabando Design