It was a snowy Sunday afternoon in mid-December of 2013. I had slept to an uncomfortably late hour, and the daylight was already dimming as it does this time of year. Feeling pretty unproductive and a little grumpy, I decided to check out an art fair I had seen listed in the Ann Arbor Observer--an afternoon affair at the Wolverine State Brewing Co. on Stadium Boulevard.
While this indie art fair was not exactly what I had expected, I can't help but think that it was fate that got me there. Truthfully, I had consumed a couple too many adult beverages the night before (a "holiday celebration" of sorts) and the smell of beer at said venue did not have an allure that it may have had otherwise. Somehow, however, I ended up taking my time and winding my way to the back of the building where The Home Ground had set up shop.
The Home Ground's table was beautiful--incredible stones made up handcrafted jewelry, natural soaps were wrapped in twine and smelled of lavender. Behind this table sat a mittened-Brittany Campbell: Michigan artist, sole curator of The Home Ground--a woman that I can now call my favorite lady friend in this state.
In the year that I have known Brittany, I have been increasingly inspired by her. She is the definition of an artist as she puts her craft above all else. Multi-talented, Brittany manages to continually create handmade jewelry from natural elements, spin and dye wool once-belonging to nearby alpaca, and develop skill behind a loom--all while solely running a beautifully-curated web shop featuring artists with like minds.
I truly believe that Brittany Campbell is a one-of-a-kind Ann Arbor artist, and I am excited to have been able to sit with her over coffee on Saturday mornings to gather all of the beautiful morsels that make The Home Ground what it is.
I started HG in the fall of 2013, officially. I had graduated from college that May and spent the summer working at Starbucks and bringing this idea into fruition. I felt that (the name) The Home Ground carried itself well and allowed for any number or iterations to happen in the future.
I feel like I've matured a bit more in my vision, knowing what I want things to look like, where I want to head in the future, understanding my unique perspective. I still think I have a lot of maturing to do! Carrying other artists' work has been my biggest leap thus far.
I have plans for bringing more artists into the shop--paper goods and more apothecary items will be on tap pretty soon! I'm also starting to work on introducing a small line of textile goods, which will be my first return to the world of textiles since I graduated from college in 2010. I'm excited and apprehensive--which I'm beginning to understand is a universal truth of being an artist--that fear of not showing up enough or making good enough work.
It's always been a dream of mine to someday bring HG into the physical world with a brick and mortar shop. My mom opened up a bead and jewelry supply store in downtown Grand Haven, Michigan when I was in high school and she has been inspiring me ever since. Part of my dream is to have a good friend or business partner open a cafe right next door--an interior doorway between the spaces. What perfection!
Simplicity is key. Seeing the hand of the artist, or at least understanding right away that the piece was made by hand, is probably the most important. I love seeing the carving marks in the spoons by Anvil Goods, and the hand beveled edges of Roots Soap Co's bars. When I look back on my childhood, I remember playing a lot of dress up with my two sisters and caring about the way in which I expressed myself in the clothing I chose. My mom is an artist and jewelry was always something on her burner, so we were always doing crafts. I've always been intrigued by cultural adornments around the world.
The idea of jewelry as self-expression, a cultural marker, a talisman, part of a ritual. Everything I make carries a central theme of honest materials...no synthetics, simplicity in design, and nature as inspiration. All of my jewelry collections so far have been inspired by some facet of nature, whether it's human interactions with nature, the arctic, a lush greenhouse, the Michigan coastline, or ancient thoughts on femininity and the natural world.
The ceramics I am currently carrying are created by artist Audrey Long. I met Audrey in college and she now runs a studio and class space in addition to making her own work. Anna Cools is the maker behind Roots Soap Co. She makes each bar by hand, harvests her own rainwater and even grows some of the herbs that she uses in her soap. Anvil Goods is Will and Megan of Grand Rapids, MI and are one of those couples who are both amazing artists and humans. Megan also runs a co-op restaurant called Bartertown.
Megan Boltz is the artist behind the photo prints grace my shop - I met Megan in college, also, and have always been captured by her work. Each print is like a meditation for me. I'm about to bring Worthwhile Paper/Warpaint Studio into HG, which are two brands by fiancé team Kristen and Steve. Their work is a refreshing mixture of wit, celestial inspiration and beautiful silkscreened printing.
I feel like I'm kind of trapped in between two stereotypes of the handmade world: the young artist who throws caution to the wind and the thirty or forty-something who is established enough to quit their career and find fulfillment in their shop. My husband and I have chosen a path that leans very much toward domesticity and trying to establish a sense of adulthood; we're just about to close on our second house, we both have day jobs that take a lot out of us. We pretty much abandoned the young and free outlook when we graduated college. We're more of the dig deep roots type.
It's hard to work on growing as an artist and a side-entrepreneur. I love the life that we've built and am so grateful to be where we are. That being said, it is difficult to find inspiration most days. My current challenge is to figure out how to make it conducive enough until I'm in a situation where I can start shaving time from my day job and giving more to my art and shop.
Eric (my husband) and I bought our first house here in Ann Arbor a couple of years ago. I'm not a city girl, and we came from Plymouth (a smaller town), so it was kind of hard adjusting to bigger-city life while not having very many contacts. Now that we've put roots down with some local friends and are moving to a farmhouse in the woods, I feel like my relationship with Ann Arbor is changing...for the good. I'm excited to have the balance of living in the country while having access to all of the amazing things that Ann Arbor has to offer.
My observation after being here for two and a half years is that Ann Arbor is unequivocally an art town. However, I kind of feel like our generation hasn't yet claimed their space. I'm eager to see more of us rise to the occasion that is Ann Arbor, really put our artistic roots down, form more of a solid community, and start claiming our space. Maybe that's just what I need to do and I haven't found the community yet! It's a pretty inspiring place to be right now, and I'm really happy that I get to be part of the next wave of new artists and makers.
Brittany Campbell's work can be found at the Ann Arbor Art Center on Liberty Street and at the Cartolina retail shop in Nelson, British Columbia.
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