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Born on Oct. 28, Danielle Martini has always felt a special connection to Halloween. She described herself as a “Halloween baby” and said her love for the images and colors associated with the holiday has helped inspire her work as an artist.

“A lot of my drawings are Halloween-themed. I love the vibes,” Martini said. “I love dressing up, doing the makeup and getting creative with making your own costumes.”

On Saturday, Martini was one of many local artists and vendors who brought their work to Johnson Park for the Halloween Bazaar. Put on by The Cozmic Cauldron, the fair was a showcase of local central New York creativity set against the backdrop of the Halloween season. Visitors were greeted with fake spider webs, jack-o’-lanterns and candy as the music of Sheb Wooley and Bobby Pickett echoed throughout the park.

Martini presented works from her business Danielle Marie Art. She uses a mix of watercolor and ink for her designs, which helps give them a unique texture that she said adds to the hazy atmosphere of the season.

Halloween is such a unique time for art because of all the different motifs they have the ability to work with, Martini said. With vampires, werewolves or ghosts, there are many different ways to present love for Halloween, she added.

Martini said her friends always call on her to take their costumes to the next level. She utilizes her skills as a painter to use face paint and make a typical costume more detailed and interesting. Some of her past costumes have become staples in her Halloween rotation year after year.

“My favorite one that I do is Coraline. I have this yellow raincoat that I wear every year and that’s my favorite costume. I repeat that one a lot,” Martini said.

While Martini’s paintings are a more traditional way to express an artist’s love for Halloween, some newer styles were on display as well.

Cindy Zhang | Digital Design Director

Tony Blair runs Raditive Prints, a 3D printing shop where he designs, creates and sells models that are based on many different types of creatures. For his Halloween designs, Blair made several different sizes of skulls, skeletons and jack-o’-lanterns that hold candles.

Blair enjoys being able to come to community events and show people the artistic style of 3D printing. There is real creativity in the art form and he hopes that people can become as obsessed with it as him, he said.

“3D printing is a passion of mine. I get to talk to people and introduce them to something they may have never seen before,” Blair said. “It’s something that I find super, super interesting. So I could talk about it for days.”

While Martini and Blair are professional artists, there were several amateur artists who brought their hobbies to the community.

Francesca Geremia sews blankets and pillows with designs inspired by “all sorts of spooky stuff.” She picked up sewing during the pandemic and said she was happy to finally be able to present her work to a public audience.

Geremia said her favorite part of Halloween growing up was seeing all the homemade crafts people used to decorate their garages or houses. That love of the handmade side of Halloween helped inspire the work that she brought to the Bazaar.

As a newer artist, Geremia said she appreciated the community aspect of the Bazaar and loved to learn from the other artists in attendance. She was very happy to spread the Halloween spirit with members of her community.

“Seeing everything decorated in the fun patterns, it just feels nostalgic and it just makes me happy,” Geremia said. “I think fall can be a depressing time for some so it brings a little bit of cheer.”

Published on October 15, 2023 at 8:07 pm