Funky Ferndale Art, DIY Street fairs pack downtown with visitors

FERNDALE — Downtown Ferndale was packed with visitors the weekend of Sept. 20-22 for the Funky Ferndale Art Fair and DIY Street Fair.

The Funky Ferndale Art Fair took over a large part of West Nine Mile Road with various vendors and shops selling arts and trinkets.

Megan “Maude” Litts brought her shop, Maude Studios, to the fair for the second time. She has been selling her art professionally for over a decade

Litts’ art is in the style of what she described as “modern impressionism” with a bit of vaporware. She’s made paintings in this style of animals, mushrooms, fairies and video game controllers.

Litts said she fell in love with this art style, as it gave her a feeling of nostalgia for her childhood.

“It was really hard for me to pinpoint for a while where I was getting these colors and these vibes from,” she said. “Then my husband and I were sitting at a bar up in Grand Rapids, and they were playing old ’90s cartoons, and the colors from the cartoons and some of the themes, not even just in the cartoons but in the commercials from old Cartoon Network and old Nickelodeon, I was looking at them like, ‘Oh my gosh, I paint this stuff all the time.’ I get it now. That’s where it’s all coming from. So a lot of my work, people look at it and think it’s made for kids, but I think it’s really made for adults, but for your inner child.”

Participating in art fairs is Litts’ full-time job and her time at this year’s Funky Ferndale Art Fair had been successful.

“Last year when I came, I had no idea what to expect, but it’s a very good show for me, so I’ll be coming to it every year,” she said. “(This) 1,000% is the way I pay my bills, is coming out to the art fairs. It’s one way I get my art in the hands of people, one of the best ways I have. And as far as getting my name out there, sometimes online it feels impossible. You know, it seems like you put your head up amongst the crowd, but here people physically can see your work in person. I think it has a different impact.”

On the opposite side of Woodward Avenue, the DIY Street Fair parked itself on East Nine Mile Road and portions of nearby city parking lots.

The DIY Street Fair housed various vendors selling art in forms including unique movie posters, Detroit-branded clothing and, in the case of Annie Johnson, hand-knitted items.

Johnson is the owner of the Knitted Home, where she makes knitted and crocheted headbands, beanies, scarves, mittens, pumpkins, hats and more.

“I also started doing kits where it’s all-inclusive kits,” she said. “So it comes with the knitting needles, the crochet hook, the yarn, the stitch markers, the pattern. And I’m slowly working on video tutorials.”

Johnson even took time to knit while working at her stand. It takes her around 90 minutes to make one of her knitted items. This was her third year participating at DIY, and she said this has been one of her best years at the fair.

“I really like the different people,” she said. “I get to meet a lot of people, and I learn a lot. Like, I actually had two different people come in to tell me they also grow loofahs. So it’s really fun to share information about how to grow them and stuff like that. I’ve met a lot of knitters and crocheters and we’ll swap stories or tips and tricks.”