Mari Sheairs makes Edgar Allen Poe art pieces
Sheairs husband has a head for business.
The head of Edgar Allan Poe, that is.
"I've always just really liked Poe," Mari said.
The artist of Pittsgrove, which Edgar Allen Poe busts, entered the business of Poe, after a trip to the home of the writer in Philadelphia. While there, Mari and her husband, Bob, noticed that something was missing in the shop Historic Site.
There was no bust of the writer sold there.
“They didn’t have anything like this,” said Mari, pointing to a collection of Poehead busts she was selling at the Collingswood Book Festival a few weeks ago.
And for Mari, it seemed like a natural idea. Something that visitors to the home of the author known for his macabre tales and poems would want to take home as a souvenir.
So she got to work. Sketching, then sculpting Poe’s head in the studio inside her home.
The busts are made out of a material called Tuf-Stone, which is “sturdier than plaster,” Bob said. It’s a casting material made for giftware products like the ones Mari makes.
Entrepreneur sees early success
Today, the 25-year-old Yellowknifer's designs have brand-recognition, and her new graphic design and custom printing company Erasmus Apparel is booming, with new corporate clients every week.
"It kind of started from me loving t-shirts and wanting to come up with funky designs to doing other stuff as well to keep me busy," Erasmus said of her catapult into corporate sales. "I have the machine to put out my own stuff, why not do corporate company stuff as well?"
The recent SAIT Polytechnic graduate's Yellowknife-inspired t-shirts and hoodies, including her most popular Giant Mine design began garnering attention when she started selling them at different events, including Folk on the Rocks, where Erasmus Apparel sold more than 200 items.
She paints as well as sculpts and is looking into making T-shirts next. She would also like to make Poe mugs. She takes classes at the Clay College in Millville with this goal in mind. And she would really like to try her hand at Poe-inspired food,
Just last year, Sarah Erasmus was selling her original design t-shirts out of her car. Erasmus Apparel founder Sarah Erasmus stands inside the graphic design and custom printing company's workshop on Monday. - Thandie Vela/NNSL photo Today,
