Art + heat + gawkers = The Big Crafty, the indie-craft bazaar held on this year’s sweltering July 12 in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. What a crush of people it was! Local and regional indie artists showed and sold work made from unusual materials (much upcycled and vintage, to be sure) that often trafficed in non-traditional subject matter. (A set of 8 coasters made from vintage ads for mustache wax and testicle cookery best represents one end of the content spectrum.)

My top favorite local exhibitor had to have been Penland Resident Artist Margaret Couch Cogswell. Her haunting-quirky stitching, sculpture, and drawings just grab me every time. I feel like I’d know her work almost anywhere but can’t quite spring for one of her lovely paper maché animals, handmade books, or an elegant hand-crafted crown. So I bought a t-shirt instead.

Margaret shared a table with Jessie Brinkley, her graphic-designer sister. I scored a 2009 fine-print, loose-leaf calendar that shows both their work. Jessie’s animal-inspired drawings and prints are at their Two Sisters site. This image will be the cover of their 2010 calendar; the new, larger format promises frame-worthy pages to come.

Audrey Muldoon’s quiet jewelry pieces seem like notes from an intriguingly tiny world. I already own one of her necklaces, not learning until this show that the design is but one in her Bambi series. I like Audrey’s way with minimalism.

There aren’t many ceramists I’d call “postmodern” working here in Asheville, land of wood-fired kilns, but R.L. VanValkenburgh’s faintly disturbing mashups of mass-market tchotchkes are just what this gal loves. I caressed a dark luster-glazed pastiche with the head of a poodle and a birdy body. Reasonably priced, to be sure, but after some rapid checkbook math I reluctantly moved on. I could always check out her Etsy site or the studio over on Haywood Road—but I spotted a piece from last year’s Crafty on the shelf at pal Nathalie’s house last night, so that’s the shot you see here.

I, um, fondled a miniature deer-toy sculpted in felt—complete with intricate antlers—for the longest time. Joti Marra stitches these small pieces for reasons obscure, but I wish I had one of these little marvels anyway. Her Etsy-site photos don’t do justice, I can tell you, but their oddness seems to add to Joti’s off-center brand of charm. To see one of these little pieces in the flesh makes me want to collect indie art in a serious way.

Lance Wille, drummer for The Reigning Sound, spun vinyl on the museum’s lower level. As soon as the music started up, the hot, tight crowd had a better reason for putting up with being so damn uncomfortable (the air conditioning had a tough time keeping up).

More about other Big Crafty artists next week.