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By Lisa Howard

MANY PEOPLE DREAM ABOUT MAKING A LIVING AS AN ARTIST, but Michelle Ouellette and Chad Thompson know exactly what it’s like. They created their animation studio, Yeah Haus, back in 2013 and have been artist-ing ever since.

“We thought, ‘We’ll just do this until we run out of jobs.’ And we still have jobs,” says Michelle. She and Chad were both working at ad agencies but wanted to forge their own path that would allow them to earn income as creatives and pursue their own artistic projects. “I’m most proud of our short films because you can watch them years later and they hold up,” Chad says. “They aren’t based on trends the way commercial work is.” Besides, purely personal projects are a chance to go outside of their usual lanes and learn something new.

Of course, building a successful small business – especially a creative studio takes time and determination. As Michelle and Chad point out, it’s easy to look at a finished product like a film or a book and not see all of the work that went into creating it. And it is work, even when it’s driven by passion and even when you can be choosy about who you work with. “I think a lot of being a creative comes down to how to not talk yourself out of continuing,” Chad says.

FORTUNATELY, HE AND MICHELLE HAVE ESTABLISHED A SOLID ROSTER of clients and also a go-to list of partners they can call whenever they need to work with a collaborator. In many cases, those clients and collaborators go back years. Likewise, Michelle and Chad are not only business partners but have been married for ten years, with two kids under the age of six. They know the nuances of how to best balance their personal and professional lives.

Michelle is the illustrator; in her previous life at the ad agency, she worked as a designer and 3D artist. Chad is the creative director. In BYH times (Before Yeah Haus), he worked in post-production doing motion graphics and editing.

Together, they’ve created mixed media projects, 2D and 3D animations, a swath of commercial works, and their own short films. “I love to draw! That’s all I want to do,” Michelle says. “If I can’t ever draw for myself, then what’s the point?” Chad agrees — every artist, he says, has “back-burner stuff,” the kind of projects that keep the fires of creativity burning bright. That’s why they purposely leave some space in their schedules to accommodate their filmmaking.

ONE OF THEIR SHORTS MADE IT INTO A FILM FESTIVAL IN CANNES! (Yes, they were able to see it screened live.) They count that along with their work for Adult Swim, Disney, and various LA film festivals as some of the highlights of their joint career.

Their tidy studio includes an audio room with all the tools Chad needs to do his sound design and editing while Michelle is busily sketching and illustrating in the adjoining room. They also tackle soundtracks – not only is Chad a musician, his brother was a touring musician and joins in the music-making.

Living in an inherently creative community like Ferndale also helps. “It’s easy to find a wizard guitarist on the other side of Woodward who’ll come over to record,” Chad says. But at the end of the day, what they treasure most is being able to collaborate and create with friendly, talented, and reciprocal partners. “It’s important to us that when we finish something, people are happy,” Michelle says. “We’ve found our little niche and we’re not stopping.”

https://yeahhaus.com | 248.835.0153 | hello@yeahhaus.com

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By Kerry Lark

Trevor Johnson

TREVOR JOHNSON, THE FOUNDER OF NEW DAWN GARDENSCAPES LLC., is an energetic fellow with a genuine passion for plants and our planet, and a true educator at heart! His green industry education and experience is impressive and diverse, including:

• Student Teacher and Farmer at MSU’s Student Organic Farm 2003-2007

• Owner/Operator of New Dawn Gardenscapes LLC since 2006

• Awarded a Permaculture Design Certificate in 2006

• Earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Horticulture from Michigan State University in 2007

• Resident Farmer and Manager at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital since 2014

• Oakland County Food Policy Council Member since 2014

• Earning a Masters of Public Health Degree from Oakland University in 2022

What is permaculture? The word comes from combining “permanent” and “agriculture.” It is credited to Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, two educators who observed how the unsustainable methods employed by modern industrialized humans were destroying our planet. They became inspired by studying how our indigenous ancestors lived in better harmony with the earth and climate around them, so they published their ground-breaking book, Permaculture One in 1978. According to Mr. Mollison; “Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature.”

The philosophy describes an approach of creating better designs for us to manage our land and resources, designs based on mimicking the successful ecosystems currently existing in nature. It starts with observing and understanding what makes nature succeed and then uses this knowledge as a template to implement a better way for humans to co-exist with the earth.

Permaculture doesn’t focus only on how human actions affect local air, water soil, animals and plants. Rather, it includes the effects our actions will have on ecosystems far away. Practitioners of permaculture call this “whole system thinking.”

Like all great ideas, permaculture has evolved and expanded drastically in the last 44 years, far beyond its rural roots to now including urban areas. It is urban areas that Trevor is focused on, using permacuture as his guide to improve the overall public health in local communities. Trevor embraces the importance of re-attaching the lost connections between people and plants, and the positive effect this has on human health.

We know that modern mega-farms waste precious non-renewable resources such as soil, water, minerals and nutrients. The short-term pain of the current high food prices and food shortages highlights this fact, but this is small potatoes compared to the long-term damage these negative practices are doing to the planet.

We can all help to restore our ecosystems, producing sustainable, self-reliant communities. Doing this will give future generations a better world, one that values and preserves its resources. The great Chief Seattle summed it up best long ago, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR A “NEW DAWN” AND A FRESH START FOR OUR PLANET. Sure, our local governments can help, but what are you going to do?

While you ponder that, keep in mind what Albert Einstein once said; “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything!”

To learn more about how permaculture can make a difference in your community, check out www.newdawngardens.org.

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By Lisa Howard

BEING FASHIONABLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN VOGUE. But with the advent of fast fashion, being fashionable unfortunately also sometimes means being unfriendly to the environment. Jess Minnick and Dy-man Johnson, cofounders of Not Sorry Goods, aim to change that.

“We have a big emphasis on using recycled materials,” says Jess. “We remix them and put our own twist on them. Sometimes we use an item for parts or sometimes we make something completely new with those materials. Creating zero-waste fashion really forces us to be creative and push ourselves in different ways to make different things.”

JESS AND DY-MAN SELL SUSTAINABLE APPAREL, ACCESSORIES, HOME GOODS, and gift items in their retail shop. Some of it they make themselves; some is made by small-batch brands and artists across the U.S. and in Metro Detroit. All of the creators, however, identify as social enterprise brands and are ecologically-minded.

And none sell on Amazon, because their items are one-of-a-kind. Don’t be surprised when an item is listed on the store’s website as being one of only one available. That uniqueness is a big part of the appeal for many customers.

So is the upcycled aspect of the items at Not Sorry Goods. Upcycling goes beyond recycling – it means enhancing what’s leftover and creating something new with it. Maybe a turtleneck gets turned into a halter top (with the scraps being made into pet toys), or maybe several scarves become a skirt. No matter the result, it’s wearable art!

ALTHOUGH NOT SORRY GOODS JUST OPENED ITS RETAIL LOCATION LAST AUGUST, Jess and Dy-man have been crafting their goods since 2016, when they first snagged a space at the Rust Belt Market. Having a mini store there gave the duo a chance to test their product, develop their customer base and learn more about visual merchandising.

“You want proof of concept before you go to being brick-and-mortar,” Jess explains. “Plus it’s a cool way to be a part of the community.”

Once the two women had a solid following, it made sense to open a full-service retail shop. It was clear that their shared passions for thrifting and fashion had turned them into ideal business partners.

And, besides, they’d become close friends ever since meeting in a fateful kickboxing class back in 2015. At the time, they both had a Group-on to use and were feeling a bit adrift after having entered the post-college phase of their lives. One kick and punch led to another…and then to realizing how much they had in common. Including, as Jess puts it, a “crazy energy” that keeps them happy and inspired.

“I’M REALLY HAPPY WITH HOW WE GOT HERE, IT’S BEEN VERY ORGANIC,” Jess says. Not only that, but she and Dy-man have found the community to be incredibly helpful and sweet, with everyone wanting to see each other be successful. While Dy-man is originally from Michigan, Jess is a Florida transplant who now considers herself a Michigander, in no small part because of how supportive the community has been.

“It’s a community through-and-through, professionally and personally,” she says, adding that she’s blown away by how many talented people live in the area. Although she and her husband had originally considered moving to other locations before they came here, she’s thrilled they wound up in Ferndale. She’d always wanted to open her own creative business, and this was the perfect place to do that.

“Making funky stuff with art scraps never gets old,” Jess says. “I feel so very lucky and blessed to get to do this as my full-time job.”

22963 Woodward Ave, Ferndale
notsorrygoods@gmail.com
https://notsorrygoods.com

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By Lisa Howard

THIS ISN’T INKJET OR LASER PRINTING. IT ISN’T EVEN PICKING UP FULL-COLOR PHOTOS FROM CVS. This is meticulously rendered, high-end digital printing, the kind coveted by visual artists who want to fully showcase their work.

“Printing digital media is a high art,” says Karen Sanders. “It’s a combination of science and art, and it’s not easy to find a good printer anymore—somebody who truly knows what they’re doing is very rare. Larry is that person.”

The Larry she’s talking about is Larry Melkus of Fine Art Printing. He attended the Center for Creative Studies back when it was still called the Detroit Society of Arts & Crafts, studying photography with a focus on art.

Upon graduating, he went on to open his own photography studio and worked with commercial advertising clients, creating prints for trade shows, automotive companies, and other commercial entities. But, after about 30 years of commercial work, Larry decided to shift his specialty to the art world; nowadays, he works almost exclusively with visual artists.

“I can digitally scan anything I can get through the door and create a high-definition, color-corrected digital reproduction of that art and then make a print of it, whether the artwork is a sculpture or a 6’x10’ canvas,” says Larry.

HE CAN MAKE PRINTS OF DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES, collages, sketches – you name it. He can even transform relatively low-quality digital files into striking images, which is why he encourages anyone with beloved digital photos to let him work with those files. “As far as how the image can be presented and how big it can get, the limitations are more about the skills of the person making the prints rather than the size of the digital file itself,” he says, pointing out that today’s advanced digital tools allow him to capitalize on an image’s best features.

“Making prints sometimes seems to be of a thing of a past, yet it isn’t. When people see a completed print from a digital file, they get pretty excited about it,” Karen adds. She’s also a grad of CCS, although she eventually moved away from Michigan to Texas, where she taught digital media at the University of Texas for 15 years. About six years ago, she moved back to Detroit and reconnected with the art community here.

Then in November of 2021, she heard that Larry was looking for an assistant. As a one-man shop with a sterling reputation among artists, he was slammed with work. She applied for the job and landed her dream opportunity.

“I’ve had more engagement with the artist community in six months of working here than I had during the entire six years I’d been back in Detroit,” she says. “That’s because Larry takes the time to talk to people individually and helps them understand the process of making their art into a print. He educates people about what’s possible.”

That desire to help artists and the art-interested realize the potential of digital media attracts both local talent and artists from other states—Larry regularly works with clients from New York, Boston, and Texas as well as Metro Detroit artists. The materials he uses are durable, heavyweight canvases and art paper, the kind of archival material you see in galleries and museums. But whether he’s collaborating with a painter looking to document their work in the form of a book or a casual photographer who wants to make a cherished photo into a print, his goal remains the same: To create a compelling work of art.

732 Hilton Road, Ferndale | 248.571.0111 www.facebook.com/Fine.Art.Printing.MI

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By Sara Teller

GO COMEDY IMPROV THEATER WAS FOUNDED IN 2008 BY GERALD KNIGHT, CHRIS DIANGELO, TOMMY LEROY, AND PJ JACOKES. When Second City Detroit moved to Novi, where it would later close, there were a lot of talented improvisers and comedians who suddenly had no home. The four owners came together, hoping they could fill that gap.

The theater currently offers weekly improv opportunities showcasing short-form, game-style skits such as ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway’ as well as long-form, improvised scene work. It also hosts a variety of entertainment venues open to the public.

“In addition, we offer improv and sketch-writing classes designed to help working professionals get better at public speaking and thinking on their feet,” said manager Jess Krrzyczkowski, adding that the theater trains “the next generation of improvisers to keep pushing the art form forward. We also have our corporate improv and workshops division, Go Corp, which offers corporate-training, team-building, and entertainment for basically any event you can imagine.”

GO COMEDY’S INTRO PROGRAM INCLUDES CLASSES OPEN TO ANYONE, from any background, with any level of talent. Newcomers always start at Intro I and learn to use long-practiced improv tools to improve their communication skills. Those who just want to meet new people in the area or improve their public speaking skills are welcome, as are business professionals and budding artists.

The theater’s Advanced Improv is for anyone who has completed the Intro Program and is looking to build upon these skills. The workshops focus primarily on scene work and long-form montages, which are more complicated than what participants are introduced to at the Intro level. The program challenges members who are looking to move beyond basic skill-building.

Go Comedy’s Sketch-Writing Program focuses on various types of sketches, fundamentals, and writing exercises over the course of an entire term, allowing students to hone their craft as they develop a show which will run before an audience.

Even though the pandemic has taken a hit on the theater since its inception, the staff is looking forward to becoming active in the community once again and will be involved in several upcoming events and activities, including Ferndale Pride (June 4, 2022), the Run for Laughs 5k (June 11, 2022) and the Detroit Improv Festival (August 2022, detroitimprovfestival.org). Go Comedy will be setting up a booth at Pride and will host Run for Laughs, a charity run/walk event meant to continue the theater’s mission to foster community, inspire movement, and promote mental health in an inclusive, supportive, and humorous environment. It will also host the Improv Festival.

Krrzyczkowski explained, “The theater is obviously slow to return post-pandemic. We had to shut our doors from March 2020 to September 2021, and rebuilding has been slow. We’re still operating at a reduced capacity, and requiring masks and proof of COVID vaccine, because keeping our casts and staff safe is priority number one. I think more than ever before, people are looking for escape from the heaviness of life in these unprecedented times, and if we can provide that freedom and levity, we’re happy to do that.”

She encourages all residents to get involved, saying, “Improv comedy has been a historically white and cis-male space, and we’re doing our best to shift that and create better, more inclusive entertainment. Our audiences have always been diverse, and we want to offer shows that cater to a variety of people and progressive viewpoints. We offer a diversity scholarship for interested students and have a proven commitment to putting forth shows that feature diverse casts.”

Go Comedy Improv Theater is located at 261 E. 9 Mile Rd. For more information, please visit gocomedy.net or call 248.327.0575

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By Jill Hurst
Photo by David McNair

EIGHT AND A HALF YEARS IN A TOWN BRINGS THE PRIVILEGE OF MOURNING LOCAL LANDMARKS that have disappeared and looking with suspicion at change, or heaven forbid, “progress.”

I am a little protective and curmudgeon-y about Ferndale these days, baffled by the new parking structure and the plan for even more parking. Mixed-use space? I’m all about collaboration, but what’s it going to do to individual businesses? And all those dispensaries. They’re fine, but geez. Do we need so many?

Maybe I’m still recovering from the roller-coaster of emotion I experienced when the Green Buddha opened on Hilton. I thought it was a new Chinese restaurant, something I’d been hoping for since sweet little China Ruby closed. I was certain the carryout order I’d been carrying around for years was about to become a delicious reality. My dreams were crushed when my husband informed me that there was no vegetable chow fun to be found at Green Buddha.

WHEN ASKED TO SHARE MY FEELINGS ABOUT FERNDALE 2022, I decided to hit the sidewalks and catch up on what’s happened while we were in the house, binging and Zooming and venting our frustration about pretty much everything on whatever local forum we belong to. I took three separate walks around town with the goal of rediscovering this town we live in.

A lot of what I saw was very heartening. The front yards are flowering. The dog parade is still the best entertainment in town. I peeked into Fine Art Printing on Hilton and end up getting a tour from the owner. The Ringwald Theater might not occupy the NE corner of Nine and Woodward anymore, but the theater company has found a new home with Affirmations, just down the street.

Java Hutt is still a great place to meet friends, write your screenplay and order coffee without being judged! The restaurants are welcoming; I experienced wonderful servers every time I’ve gone out to eat. The hospitality business had to reinvent itself in so many ways during the pandemic and the servers who stuck with the business seem to love it. Of course we’ll always miss the places that are gone (does anyone know how to make those chips Dino used to serve with the burgers?) but now there’s Mexican, lobster rolls, Pho as well as many of our tried-and-true favorites that took care of us during lockdown.

FERNDALE BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS ARE STILL BRAVE AND UNAFRAID to share their political beliefs and humanitarian concerns with signs in their windows and front lawns. The Library is open. Our two bookstores and Found Sound are also open for business. The Ferndale Community Concert Band is still alive and well. We drove past an outdoor front lawn performance of the FCCB last Fall. It was magical. And now there’s the M-1 Jazz Collective. As our old pal Friedrich Nietzsche would say, “Without music, life would be a mistake.”

While we’re talking music, fingers crossed we’ll be hearing the piped-in music again on 9 Mile. It’s part of the Ferndale soundtrack, along with the ice cream truck and the train whistle. Yep, the train. Still there. It’s still going to chug through town and make you late for something. But that’s part of living in fierce, frustrating, friendly fabulous Ferndale.

I found my Ferndale this week. Get out there and find yours.

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By Kerry Lark

RE-TREE CONNECTS AND UNITES TREE-LOVERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, offering them three options for mature trees: relocation, buying, or selling. RE-TREE has already saved many mature trees from becoming a pile of woodchips!

DENNISE VIDOSH IS THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF RETREE, A WOMAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS DEDICATED TO SAVING AND RE-PURPOSING OUR MATURE TREES. Her love for trees is literally in her family bloodline, going back to the days she spent as a child working with her father, Donn Vidosh Sr., a legendary pioneer in Michigan’s landscape construction industry.

It was her passion for trees that ultimately led Vidosh to create RE-TREE. Based in Pontiac, RETREE’s imaginative digital marketplace and educational platform makes it easy for commercial and residential property owners to save mature trees from being needlessly destroyed and create value for themselves rather than waste.

Trees are the longest living organisms on earth, with some able to live over 5,000 years. Talk about longevity! However, unlike most living organisms, trees aren’t able to get up and move if the need arises. In many urban areas, some trees will eventually outgrow their allotted space. Unfortunately, most people are unaware that they don’t have to destroy a tree trapped in this predicament. RE-TREE now gives their previously-doomed tree a chance to move, survive and thrive.

Mature trees are irreplaceable, and provide plentiful ecological and sentimental value to people, communities and the earth.

  • A single mature tree can absorb about 50 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and release enough oxygen back into the air to support two human beings.
  • Trees reduce air pollution, prevent contaminated stormwater runoff from reaching our rivers/lakes and save homeowners substantial heating/cooling costs.
  • Trees enhance our well-being by reducing stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. This lowers blood pressure and improves our moods and attitudes.
  • The Japanese understand the many health benefits given to them by spending time in their mature forests. They actually bathe their mind and bodies in a form of ecotherapy called “shinrin-yoku,” which literally translates to “forest bath”!
  • Mature trees provide a shady, comfortable home and food source for many life forms.

When you transplant a tree, in most cases it will suffer what is known as “transplant shock.” Unfortunately, the bigger (and older) the tree is, the greater the shock. Therefore, minimizing this stressful shock is of paramount importance. The key element is to preserve as many roots as possible.

RE-TREE has developed a pioneering method to preserve the root mass on a mature tree about to be relocated. Instead of using the traditional mechanical equipment to cut through the soil and remove a tree, RETREE uses an innovative tool called an AirSpade which uses compressed air to carefully expose the all-important root system. This method allows RETREE to preserve and then capture much more of the fragile roots.

Vidosh and RE-TREE care about saving mature trees and preserving their value. She sums it up with a quote from a Senegalese forester; “In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”

(517) 545-5067
RE-TREE.ORG

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Photo ©2021 by Bennie White

THE CITY OF OAK PARK HAS FIVE MOGO STATIONS and the numbers show that our community knows how to ride!

In 2020, Oak Park had the highest usage of any community in the surrounding area, with 1,667 trips taken. We hope our residents continue to utilize this service offered through the City’s partnership with MoGo.

For those looking to get on a MoGo bike and ride, the Oak Park stations are located at:

• West 11 Mile Rd. & Tyler St.

• Lincoln St. & Greenfield Rd.

• Coolidge Hwy. & Lincoln St.

• Oak Park Blvd. & Parklawn St.

• West Nine Mile Rd. & Manistee St.

To stay up-to-date on MoGo News, visit their website at mogodetroit.org or follow them on social media (@MoGoDetroit).

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Photos ©2021 by Bennie White

THE Oak Park Water Tower Social District, on 11 Mile Rd., opened to the public in August and continues to offer opportunities for patrons to enjoy local businesses, both inside and out. The Social District welcomes those ages 21 and above to purchase from participating businesses to-go alcoholic beverages and enjoy them in the Commons Area.

HOURS OF OPERATION:

• Monday through Saturday: Noon-10:00 P.M.

• Sunday: Noon-6:00 P.M.

• Closed on holidays recognized by the City of Oak Park

PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES / EXPANDING SOON!

• Oak Park Social

• Dog & Pony Show Brewing

• Unexpected Craft Brewing Company

• Berkley Coffee

Social districts were created through a state initiative in 2020 with the hopes of spurring social and economic involvement in local communities. As the Water Tower Social District in Oak Park continues to experience its rebirth, this initiative will surely only help the businesses in that corridor grow while also helping to foster a deeper sense of community.

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By Sara E. Teller

SHELL CLEANERS, ON COOLIDGE HIGHWAY, OPENED ITS DOORS ON MARCH 13, 1982. Narendra Patel, originally from India, had immigrated to the United States already with a college degree, but without speaking a word of English.

“My sister lived in Oak Park,” said Patel, which is why he chose to settle in the area. “I was looking for something to do here and the people were very nice.”

A laundromat seemed like a great option. Patel would be able to interact with many Oak Park residents and could learn English along the way. He also began to night school in Southfield after work. It wasn’t the easiest start, but he found his way, learning the language of his customers and eventually feeling at home.

“I was able to clean clothes for many customers and serve the city,” he said, which gave him great satisfaction.

Shell Cleaners served the city for 40 years and became an institution largely because Patel was known for doing great work at a reasonable price, which allowed his business to boom. He began to get to know many of his customers on a first-name basis and they would return to the the cleaners time-and-again for a quality job.

Patel was not only known for taking care of his customers’ clothing but serving them “always with a kind smile.” She added that he was such an integral part of the city that former U.S. Representative “Sander Levin wrote a letter to help bring [Patel’s] wife from India north of Bombay.” Eventually, the two were able to settle in the area together.

Patel enjoyed serving the people of Oak Park as much as they loved the work he did. They became more than just clients to him over the years. “They weren’t just customers, they were extended family to me,” he said.

YET NOW, AFTER ALL OF THOSE YEARS IN BUSINESS, Shell Cleaners has officially closed its doors. The pandemic has brought about many unforeseen changes and has hit small businesses especially hard. Unfortunately, small cleaners like Shell have been unable to obtain the same quality soap customers have come to expect and the prices of essentials such as poly bags and hangers have tripled. Because many professionals are working from home, they’ve transitioned from wearing business suits that need to be dry cleaned to more casual clothes.

All of these things affected Patel’s business. He tried to keep Shell afloat for as long as possible but there came a point that he had to make a very difficult decision. It was time to sell the building and close Shell’s doors.

“The Coronavirus has affected the whole country,” Patel said. “But it has very been hard on small businesses and their supply chains. I’m retired now but I wasn’t ready to.”

He said, “I miss the city. The city was my family.” He added he especially misses former and current Mayors Jerry Naftaly and Marian McClellan, respectively.

When asked what the future holds, Patel said he would like to eventually do something else but hasn’t decided what that is yet. Because of the pandemic and the continued difficulties small businesses face, “Right now, I’m just trying to take it easy,” he replied. Patel added he is no longer in Oak Park but may like to return someday.

Even though Shell has closed its doors, it will never be forgotten by all of the customers served over the four decades it was in business. Flynn said, “We are delighted he settled in Oak Park and wish him joy in his retirement.”

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