Business Profile – Mary Martineau

Harrison West resident Mary Martineau has been a vendor at ComFest since 1997. She started the booth as an outpost of her High Street gallery at the time, Transformations. Despite the closing of the shop in 2001 she has maintained an annual presence at the iconic Short North event peddling her handcrafted wares. The booth and its merchandise has transformed over the years from the colorfully hand-painted and découpaged furniture that comprised Transformations’ signature stock to items featuring images of Martineau’s favorite Columbus neighborhood, the Short North.

Martineau began taking photographs of the Short North since the late nineties. When she started, her photographic instruments included a Polaroid and a point and shoot camera that required the film to be developed. Martineau has benefited from the progress of technology and today you might catch her strolling up High Street aiming her Nikon D3000 at various store signs and Short North landmarks. She has a catalog of hundreds of images that she decoupages onto tiles to create magnets and coasters, onto pendants and belt buckles, mirrors, artwork, any, yes, still the occasional piece of furniture.

If you are meandering about ComFest this weekend, you can find Mary in her “regular spot” on the west side of Park Street along Goodale Park and across from Victorian Gate. Stop in and tell her you read about her on HarrisonWest.org and she’ll let you take a free button as a souvenir!

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