arts & life >> fashion

Mother Lode

Lynne Konstantin

Arts & Life Editor

Mama's got a

brand new box of

Sharpies.

Mother Sketcher custom
pieces vary in price
according to design.
Email Julie Chernow at
jake1013@comcast.net ,
or visit her Facebook
page at facebook.com/
mothersketcher.

I

've always been a doodler,"
says Julie Chernow. "It's always
been an outlet for me:'
Growing up in West
Bloomfield, Chernow filled her
school notebooks with her draw-
ings — bubble-letter words burst-
ing with explosive color, iconic
logos from favorite albums and
pop culture and clever phrases
and lingo tinged with a taste for
playful rebellion.
There was a fair share of
homework in the notebooks, too,
enough to earn degrees in sociol-

ogy and communications
§ from the University of
El6 Michigan before earning
a law degree from the
University of Detroit.
Chernow practiced law
for two local firms before
a, she and her husband,
LT. David, had their chil-
dren, Jake, now 121/2, and
Blair, 11, and she settled
into momhood. "Even
when we bought our first
house, I unpacked all my
law-school books and
realized they were all full
of doodles," Chernow
says.
It didn't occur to her
that her pastime-on-the-
side could actually be profitable
— until a friend recently moved
home from New York City. "Her
mom had doodled her Keds with
Sharpies, and my daughter and I
couldn't buy paints fast enough,"
she says. "I started talking to my
teenaged nieces, looking at tex-
ting lingo and gathering informa-
tion:'
A little over a year ago,
Chernow, who lives in West
Bloomfield Township and attends
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield,
created her first masterpiece: a
"primitive" pair of doodled-over
high-top sneakers for her daugh-
ter.

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Her daughter's friends went
nuts, and Mother Sketcher was
born.
"I'm not the first person to take
a Sharpie to a shoe," Chernow
says. "But I do bring my own
technique to the table:' Her work
has evolved, she says, becoming
more finessed and sophisticated,
but still in the style of a home-
made doodle. She also does her
research, both on the ages, life-
style and community of the client,
as well as a sit-down to find out
his or her favorite things in life.
A boy's hockey-uniform number
and favorite band may feature on
his white Nikes, and cupcakes,
peace signs and guitars on a girl's
Vans, Uggs or Timberlands. And
her fans are eating them
up, calling in
rAter
requests for
anything that
can be worn.
"I've done a

Lane), follows the pair's scheme to pro-
duce a musical called Springtime for Hitler.
Through Saturday, May 23. $24. Grosse
Pointe Theatre (313-881-4004; gpt.org ).

SNACK TIME
Based on writer Laura Numeroff's popu-

THE PRODUCERS

Lynne

Konstantin

Arts & Life
Editor

126

May 21 • 2015

Three days left to catch Bloomfield
Hills-resident Mitch Master (top left) as
Broadway producer Max Bialystock and
Kevin Fitzhenry as accountant Leo Bloom
in The Producers. Directed by Mike Trudel,
the Mel Brooks musical comedy, which
won a record 12 Tony Awards on Broadway
(starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan

lar children's book, If You Give a Mouse
a Cookie tells the tale of a curious boy
trying to please a needy houseguest and
the delicious chain of events that ensue.
Produced by Ann Arbor's Performance
Network and Etico productions, the show –
directed by John Manfredi and starring Eric
Eilersen as the Boy and Sarah McEneaney
as the Mouse – will be performed at the
Performance Network Theatre in Ann
Arbor, Saturday-Sunday, May 30-31 ($15;
734-663-0681; pntheatre.org ), then again
at the City Theatre in Detroit, Saturday-

lot of custom bat-mitzvah high
tops," she says. "So many kids
have a custom logo for their par-
ties, so girls will bring in their
party dress and logo and we'll go
from there, usually adding a lot
of glitter. They'll wear their dress
shoes to the service, then change
into their custom shoes:'
Breaking even after just 10
weeks, despite her time-consum-
ing perfectionism, Chernow has
already branched out into more
objects, offering graffiti-covered
snakeskin clutches for women,
leather moto jackets, army jack-
ets, jeans and painting layers of
jewelry on pleather dresses for
girls. "The only thing I've said
`no' to so far was snow pants," she
says. "Those just wouldn't work
out:' She has created a pair of

Sunday, June 6-7 ($19; 800-745-3000;
olympiaentertainment.com ).

ANTIQUES AND MORE

Head to Midland Saturday-Sunday,
May 30-31, for the Michigan Antique &
Collectible Festival, featuring more than
1,000 dealers on
80 acres and inside
seven buildings.
Find vintage jewelry,
refinished antique
furniture, prewar and
postwar signage and
loads more treasures.
While you're there,
check out shabby
chic and industrial
pieces in the Shabby

Experience and