How did I get started in my craft?

I remember a day in my early twenties when on a whim I ended up in my local fabric store. I was delighted with all the beautiful fabrics, sewing supplies and patterns! As I wandered through this store of new possibilities, soft sculpted baby doll patterns caught my eye. It dawned on me for the first time that hey, I could make that! I really got excited as I picked out my supplies, took them all home and started my first project. This was the start to over a 35 plus year creative journey, one that has taken many delightful twists and turns along the way. My love of the creative process was born that day and I’ve never looked back. I still have my first handmade doll, a reminder of where it all started and how it has evolved into what I do today.

Today I love working with paper clay, cloth, paint, designing patterns and creating orginal handmades. Trust me when I say that I had to try many things before figuring this out. The early days of neat, crisp and clean were not nearly as fun as the vintage or prim look! As far as style goes, I tend to be on the lighter side of prim, a bit old-fashioned, vintage and whimsical. I love lots of detail in my work and painting is involved in almost everything I do. I really love painting on cloth and the effects of it. My favorite part of any project is the sweet little faces!

Being creative is what keeps me sane in a crazy world, it really is cheap therapy! Watching a project come to life from clay or cloth is the best feeling in the world! I create for the love of the art, selling my things is just an added bonus! I really love what I do and hope my artwork reflects that.

What are my inspirations?

Some of my inspirations come from walking through antique stores, garage sales, vintage buttons, an old doily, tea pot or perhaps an old bobbin will call my name as I walk by. I don’t always know at the time how they will be incorporated, but given time and a bit of thought it will just pop into my head unexpectedly. Sometimes an item will sit on my shelf for months before the purpose becomes apparent. The adorable paintings and faces of artist Jamie Mills-Price have inspired me in painting my own faces. In the very early years I was introduced to painting on fabric from the now out of print Momma Made Me Do It patterns, they were focused on adorable painted faces. Some of my first inspirations for working with clay came from Pfatt’s own Gourdqueen. I remember happening on her work one day on Ebay, I was amazed at what she could do and still am!

There are times when I have a definite idea and vision in my head of a project I want to do, most of the time I do not, it just happens. It amazes me how a project comes together, telling me what it wants to become as I am working on it, and this is my favorite way of creating, inspiration from the piece itself!

I want to thank my online customers and fellow artist friends, you have all been a delight and amongst some of the sweetest people I have had the privilege to come into contact with! You all are what make this so much fun!

Blessings
Jody