If you haven't read the About Section, then you might not know much about me yet. I'm Stacy, the SLMPetersen behind Inked Inspirations. I'm pretty sure I was born creative. I can't remember a time when I wasn't a maker.
I come from a long line of creative ladies. My creativity comes from my mom's side of the family. Crochet and embroidery from the Great Grandmothers and Aunts. My Grandma was legally blind by the time I came along, but that never stopped her from working on crochet and plastic canvas. She was also a bit of a seamstress and quite talented as an armature artist. My Mom is an avid knitter, crocheter, and quilter. She also dabbles in a bit of painting when no one's looking.
It took me a lot of years to become comfortable with calling myself an artist and honestly embracing the title. I've never looked at what I make as "art". Artists are often viewed in some sort of jaded light, assuming they're starving and misguided. I am neither starving nor misguided. I embraced the title of artist by accident one day when it fell out of my mouth in an awkward conversation of small talk. I'm still not sure what made me say it but I did and I've not looked back. I saw it as something the universe was trying to tell me when my subconscious surfaced and allowed it to slip out.
I've been a card artist for over two decades, and in more recent years, I've been exploring watercolor and other mixed media mediums. Cards became my passion because of the small canvas and ease of completion in a small amount of time. I don't enjoy projects that take days, weeks, or even months to create. I suppose I have a bit of an attention deficit when it comes to long involved projects.
I discovered my love of paper when I was in high school, at a local rubber stamp shop. I've dabbled in several other mediums. I'm quite skilled with a sewing machine, knitting needles, and a crochet hook, but I always go back to paper.
The beauty of cards, or small pieces of art, is the affordability to the end-user. It's important to me that artwork can be put into the hands of anyone. We often think that Art, with a capital "a", must be expensive and only the rich can afford it. I don't view art that way. I could care less about the capital "a" and the stigma that society puts with it. Art should be the beauty that you surround yourself with. Handmade cards are an affordable form of art that can be shared or framed. Yes, sending cards is a dying art so to speak, but there is still a market for cards, especially handmade cards.
As a card artist, I find great joy in creating cards for special moments in people's lives. I also take great pleasure in creating custom cards for small businesses that want something more meaningful to send their customers.
Next week I'll talk a bit more about where this journey started and how I got here.
No comments:
Post a Comment