Artist of the Week!

This week I am showcasing Nichol of Mossy Creek Designs Nichol is not only an amazing polymer clay artist, she has a fabulous way with pencils and ink and colors as well. Many of her works can be seen throughout her blog.
So without further ado, here is Nichol's 'interview'!

1. What brought you into your chosen craft or art?

i assume you are asking about polymer clay :) i've always been interested in art ... crammed every free moment i had in high school in the art room - went to college for illustration and have tried almost every craft out there including clay but i didn't focus on it until the spring/summer of 2003. my sister and i had been making beaded jewelery and selling our stuff at home parties but i could never find the right focal beads so ... i decided to make my own. my tastes have always favored things that are organic so i went weed picking and made my first 'fossil' beads.

2. Do you have a favorite piece that you have created?

yeah, i have a few that i can't part with. with the exception of the griffin/geode sculpture they have all been accidents though. we make batches of fossil beads at a time for our shows and every once in awhile one calls out and says 'don't sell me!' ... so i don't.

3. What would you tell someone who would like to venture into creating?

practice, practice, practice ... this holds with any form of art (drawing, writing, sculpting, photography, painting ... ) the more you do something, the more it becomes second nature. it also gives you the time you need to develop your style and discover what your strong and weak points are.

Artist of the Week!!!

Sorry this is late, but here is this weeks fantastic artist of the week!
Meet Jenny of Jenny Clark Stamp Art
Jenny is a fantastic card maker... I hope you will enjoy a little peek into her art and her life. :-)
1. What brought you into your chosen craft or art?
I have always enjoyed working with paper and ink ever since I was a little girl. I started getting into stamping and scrapbooking in high school Art class and later in college Art classes where I could carve my own stamps and use different types of inks to create various forms of art. I went into the Air Force after graduating college and continued doing various paper crafts as a hobby and for stress relief. I had the opportunity to travel all over the world and saw different forms of stamping, papermaking, and other paper crafts. After getting married, having children, and going into the reserves part time, I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, started carving my own stamps, and making my own recycled paper to use in my crafts. I turned my hobby and love of papercrafts into a part time business. I really enjoy giving homemade cards and other gifts to friends and family.
2. Do you have a favorite piece that you have created?
My favorite pieces change on a weekly basis. My favorite cards to do are special orders where the customer gives me a color scheme, or a few pictures that they like, and I incorporate them into a one of a kind card. I especially love making wedding cards. Customers give me a copy of a wedding invitation and the color scheme of the wedding and they want me to create a special wedding card or bridal shower card that incorporated those elements. I also love creating Christmas cards to give out to friends and family. In a day and age where people tend to give the "photo card", I love to create an old fashioned Christmas Card.
3. What would you tell someone who would like to venture into creating?
My recommendation is to find something you love to do. I started as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator to support my own paper habit and it gave me the opportunity to meet other ladies that enjoyed being creative like me. I now enjoy all sorts of papercrafting including stamping, making handmade paper and scrapbooking. We all have different God given talents...we sometimes just need to discover what they are. I would find a craft that you enjoy and one that gives you a sense of peace and fullfillment that you can only get from being creative.