Thursday, August 16, 2012

About Me

Just a little forewarning... this is going to be a very long, very word-y post. In answer to a couple of similar, or at least related questions about me as a cross-stitch designer...

Do you have an art background?
No, I do not have an art background. I have never taken an art class; no opportunities for even a basic drawing course were ever presented to me in my small-town upbringing. An oversight that I plan to take care of in a few years, when my babies are both in school full time.

I didn't know that there was an artist in my heart when I was a kid, teenager, college student.
I was always told that I was creative, but I had no frame of reference or opportunity to develop what that meant. I grew up surrounded by people who knew how to do/make the necessary things in life, but had virtually no exposure to anyone making art, just to make art. Therefore, my ability to make useful things from a very limited amount of materials was well-honed, and I naturally gravitated toward figuring out how to do/make all by myself rather than following a pattern or formula.
Fast-forward to when I was a single girl, fresh out of college, and I met my future husband.
His sister introduced me to early American samplers. As I fell madly in love with my Farmboy, I also fell in love with samplers, which then led to a general fascination with many of the old arts, such as Scherenschnitte, rug hooking, wool applique, and Fraktur painting.

If you want to read even more, including the body of my interview with The Gift of Stitching magazine and the answers to the questions...

How did you get into designing cross stitch?
What were your first needlework projects, and how has your style changed since then?

then hop on over to my new About Me page (you can also get there by clicking the tab at the top of this page).

3 comments:

Mrs Pretzel said...

<3

Anonymous said...

Such darling pictures of you as a little girl. And I've loved reading a bit more about you as a child, young woman, wife and now mother. As for Matt, if he knows about my earlier post, I do hope he wasn't embarrassed by my referring to him as a hunk! Or maybe he just smiled. What can I say....I love a man with facial hair!

Keep it coming, Beth. I love reading each days' entry and seeing your photographic talent.
Sandy

Catherine said...

Great post, great pics!