Blog Carnival: What Makes Me An Eclectic Artisan?

I thought about making a list of “You might be an eclectic artist if…” items, but a list like that really needs to be at least a little bit humorous, and unfortunately writing humor is not one of my eclectic talents.

I definitely qualify as eclectic, from my tastes in music to my tastes in home decor. There isn’t really one unified theme about me or anything in my life except that I tend to prefer order to chaos (You might not believe that if you looked at my house right now!), and flowing, curving lines to sharp angles.

As for my creative endeavors, I’ve tried a little bit of just about everything most people call creative: writing, calligraphy, doll making, sewing, crochet, drawing, painting, jewelry making, floral designing, and even helping my carpenter husband design attractive cabinets and furniture.

You’d think it would be great to enjoy so many different things and be relatively “good” at most of them. It is!

And it isn’t.

Sometimes people like me lack focus, and there is only so much one person can do with the 24 hours we each have every day. But there have been a few things that have really settled into my heart regarding my “creative calling.” While my writing is on the back burner, I am really trying to focus on my jewelry and my artwork.

Even in those two realms my taste is eclectic. I love fantasy art feauturing fairies, angels, dragons, and other mythical creatures. I love animal and nature art featuring birds, foxes, wolves, rabbits, cats and dogs. I love Celtic art, and I love the art you find in medieval illuminated manuscripts. What I’ve discovered is that my taste in art has deeply influenced my jewelry style: flowing lines reminiscent of nature, although a little more stylized; intricate knots like you’d see in Celtic art; stones with texture and color that look just a bit unkempt and “organic.” And lately, I’ve been finding new ways to incorporate my artwork into my jewelry by tranferring my art images to polymer clay focal pieces.

Though having a Kell’s Creations Etsy shop, a Cafe Press shop, and a Zazzle shop  (where I only have three items so far, but I’m working on it!) can all get overwhelming at times, I’m pursuing my passion. Each day I hope to improve my artistic abilities–along with my time management and organizational skills so I can stay on top of it better!

I definitely fit in with my fellow Etsy Eclectic Artisans team, EART.