Scarves

I’ve lived a handful of places and visited a bunch more. Florida is the place where I stopped and said, “I’m seriously going to do this. I’m going to have a career as an artist and I’m going to start by making and selling scarves.”

I never sold art prior to living in St. Augustine in 2007. Then I had an idea to make miniature scarves that button around the neck. I wanted them to be unique neck warming fashions. Making and selling scarves in a consignment boutique led to painting and selling paintings in a local restaurant where I was working at the time. Since then I have continued to paint and sew in each new place I’ve lived. I can’t seem to put any one aspect of my artistry to rest.

I have always appreciated having sewing and painting as a dual outlet for my creativity. I love the painting because it makes me sweat. The process is long. Irrevocable decisions are made each minute. And when I’m done, and I look at my work, there is a phenomenon staring back at me. It’s something I can’t see while I’m in the middle of working. It only occurs at the end.

Yet, I love the sewing because it is everything painting could never be. I go shopping for it. I go traveling for it. I stain wood and make my own buttons for it. I pick and choose fabrics, ribbon, and charms at whim to bring forth a result of perfect creativity. When I begin a scarf I don’t always know where I’m going. I may not even know what shape I want it to be. And that’s ok. I get totally emersed in the infinite possibilities of a one-of-a-kind scarf. I am never more carefree than when I am sewing a Florida Scarf.