REAL ARTISTS

I am constantly amazed with the talented artists I meet in Unique Women In Business (UWIB), Carried Away Bag Team (CABT) and Etsy in general. I decided to focus this feature on artists that use color in a lot in unique ways.

The first artist is Kristen Stein of www.kristensteinfineart.etsy.com. She is a member of UWIB. She is an award winning artist with paintings in both public and private collections. More recently her art work was selected to appear in an upcoming movie and TV show. Kristens' use of colors is quite mesmerizing. She uses them both subtly and with a splash.

The next artist is Marcy of www.studiomarcy.etsy.com. and is also a member of UWIB. Marcy is a glass artist who loves to make people smile through her whimsical beads and sculptures. Aside from creating her original pieces she teaches both private and group lessons. She lists her favorite materials to work with. Along with glass and sterling and other precious metals were chocolate and coconut. Try as hard as I could, I couldn't figure out how they would withstand the heat she uses. I was afraid to write that the chocolate and coconut are what inspires her as she works. I emailed her to ask about it and it turns out I was right.

From the CABT there is a designer who uses color with such a splash that it brings a smile to your face. Her shop is called Vernon Ave www.vernonave.etsy.com. She is a graphic designer by profession. She's been making bags for friends and family and small boutiques for the last few years. She obviously LOVES color as all of her designs are filled with exuberance. The hand stitching on each bag makes them future vintage bags (which is apropos as she adores those as well).

This next designer is also from CABT. She makes really lovely bags with oil cloth which are on display in her shop called www.njoydesigns.etsy.com. I soooo appreciate the loveliness of her creations, because of the mundane character of the oil cloth.

She uses the designs and combinations of prints to create real art and vibrant combinations.

Her styles range from fun to funky and sleek to sophisticated.

1. www.vernonave.etsy.com 2. www.njoydesigns.etsy.com 3. www.studiomarcy.etsy.com

4. www.kristensteinfineart.etsy.com