Featured Artist 11BOLDstreet

Ever wonder why a person chooses a certain medium? Well, according to this artist she chose polymer clay because just try to find something that it can not do! After looking at her amazing work it seems that her goal is to prove just that!

Susan spent 27 years in the architectural and structural design fields before retiring in 2007. She now loves to travel and eat with her loving husband of 32 years! Did I mention eats? Her husband is a chef…talk about a dream come true. They share their life with a dog, two parrots and a gazillion fish. Susan is also a self professed computer/tech geek that loves science fiction and reading…gotta love a lady with diverse interests!

Susan was the creative sort early on, fondly remembering those giant Crayola crayons that the schools hand out in kindergarten.  She spent hours drawing, sewing doll clothes, and later, her own clothes as well as taking every possible art class in school.  Her parents were proud of her abilities and encouraged her to dream.  They didn’t have the financial means at the time to offer advanced art classes beyond those offered at school so Susan pushed herself to learn on her own.  Each of her friends that got married received an original painting as a wedding gift; and I bet they treasure it still.

This creative soul found polymer clay in the early 90’s but wasn’t as struck by it as other pursuits.  Later, however, Susan picked it up again and the ideas and possibilities just exploded!  She had more ideas in her head than time to create them and dove in full time.  She was stunned by the number of polymer resources that are now available and has taken full advantage combined with her own unique creativity.

 As Susan created piece after piece for herself, her husband looked on.  He must have seen the passion coming out because he stated “I though that when you retired that you might start selling these pieces.”  Boy was he right!

Susan’s passion shows in each and every piece and the lucky owners should show them off proudly.  She readily admits that her work is not for everyone and understands that the market is tough right now.  Her work is bold in every way, not cute or subtle, but made for a confident wearer or someone that is not shy about a unique piece in their home.  When that person is found, however, they simply have to have the work.  This is the rush that Susan thrives off of.

Susan understands the importance of branding and shortly became the driving force behind 11BOLDstreet on every venue.  She encourages new artists to address branding their art if they are serious about selling their work.  She reminds artists those that want to break into selling their handmade art that their first job, after all the business stuff is taken care of, is to get their name out there!  Everyone that comments on your work is a potential customer.  Susan also has intense feelings about pricing handmade work…Don’t under-price yourself and your work!  If you don’t take your own work seriously, how can you expect anyone else too?

 Ready to see the bold statement that 11BOLDstreet, AKA Susan creates?  She is super easy to find all over the web starting with the HandmadeArtistsShop as well as on Etsy.  Keep up with the latest happenings on Facebook and on her Blog….and don’t say I didn’t warn you when you say “I didn’t know you could do that with clay!”

Tags: buy handmade, handmade jewelry, handmade pendant, Handmade Products, polymer clay, polymer clay jewelry, tutorials

Posted in Featured Vendor