Featured Artist T.Rusk4u

Teresa grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan before meeting her husband and heading south to North Carolina to live.  Teresa and her husband have been married almost 32 years and have raised 2 two children together.  Now that their children are grown, Teresa focuses her attention on her dog and her growing business.

Teresa says that she comes from a real DIY family, which fostered her love of handmade.  In 7^th grade she discovered sewing and later stumbled upon jewelry design while working at JoAnns.  She would often spend her breaks in the bead isles admiring the colors and textures.  Teresa eventually bought a book and the supplies for some basic projects and soon found herself hooked!  She moved quickly from simple beading to more intricate wire manipulation and fell in love with the process of taking simple wire, beads and gemstomes and transforming them into wearable art.

In the beginning of Teresa’s journey, she sold her earrings and such to coworkers.  After leaving JoAnns, Teresa decided to follow her passion full time and start selling on line.  After much trial and error, a few craft fairs and home shows, she has found a few sites that she is happy with and Trusk4U was born.

If her own jewelry lines were not enough, Teresa soon jumped into another handmade adventure.  She opened her own brick and mortar shop in Mebane, North Carolina called Hollyhocks, LLC.  This shop is more than just a cute store; the focus is on local handmade!  Woman after my own heart!  She loves being able to get to know her artists and talk to her customers about each individual piece as well as the artist behind the work.  Her passion has caused Teresa to defend against the inevitable comment about buying similar at box stores which may occasionally ruffle a few feathers, but there is no doubt when a customer leaves the shop that Teresa is a supporter of handmade.

Teresa is always happy, both in her shop and on the HandmadeArtistsForum to lend an ear, eye, and advice to new artists. She believes that new artists should follow their passion, make their mistakes, and continue on.  She readily admits that it can be hard to hear criticism about your work when you put so much time and passion into a piece, but if you are willing to listen and learn from it, or listen and leave it you will become a better artist.

Now that I’ve given you a bit about the lady behind the art, are you ready to see more?  Well, you can find her on theHandmadeArtistsShop,  Etsy,  FaceBook  and her blog.  If you lucky enough to live in the Mebane area and want to check outHollyhocks, LLC you can get the information at  as well at the shop blog at  and the shop FaceBook page!