Meet the Artist

Hi, I'm Jessa.

Baker. Data Nerd. Meme Apothecary. Fiber Artist. Beekeeper. Chicken Mom. Ukulele Strummer. Mushroom Forager. Actually-an-Opossum-Probably.  

A girl in a yellow shirt stands in front of a mossy wall, holding four finished embroidery hoops depicting realistic looking red mushrooms stitched on black fabric

I started embroidering in 2020 during the lockdown, using some old sheets and the old Girl Scout Camp friendship bracelet kit I'd held onto since childhood because I was certain I'd "need it someday". Little did I know back then how much embroidery would come to mean to me, both as artistic expression and as a foundational support of my (sometimes uncooperative) mental health. 

Creating shapes in a flat plane is something I'm used to. I'm a trained artist with a background of acrylic painting and pen/ink, so shading and line quality and color are all expressions I'm familiar with. But there's something about the slowness of threadpainting, and the way the limitations of the medium require creative thinking...it's like nothing I've ever experienced before. Hewing curves out of straight lines. Visually blending without mixing anything. Bringing a vibrant, alive image into being with mere thread and fabric. It felt like magic.

And for once, all the tumult in my mind slowed down and faded into the background. It sounds silly, but as a neurodivergent human, it's a pretty incredible thing when the brainweasels all shut up. 

I kept stitching, even as the world put on hard pants again. I stitched almost daily. 

And people started noticing. 

I didn't mean to start a business, not at first anyway. But it got to a point where I needed a place for people to see my work that wasn't gatekept by The Mighty Algorithm, and where I got to say (and sell) whatever I want. 

So...here I am. Check it out - I hope you like it.

-------

Oh, and since I started stitching, I've found such an incredible, creative, supportive community of fiber artists without whom my world would be so much smaller and so much less beautiful. So I guess in a way, that friendship bracelet kit really did make me a bunch of friends - thanks, Girl Scouts!