Though most of my time is spent creating handbags, I do occasionally need an escape; that’s when I pick up my trusty paintbrushes or a pencil and start sketching. Each new handbag design starts the same way but sometimes I miss the soul of the human form. Often as I am developing a new bag an idea of the person who will carry it comes to mind first and I will begin to assemble a fashion character as inspiration. I think about where she might live, where she might go and what she might wear. Sometimes I’m inspired by people I see and other times they are a complete fantasy of random ideas. I don’t know that I have a favorite medium in which to create, as there is something special and unique about each one.

Graphite lends itself to small details captured in fine lines and soft blended strokes and nothing can replace the feeling of a paintbrush in hand with layers of blended color. Or sometimes the faint and watery look of watercolor and Prismacolor markers. And of course the fun of creating a vector illustration line by line and shape by shape until it’s a perfectly rendered image made completely of tiny pixels.

Vector Illustration

Pen and Ink/ Background in Photoshop

Pen and Ink/ Background in Photoshop

Graphite/ Background in Photoshop

Pen and Ink

Graphite Illustration

Graphite Illustration

Graphite Illustration

Acrylic on Canvas

Acrylic on Panel

Acrylic on Panel

Acrylic on Canvas

Graphite Illustration

Vector Illustration

I’ve been lucky enough to work with some fantastic clients over the years, creating custom fashion illustrations for a variety of projects. Many of them are small start-up’s with enourmous passion and really inivative ideas. One of my favorites were the husband and wife team of Brandon and Cali Sorenson the creators of HipSlimmer.

It’s so exciting to play a small part in making someone else’s dream a reality and watching each piece come together. I still enjoy taking on new illustration projects and though my first love will always be handbags, there’s still plenty of room in my heart for a blank piece of white paper and a plain old #2 pencil!

Being an indie designer can often be a bit lonely, spending countless hours holed up in my studio cutting fabric, sanding, painting and sketching. Though I think you never truly know yourself until you create alone there is an interesting phenomenon that has begun to take shape in our generation. Perhaps it is a need to be different, a need to have a voice, a need to share and to become a more responsible consumer. The definition of “community” has changed so dramatically in my relatively short lifespan. We are no longer defined by zip codes, state lines or vast oceans…all we have to do is to turn on our computers and type the infinite phrase:http://www.______.com. There is quite possibly a limitless amount of information available at our fingertips.

Most artists, designers and crafters are all very familiar with Etsy the premiere handmade marketplace to buy and sell handmade items. What I didn’t expect was a conversation I overheard this weekend while in an upscale salon in the Chicagoland Suburbs. Two twenty-somethings were perusing hair magazines, one toting a black Coach Bag and the other a very unique tote which had of course immediately caught my attention as well.

They were having a conversation about their handbags and the girl mentioned that she had purchased it on Etsy. The other girl started asking questions, commenting that she had never heard of that store but that she really would like to have a handbag that everyone else wasn’t carrying.

What struck my interest most about their conversation was the shift in consumer attitude. Now I realize that this isn’t any sort of ground breaking discovery on my part, it was just very unexpected especially given my location where labels are the ultimate status symbol. It drove home the realization that there has in fact been real growth in the independent market and that it had even stretched to the spot in which I was sitting.

And strangely enough this morning while sorting through my e-mail and favorite morning blogs I stumbled on an Etsy video I thought was worth sharing:

What I enjoy most about Etsy is the communal environment of creativity they have built. You can add items and shops to a favorites list, share, ask questions in the forums and of course buy and sell amazing items from artists, designers and crafters the world over.

The concept that we as artists and consumers are no longer defined by our physical location and now able to reach one another in a whole new way is exciting. This movement that embraces creativity and places a true value and opportunity to earn a living wage is the fundamental idea on which the American Dream was built.

And of of course I would be remiss not to mention that fashionjenn handbags are also available on Etsy!