How I got started in my creative journey (and how I can help you!)

If you found your way to this article, you are probably artistic in some way, and looking to broaden your horizons.

Or maybe you just found my blog or found me on social media and want to learn more!

I have always been super into all types of art, and I have loved trying literally everything I can! But it took me a longgggggg time to find my style and what works for me. 

Now look at me! I have decided to launch my own independent art business on top of my 9-5. Although, I will be the first person to tell you, I don’t plan on totally leaving my 9-5 to become a full time artist. 

I just want to have fun outside of work. Yes, this is still technically work (tbh, it’s actually a lot of work), but I have more fun doing this than my stressful 9-5! 

I can have fun while getting an extra stream of income. Who doesn’t love that???

I also have another article with 8 tips on how to help YOU find YOUR style! Not everyone takes the same path, let me help you find your own 🙂 

Before getting into things, please follow me on all my social media channels! I am always posting tutorials and what I am up to:

YouTube: @justartbyshelbs 

Facebook: Just Art By Shelbs

Instagram: @just.art.by.shelbs

TikTok: @justartbyshelbs

You can check out my etsy pages too, I have apparel items and patterns listed there if you would like to support my creative journey 🙂 

https://justartbyshelbs.etsy.com

https://justpatternsbyshelbs.etsy.com

You can check out what I have for sale on my website here!

Now, let’s jump into things!

As I said before, I have always been into art in some way. My mom is VERY talented with drawing and painting. She painted a lot more when she was younger, but she still draws all the time.

My grandma first taught me how to sew and *kinda* how a sewing machine works when I was very young. She sewed various items growing up, and taught me how to sew some basic things. 

I painted a lot with my best friends in grade school, but it was usually just random stuff painting for fun on a girls night! My sophomore year of high school, I had to take a Home Ec type class. I was actually kind of excited! 

The first half of the semester was cooking, which is always fun of course! The second half of the semester was all about sewing. This really piqued my interest and I remembered how much I liked it!

We made a pillow and a pair of shorts, along with various other small things to learn how to use the machine first. I remember taking these to my grandparents house and excited I was to show her! I actually still wear those shorts to this day haha!

Fast forward to Christmas that year.. My grandma actually bought me a little sewing machine! It was nothing fancy, but perfect for a little high schooler who wanted to play around. I think I actually ended up only using that sewing machine like once.. Then it sat in my parents basement for years after that.

When I went to college, I got into painting a lot. I tried all sorts of different styles, but a lot of my stuff ended up being more 2-D, trippy, random kinda stuff. I came to learn how expensive canvases actually are, and how much space they take up on my walls.

I ended up getting a notebook that had canvas pages in it. So it was like you are painting on canvas, but I could keep creating without having to find a place to put all these paintings! 

Fast forward again to my senior year of college.. I was taking some tough science classes, and I really needed to make some last ditch efforts to boost my GPA as much as I could! I decided to take a leap, and take some art classes. I was very unsure of what to do, but I wanted to do something different than I have ever done, and learn something totally new. 

I eventually signed up for… ceramics! Trust me, it is a tough learning curve. From hand building to throwing on the wheel, you definitely have a lot to learn if you’ve never done it! But once you get the hang of it, you can progress a lot quicker.

I ended up falling in LOVE with this class! I couldn’t keep myself out of the studio. I was there all the time making pots or cups or bowls, glazing them, helping fire them, I just wanted to do everything!

The next semester, I decided to stay on this GPA boosting spree and I signed up for Ceramics 2, but I also decided to sign up for a cast and mold making class!

They were in the same room and used the same kilns, but they are VERY different. This gave me even more of a reason to be in there all the time! I made some super cool projects between those two classes. 

My favorite thing I made in my cast and mold making class was a plaster mold of a styrofoam human sized skull I bought off amazon! I was even more stoked seeing my professor’s face light up when I showed him what I wanted to make a mold of!

When I finally got the plaster mold made, which was already a week long process, I was starting to cast my skulls! Because of the size and shape of the molding, it took about 7-8 HOURS to get one skull! It took about 30-40 minutes to sit with the clay in it, and then it had to sit for another about 6-7 hours before I could take it out of the mold. 

Even though I could really only get one skull a day, they turned out so cool and it was sooo worth it!

After graduating from college, I actually stayed a 5th year and got another certification. During this 5th year, I was allowed to keep making stuff in the ceramics studio if I helped them out with the firings! 

I even built and fired my own Raku pit kiln! This was such a cool thing to do. I read about it online and went to my professor with my idea and a plan. He tweaked my plan a little bit and helped to correct some things to work with what we had, but he was excited to see me trying to venture out!

After graduating (again), I moved back home with my big girl job. I quickly got my own apartment and I just felt kinda empty without something to do. I didn’t have the ceramics studio anymore, and I was just kind of tired of painting. 

I did buy a Cricut and I have done sooo much with that. I still make shirts and small projects all the time as gifts or as commissions. 

I did lots of pinterest research and eventually decided to bust out that old sewing machine! I had an idea for a quilt, but I had to teach myself the basics all over again. I made a few small things, and a few purchases of supplies over time, and I was ready to jump in!

I had a very specific plan for my first quilt. I am a HUGE Mac Miller fan (Rest in peace <3). His Blue Slide Park album looks like a common quilt block shape – a 60 degree triangle! It is a bunch of various colors with a white background, and the Blue Slide down the center. I pretty much copied the exact pattern, and made it into a quilt!

Several months later, my mom and I went on a girls trip to Pittsburgh one weekend. I had to go to Blue Slide Park and take my Blue Slide Quilt with me!

I have gotten so many compliments on that quilt, and it never gets old <3

Since then, I have been pushing myself and seeing what all I can do with quilts and quilt-related projects. I have also gone back to basic projects, because quilting does take a lot of time and supplies, and both of those things cost money!

I started doing craft shows to help sell a bunch of the projects I have made over the years. My self-designed wine bags have always been my best seller at every craft show I have done! You can check out and purchase my self-drafted pattern here!

I have recently started to take my art more seriously. I love making things, but what I love more, is the dopamine hit when someone buys the things I make! I am not a huge fan of commission based projects, because I like just creating my own stuff instead of being restricted or told what to make. 

My boyfriend has now moved in and he has really encouraged me to push my boundaries. He knows how much I love creating and sewing and helping others, so he was really the driving factor behind starting my blog and my YouTube channel. I had made my Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook pages a while back, but that was more just a place to post fun stuff and have all of my projects and pictures in one place.

Now, I have decided to officially launch this blog and my YouTube channel to help others. Yes I want to get my name out there and sell my products and patterns, but I love to help and I want to teach YOU everything you want to know!

Do you like tutorials, or do you like to know how I ran my table at craft fairs? Do you enjoy the content about sewing. or do you want to see more drawings from Procreate or paintings on canvas?

I have some big things planned, both for the blog and Youtube channel, but also projects that I CAN’T WAIT to walk you through my process!!

Please like, follow, and subscribe to my social media channels, especially YouTube, to stay up to date with what I am up to, and let me know what you want to learn, or any challenges you think I should do 🙂