Featured Artist: Mary Jurs

Mary Jurs of Fairview Park is this week’s featured artist. She sells on Etsy under the shop names Whimsy Folk and Daydream Designs 77.

What is your first memory of your craft? Did someone teach you, or did you learn on your own?
Although there were many people who influenced my love of working with my hands, I have to credit my mom with introducing me to sewing. My mom loved to invest in Bernina sewing machines to the point that you’d think she had stock in the company!  When Mom bought her first Bernina, she sent my sister and me to Stretch and Sew to learn how to use the machine.  I think I was about ten years old at that point. Eight or so lessons later, I was hooked. From there, I basically learned on my own. Mom would answer any questions I might have and helped me learn to read patterns. I felt ALIVE being able to create and sewing eventually became a passion. I started with clothing for myself and for those of my sisters who didn’t mind the handmade look. I continued sewing through college and beyond, making most of my daughter’s clothing, while they were young. I moved on to quilting ten years ago, when I took a job at a local quilt shop and have made 23 quilts to date! I now work for an interior design company, making custom window treatments for local designers and their clients. Sewing is still a passion and I now own four Berninas of my own!  Apparently Mom’s influence is still at work on me!

What is it that draws you to your craft material?
Color, texture, pattern and the possible ways in which they can be combined and made into something wonderful! I love to combine and stack fabrics and trims together and let them mesh for a few days before returning to see if the combos are still desirable. If so, they are sewn into dolls or totes or pillows or whatever else pops into my head at the moment.

How would you describe the style of your work? Does it reflect your personal style?
I would describe my style as folk art — quirky and unusual, even odd at times, and usually very colorful. This is totally opposite my own personal style, where I tend to dress in dark colors and simple, plain clothing, hoping NOT to stand out in a crowd. 

What are your inspirations? How are they expressed in your work?
My inspiration comes from music, art, friends and family, color, and other talented artists. They all work together to help mold my creations.

Do you have an all-time favorite creation? What about it makes it your favorite?
My all time favorite creation has got to be the photo transfer quilt made up of pictures of all of our animals, both past and present, in varying stages of their lives. Once my pictures were transferred to fabric I cropped them down, grouped them together, added colored borders and arranged them in a pleasing display. The end result was an unusual, one of a kind quilt. It was a surprise gift for my husband, who absolutely LOVES all of our animals, and it meant the world to him. I had so much fun making that quilt, just knowing how surprised he would be!

When did you realize that this was more than a hobby?
I realized sewing was more than a hobby when it became a passion, sometime after college.

Describe your workspace.
My workspace is an atrocious mess most of the time. Stacks and bins of fabric and trims and batting and stuffing everywhere. Containers of thread and embroidery floss and buttons and bells and whistles! Books and binders and scraps of paper with doodled ideas. My workroom is the place that I keep some of my favorite things — quilts and wallhangings, my daughter’s artwork, favorite gifts, etc.  It may be a mess, but it’s a mess that I absolutely LOVE!!

What is your favorite task related to your work? Your least favorite?
My favorite task is spreading out and fondling all my fabrics. My least favorite is cleaning up my workroom.

What is your favorite tool? Why?
So many to choose from, but I’ll have to say a sewing needle and thread, either attached to my machine or held in my hand. It is with a needle and thread that all of my work begins.

Do you have artistic talents in other areas?
I suppose I have a bit of talent in other areas. I can sing and play piano, can draw resonably well, and have a knack for color in an interior design type of way. I also have great fun in the kitchen, cooking and baking, and, if tennis can be considered an artistic talent, I have some skill there, too!

Tell us something about you that we might be surprised to hear.
I once tried out for a rock and roll band and had aspirations of becoming a rock star. Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac were my idols.

Where can we find your work?
You can find my designs at daydreamdesigns77.etsy.com and at whimsyfolk.etsy.com.
You can also find my handbags and totes at BAYarts in Bay Village at Huntington Beach.
Vist my blog at daydreamdesigns77.blogspot.com