Featured Community Artist: Ann Tatum

We are very excited to share our next Featured Community Artist: Ann Tatum! Ann has contributed to the Walnut Hollow blog through our Walnut Hollow Influencers Program, runs a successful handmade jewelry business, and blogs within the DIY world. We sat down with Ann to get a better idea of how she creates, how she is inspired, and where you can find more of her work. Here is her story:

I’m a Texas girl living in Northern California. Married for almost 30 years. Both my daughters are married now and we have one grandson. A couple of years ago I “retired” from my office job to create full time!

WH: Tell us a little about yourself:

AT: My main job is making jewelry. I design, create, and sell my own jewelry online, at vintage markets, and wholesale to boutiques across the country. But I can’t contain my creativity to just jewelry so I post other projects on my blogs and sell painted and repurposed pieces at the markets I go to. Repurposing is a big part of what I do. I love finding things at flea markets and thrift stores and giving them a new life.

WH: What inspires your work?

AT: I get inspiration from everywhere — Pinterest, magazines, store displays, vintage markets, etc. When I see something I like I buy it and wait for inspiration to strike. Most of the time I don’t know what I’m going to do with a piece or even new supplies. I just know there’s something about it that I like.

WH: How did you get started making art?

AT: I started making art from before I can even remember! My mother was an art major and she always had some kind of little project for us to do. I was a home economics major in college and I loved the design and merchandising classes but wasn’t a true art major.

WH: What is your favorite way to use wood in your art?

AT: I love neutrals so I usually stain raw wood and use neutral paint colors. Except for turquoise… love turquoise! I like to make useful things so I make a lot of jewelry display and storage.

WH: What’s your favorite Walnut Hollow product to work with?

AT: My very favorite Walnut Hollow product has been the rustic tote that I painted for one of my blog posts. I use it all the time. It holds my colored pencils and markers and I can carry it around the house to wherever I want to color.

WH: What do you do for “fun”, besides creating fabulous DIY projects and art?

AT: I like to hike, dig in the dirt, and go junkin’!

WH: What’s the next step for your business and art?

AT: I’m refining my jewelry line to make the online shop easier to manage. Last year I opened a Shopify shop (DuctTapeAndDenim.net) to see how that compares to Etsy.

I’m trying out a few new big vintage markets in California and Texas this year, too.

No books yet. Although I’m encouraging my daughter to finish a coloring book she started and I’ll be selling that for her.

WH: Where can we see more of your work?

AT: www.DuctTapeAndDenim.com

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Every day, thousands of artists across the globe use Walnut Hollow products and share them on the internet. We’ve seen incredible pyrography paintings, beautiful chalk painted home decor, adorable clay figures, and more created with our products and tools and now, we’d like to share the story behind those artists with you.

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Get 30% off all sale items starting this week by using the promotional code: MEMORIAL30 at checkout.

Before you go, be sure to enter our giveaway this month using the link below!

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