Emerald Greene Parsons
ECB Publishing, Inc.
For most of her life, artist Heather Ainsley has had an affinity for the arts. Although she loved to doodle and color as a young child, she began to seriously pursue art when she was given her first sketchbook on her 13th birthday. From there, she began exploring different mediums- sketching, painting and crafting things that were inspired by the world around her. Although Ainsley always considered her art to be a casual hobby, for the last few years, she has begun to pursue it as a part-time profession.
“I have always done art, almost out of impulse,” reflects Ainsley. “I find it is a great way to explore my emotions and thoughts, and it can be really satisfying to create something that never existed before. When I first started selling my art, it was largely by accident. I shared some of my work on my social media, and people wanted to buy it from me! I was stunned, at first. Art was just something I did. I never would have guessed that I was making something other people wanted, because it was always just for me. Then a friend of mine suggested that I set up a booth in the local Watermelon Festival in 2017, and that was my first time really making art with an intention to sell.”
Fast forward to today, and Ainsley is the proud talent behind her free-lance art business, Art Enchanted. You may have seen her at local art festivals and events, set up under her vendor tent, selling a variety of handcrafted and original artwork. She has participated as a vendor in several local Watermelon Festivals, various local craft shows and has even traveled as far as Port St. Joe for the chance to share her art with buyers. She specializes in several different mediums, and customers can get anything from woodburnings to paintings, or even hand-painted concrete leaves that Ainsley casts herself.
“I never know what to say when people ask me what sort of art I do,” laughs Ainsley. “I guess I do a little of everything. Some projects are more time consuming than others, so I tend to sort of default to the ones that aren't as time-consuming, because I work full time.”
“A great deal of making art is learning, and being okay with being really, really bad at something,” she continues. “I've made some great pieces that I'm proud of but I've also made a lot of really ugly art, too! There's a learning curve to doing anything new, and I find that process to be really rewarding if you stick with it.”
Ainsley enjoys a wide variety of projects, and her favorites include sewing hand-made journals and sketchbooks, creating personalized planners for clients, wood-burning her designs into wood, painting with acrylic and watercolor paints, creating stationary card sets, making concrete leaf garden décor, and painting rocks to hide around town. She also regularly keeps a sketchbook and is currently working on a comic book collaboration with a friend of hers.
This month has been a busy one for Ainsley, as she has been spending all of her free time eagerly prepping her inventory for her next festival. This Friday, Dec. 2, starting at 5 p.m., she will be setting up her Art Enchanted booth at the Monticello Christmas event, Christmas Around the World. In addition to her usual woodburnings and paintings, she plans to have holiday-themed items for sale, such as Christmas ornaments and holiday cards, and will also be holding a raffle! If you're on the lookout for unique and special items that would make for the perfect gift this holiday season, stop by during the festival and browse her selection. Her booth will be set up in front of CowHaus Coffee Co., and she can't wait to see you there!
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