While living on Lummi Island in Washington's Puget Sound - where eagles and blue
herons are seen daily - I became very interested in wildlife, especially birds.
I was at home with my young children and decided to try to make some money selling
crafts. The first letterholder I made was for my own table, to replace a broken
plastic napkin holder. We raised sheep, so it was of two sheep. Friends noticed
it while over for dinner and asked if I made them to sell. From there the business
blossomed, and I sold hundreds of these acrylic paintings on wood, but I found
that such utilitarian art stopped selling whewn the price went above $45.00. Since
each letterholder took about eight hours to produce ( I cut them out, sanded them
and painted them all myself...see the bottom images for a look at the process)
I couldn't afford to keep making them, and in fact I have about a hundred unpainted
blanks (sanded and gessoed) stored in case I ever have time to resume this as
a hobby. I did love painting them.