Local Makers: Jessica Collins of Sunny in Georgia

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Meet Jessica from Sunny in Georgia! Holy Sunshine - she's lovely! Swing by and hang out this Saturday at Reformation! (RSVP on Facebook here.)

What do you make?

Apparel + accessories.

What does your average day look like?

Coffee, keeping up with my 3 crazy kids, more coffee, maybe an idea or two, an IPA, then bed.

What inspires you to keep making work? 

My kids inspire me to keep on going... I want them to be proud of me. When I'm in a rut, I need to leave where I am and stop thinking about it so much. Ideas are born when you least expect them (like driving over railroad tracks).

What is the hardest lesson you learned through your business/creative process?

You need to trust yourself. Become friends with your mistakes and fears. Always ask questions, always listen.

What's the best part about doing what you do?

I know a little part of my life is in everything that is produced. When people smile when seeing anything of ours, I am happy.

What sorts of new things are on the horizon?

While I do have new graphics that are coming...I am currently reprinting some of our original graphics in new colors!

Local Makers: Meredith Bradley of City Sloth Ceramics

Meet the wonderful Meredith Bradley of City Sloth! Meredith and I met a while back through another Maker's event. I have loved seeing her style grow and change over time. (Dusty and I are lusky enough to own a few of her pieces. Love!) There's always something new and interesting to find at her booth. Come take a peek this Saturday at the Maker's Mash!

What do you make?

Porcelain wheel thrown, screenprinted functional ceramics

How did you get started making?

I first became interested in making in high school through the three dimensional AP art class where I was able to explore different mediums, techniques, and overall processes. At this time I was mainly creating mixed media figurative sculptures that had ceramic elements. Once in college, I landed at MudFire, community ceramic studio in Decatur, GA, where I currently work as a resident artist. Here, I have been able to explore functional wheel thrown forms, while incorporating other elements of design through screenprinting.

What does your average day look like?

My average day entails juggling a lot of different things - from working on my own pieces and forms, developing new screens and designs, learning marketing necessities for a small business, working on shift at MudFire or at my part-time marketing job at a local start-up, and everything in between.

What inspires you to keep making work?

Staying motivated and inspired to continue pushing out work is definitely hard to keep up consistently. I often turn to my studio mentors and fellow residents at MudFire to stay motivated - we’re each others accountability partners - and I think it’s important to have someone to bounce ideas off of and help you out during slow creative making times.

What is the hardest lesson you learned through your business/creative process?

Throughout learning how to run a ceramic business, I have found that patience and timing is something I run into too often to ignore. With ceramics, coordinating the timing for making attachments and screen printing the pieces is always a difficult task, especially since it is almost always inconsistent. It’s a hard lesson in ceramics, but with running a business as well. Learning everything necessary to run a business takes time, and a lot of patience.

What's the best part about making what you make?

I enjoy surrounding myself with objects reminiscent of the home which brings motivation to make pieces for others to enliven their personal spaces. Sharing this same comfort with someone else through my work is the best part about making.

What are you working on now?

I am constantly looking for new inspiration for my screenprints - right now, I am narrowing down on my forms and focusing on a new direction for my screenprints.

Can't wait to see! Keep in touch with Meredith on Instagram and on her site too! See you this weekend! :)

Local Makers: Samantha Dickey of Dirty Beauty Skincare

Meet Samantha of Dirty Beauty! Come out and hang with us this weekend at the Maker's Mash at Reformation Brewery this Saturday from 5-8! 

First off, what do you make and how did you get started?

We make plant-based science-based skincare + cosmetics. We discovered that the ingredients in natural skincare are the same ingredients our grandparents grew on their family farms. We combined that with our love for technology + experience in Lab Science to develop a line of cosmetics that's driven by getting results - clear healthy looking skin!

What does your average day look like?

Our average day in the Lab is total Glad Science! We mix + measure just picked plants & flowers and fill beautiful earth-friendly bottles and jars. All day!

What inspires you?

We are inspired by men + women of all complexions that let us know that our product formulas make a positive difference in the way their skin looks. That makes them happy and us happy too! To stay fresh + focused, we rent a bike and head for the trails in downtown Woodstock!

What is the hardest lesson you learned through your business/creative process?

The hardest lesson is that it takes lots of time + trial + error to get good things right! And that the creative process requires us to SLOW DOWN!!!

What's the best part about doing what you do?

The best part is seeing clear healthy looking skin as a result of our science + math based efforts!

What are you working on now?

Customized + Personalized skincare in a snap! We want beauty seekers to come to our Lab and get their bespoke face mask + moisturizers in just minutes! 

We also LOVE introducing young people to STEM! We use beauty to let students know that math + science is creative & glamorous! (Check this video out! So awesome!!)

Keep up with Dirty Beauty on Facebook, Instagram and their site! Come out and hang this Saturday at Reformation Brewery from 5-8!