Today we’d like to introduce you to Jan Huling

Hi Jan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

Being an artist has always been a given in my life since I was very small. My mother was artistic so an interest in the arts was always encouraged. By the time I was applying to art schools I decided that commercial art was the direction I wanted to take and so, after graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute I spent 5 very formative years working at Hallmark Cards before moving to NYC to peruse a freelance career. For many years I enjoyed success as a designer of everything from home textiles to dinnerware, holiday decor to plush toys. It was a lot of fun, pretty easy and I met tons of wonderful people and even got to travel to some very interesting places.

Throughout those years I usually had a craft project going on the side, be it embroidery or jewelry making. My mom was an avid and very talented quilter so handicrafts are kind of in my DNA. In 2001 my sister came to visit and brought 3 Pez dispensers that she had beaded and I was immediately smitten and wanted to try this new craft myself. I decided to bead a plastic kazoo and it was so cute that I did another. And another. And a bunch of them. Then I did a box to put them in. Then I was on HGTV’s Crafters Coast to Coast and then stuff got serious! I started working on bigger more ambitious projects and my work started to get published in various books and magazines and I was invited to participate in the New Jersey Craft Annual at the late great Jersey City Museum. After that I realized that if I wanted to give fine arts a try I would need to dedicate much more time to it, so in 2008 I left the safety of freelance commercial art and have been beading full time ever since.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

The road I’ve followed has been pretty darn smooth although, as with most roads, has had its share of twists and turns. Most significantly at the beginning.

As I’ve mentioned, I quit my nice safe day job in 2008 – right when the economy took a nose dive. My plan was to show my work at the American Craft Council’s Baltimore show and return as a star! So we rented a van to get my work there, rented a space at the show, rented the pipe and drape and lights, bought display furniture, booked a hotel room…

The first day of the show I sold a card for 5 bucks. The next two days weren’t much better. It didn’t matter that most people weren’t doing well, it was a real blow to my ego as well as to my bank account. We drove back to New Jersey in a snowstorm and I took to my bed, licking my wounds and wondering if I should call my old freelance clients. But I didn’t. I decided to concentrate on an upcoming craft fair at Lincoln Center. This one was a little easier since I had all of the equipment I needed and lived just outside of NYC. But my work is expensive and even though I repeatedly heard “best in show”, sales were practically nonexistent. I learned that I didn’t want to try to compete in the craft fair world. Back to bed.

Soon after that I received an email from a gallery in NYC that I’d never heard of, the Lyons-Weir Gallery, but that sounded interesting; they were opening up the gallery space for 7 weekends that summer while the art world was pretty dead. Anyone could show anything on a 5 foot swath of wall, first come, first served. One could show one weekend or all 7 and whoever sold the most would win a solo show. Sounded good to me, I figured at the very least I could add “showed at New York gallery” to my résumé. I went to check it out the first weekend and decided it was definitely doable so the next Friday I loaded the car with my work and asked my husband to drive in on Saturday morning. I grabbed a book and a beach chair and headed into the city. When I showed up at the gallery and asked where to line up, I was met with amazement – “Go home!” they said. “Come back in the morning!” I asked if they could guarantee that I’d be first on line and when they said no, I said “We’ll then, I’m staying”, took my chair and book out to the sidewalk and commenced to wait. I knew that it was important that my work be in the window because when sunlight hits those glass beads it’s pure magic.

The weekend was a blast! People stopped in front of the gallery to stare at my work. Folks who had never walked into an art gallery came in to see everyone’s work. Little kids dragged their parents in. I made $10,000 that weekend and easily won the solo show! That gallery also ended up representing me for several lucrative years and gave me my professional start for which I will always be grateful.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I create beaded sculptures by gluing beads, chain, cabochons and other ephemera on to solid, found substrates. I often like to change the substrate by, maybe, adding wings or lopping off a head and exchanging in with a teapot. The beads are placed in patterns, mostly using overlapping mandalas to completely cover the form. Nothing is planned out or sketched beforehand, I enjoy watching my designs grow organically and choosing the colors as I go along. The pieces that I create range in size from 5” actual beetles to an 8’ praying mantis mannequin with so much in between. Some of my signature shapes include my Kewpie dolls and my Everything is Alive series of Potheads.

My largest and most personal piece is The Gown: Affinity which is currently on display at the Museum of Beadwork in Portland Maine. It is a 3D printed copy of the gown that my mother, her two sisters and I each wore to get married. I made this piece as a memorial to my mom when she died and I’m very, very proud of it. All together it took one very intense year and was difficult both physically and emotionally but the result is honestly breathtaking.

There are many artists who work with beads – I’m friends with many and have even taught some, but I think that my work is immediately recognizable as mine. From my signature mandalas to the complex details and color choices, if one is familiar with my work they can pick it out of a crowd.

Any big plans?

I recently had a three month solo show at the wonderful Morris Museum in Morristown New Jersey called Everything is Alive which was very exciting for me! In conjunction with that show, the nearby Neiman Marcus had a small month-long show of my work which included The Gown: Affinity. Now I’m gearing up for the next solo show at the Monmouth Museum in Monmouth New Jersey which will most likely happen sometime next year. I’m working on a series of wall mounted pieces, very abstract, that I’m having a lot of fun with.

My husband and I have also been working on self-publishing a book of my work with which I hope to be able to rustle up more shows, perhaps beyond New Jersey! For updates on the book’s availability, notifications of upcoming events and to see new work, please follow me on Instagram @JanHulingBeads.

My work is represented by the Duane Reed Gallery in St. Louis, Missouri and by the Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Please contact either for information about pricing and availability.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.janhuling.com
• Instagram: @JanHulingBeads
• Facebook: Jan Huling – Beadist