We were lucky to catch up with Cindy Hamilton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cindy, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I come from a creative family, with musicians and artists on my mom’s side, and my dad was always an innovative creator, constantly trying new things. I knew from a pretty young age that I wanted to do something creative, but the exact career path changed a few times. When I was little, I would perform concerts for my family, and I wanted to be a singer like Mariah Carey or Janet Jackson. Then in high school, I took a lot of creative electives, from stained glass & ceramics to drafting and photography, and decided to pursue Interior Design in college. I continued taking as many art classes as I could in college, like screen printing, painting, and jewelry making. After I graduated with my BA in Interior Design, it was tough getting a job, being the start of the great recession, so I painted and made jewelry and got the opportunity to sell my work in a local shop and festival, and continued doing similar things for a few years until I could finally work in my industry.

After I worked in the field as a kitchen & bath designer for a few years, I realized I was much more passionate about the art I was creating and was being created by artists around me. A few years after college, a group of artists in our neighborhood in Milwaukee opened Foxglove Gallery, a collective art gallery where we could showcase our work and host other local artists with a themed monthly show. When we moved to Denver I went back to kitchen & bath design for a couple years and re-realized that wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. I worked at a mushroom farm, growing gourmet mushrooms for a couple years before and during the pandemic, and got inspired by the beauty of the fungi, which I’ve always been obsessed with, and started making art regularly again.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In the second year of the great panini, the mushroom farm I had been working at had closed, and I was making more art, but not ready to go out in public yet. Then I had a video chat with some friends who encouraged me to finally open my Etsy shop, something I had been procrastinating on for years. I initially started setting up my shop in 2014, so I already had the name, Funky Natured, which I established back when I was part of running a collective art gallery. For a little over a year, I just focused on growing my Etsy shop and making a ton of art and jewelry. In June 2022, I was finally ready to get back into art markets and have thrived in that environment. Meeting other creators has been a huge highlight of getting back into selling my art in person. In Oct 22 I found a group of makers that feels like home in the monthly Denver Magick Makers Market.

I am a Gemini and get bored quickly. I’m always trying new techniques and mediums with my art. Currently, I’m making hot glue jewelry, Illuminated Magickal Mushroom Lands, wood burned/pressed flower/resin trays, and joint holders. But you can find all sorts of funky and nature-themed art in my shop like dried flower and mushroom jewelry, needle felted art and jewelry, art boxes, lichen forest jewelry, pyrography jewelry, block printed cards, bags, bookmarks, and clothing, and more! I typically don’t take commissions and just make the next idea that pops into my head.

The thing that sets me and my work apart from others is the unique mix of retro, psychedelic, brightly colored art with themes of nature, and natural materials.

I am most proud of the growth Funky Natured has experienced in the last two years through consistency and persistence. I want my potential customers to know that they’ll never get bored with my creations, I’m always making new things, and have something for everyone who is funky at heart.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The goal for my creative journey is to be able to support myself, my husband, and our cats with my art. I’m trying to get my brand established online so that we can build an Earthship in the woods and grow food, and make art and magic amongst the trees.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think that the arts need to be encouraged and properly funded in schools.

Social media needs to raise artists up, rather than making them navigate this abstract algorithm to get a couple of likes.

The general public can help by valuing art and products created by hand.

Contact Info:

• Website: etsy.com/shop/FunkyNatured
• Instagram: FunkyNaturedArt
• Facebook: Funky Natured Art
• Other: tiktok: @funkynatured

Image Credits
all photos credited to Funky Natured