Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Connie Noftsier. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Connie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

When I was nine my mom bought me my first embroidery kit and I fell in love with stitching! Learning the stitches from the many kits instructions I found creative ways to put embroidery on everything, the apron I made in Home Economics class needed just a little something to personalize it as mine, shirts, pillow cases, you name it, it would look better with embroidery on it! Even my floppy jean hat didn’t get out of the house without a little something extra embroidered on it! ​

As time has passed from those days of kits I now create my own patterns and color schemes for projects. I find it important to keep stretching my skills, using tutorials and books; put in the studio time daily if I can, to build the set of techniques and processes that become unique to me and my style.

It takes many, many hours to master an art medium and develop your voice, there is no way around that. And why would you want to short circuit the process if you truly enjoy the medium?

Some times ideas come to me in the night or when I’m in nature, of a new subject or pattern and because they are 3D, called stump embroidery, its often a question of how to create something that will actually look like the subject you are portraying. Prototype mock ups are important to stump embroidery, made from simple felt to see if the shape is correct before I put in the many hours of stitching.

I do wish I had some sort of schooling or mentoring early on in how to enter shows and market fine art, but I have found some programs to learn that from in the last couple years that have been very helpful.

Connie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My passion for fiber art continued once I got married and I created hooped wedding samplers for many of our friends as gifts. Then it progressed to crewel needlework and then counted cross stitch as our children grew.

Recently I became fascinated by 3D embroidery and needle painting and started my art business, Connie Noftsier Studio. I have developed intricate patterns for several fiber art mushrooms, leaves, moss, flowers and butterflies from New York State. I then mount them as sculptural art on wood and stone I collect in the foothills of the Adirondacks to display on mantles, walls and tabletops of homes and lodges in the Adirondack and 1000 Island areas. They are often just the right size for a certain spot on the wall or table that needs a little something interesting.

​My husband and I live in the foothills of the Adirondacks and I have easy opportunity to research and experience the mushrooms, moss, wildflowers and butterflies that inspire my art. We love to camp in our “new” 1985 SCOTTY camper and I bring along simpler projects to work on even when we camp or vacation. I have a line of small, pocket sized stuffed felt animals: a moose, bear and bunny that have been recent vacation projects. Felt ornaments of birds are also a favorite at my festival booth and were vacation projects.

We also love to eat mushrooms! The process of foraging in the woods for edible mushrooms with my husband in the Adirondacks and the 1000 Islands to photograph, study, and eat for dinner is a fulfilling adventure that I find I crave more and more.

I am pleased to offer a custom service to clients wanting a unique piece of art of their property! I create aerial view embroideries of their camp or home, often times on a lake or river. Their property buildings, docks and landscape are featured in the embroidery along the lake or river’s edge or in the woods. I’ve even had a commission for a cut-de-sac suburb in California. The landscapes are a favorite to do for clients as they are so unique and personal to them.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Something that I recently have been able to articulate is when a piece of art is sold you are actually buying the artist more time to create, to push the boundaries of their experience, to improve and be innovative and possibly come up with a new technique or art form that advances their medium. You are enabling them to pay their bills and have the relaxed head space and time to create more and better art.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I mentioned having found mentoring online with how to apply to shows, and how to market art. The online program I found does so much more than that and does it so well. It’s an on-going program that is added to all the time and has weekly zoom calls that encourage and motivate you to go further and higher in your business and art medium and even allows you to ask new questions that aren’t addressed in the program. Matt Tommey Mentoring Program has impacted my business and art practices immensely and I recommend the program to those who want to grow their business.

Contact Info:

• Website: connienoftsierstudio.com
• Instagram: Connie Noftsier Studio
• Facebook: Connie Noftsier Studio