We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful DeLea Kearse. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with DeLea below.

Alright, DeLea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

In 2018, after discovering a sketch app that I liked, I began creating various images inspired by love songs, then started writing poetry about what I saw in the drawings. But these pieces felt special, and I knew, almost immediately, that I didn’t just want to file them away. The next year, I felt it would be a worthwhile endeavor to marry the two in the most meaningful way I knew how. It was then that I founded TopKnot DediKations, LLC, which specializes in ANY OCCASION, romantic artwork that doubles as greeting cards.

Although most of the cards are romantic in nature, they are, again, ideal for ANY OCCASION. This includes birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Sweetest Day, anniversaries, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. And I purposely leave romantic cards blank on the inside to allow for personalized sentiments like what one might see in a store. These might include, good luck, congratulations, thank you, get well soon, thinking of you, miss you, and, of course, I love you.

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

Of course, you already know my name, but I typically go by Dee Kay since it’s much easier to pronounce. While I grew up in the Midwest, I’ve spent most of my adult life in the South, with my husband. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had an interest in the visual arts. And because I was always surrounded by musicians, they were typically the subjects of my earliest works, and drawn inside of album covers or empty pages of scrapbooks. Then, during high school, I quietly began dabbling in poetry. But I got away from all of it after college, except for my love of music, and would only design something out of necessity.

If it is not obvious, meaningful relationships are particularly important to me, so my primary goal is to celebrate love (and it just so happens that I get to celebrate music as part of the creative process). And I’m very intentional about celebrating love of various skin tones, body types and age groups. So, staying inside the lines or making the characters anatomically correct is not a priority.

Another one of my heart’s desires is to inspire creativity as often as I can, through virtual events where followers can showcase their own talents. To date, most have focused on poetry. In fact, hearing and reading poems from those who tell me, “I’m not a poet,” brings me lots of joy, especially to be part of their coming out party. Because I have my head down most of the time, this also allows opportunities to engage with family, friends, fans, and followers in a celebratory fashion.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

While, at first, I did not realize how labor intensive the creative process would be, it gives me a sense of pride to say that all of the artwork, poetry and event concepts are original. And this extends to content creation for our website, social media accounts, newsletters, and videos.

On the flip side, being a one-woman show, the biggest challenge has been finding balance. In addition to what I’ve already mentioned, I do all of the photography, design the marketing materials and packaging, perform the quality control, and manage the distribution. With all of this and working a full-time job, which is polar opposite of what I do for TopKnot DediKations, unfortunately, I’m not able to release the work as quickly as I would like. But I enjoy creating, and this is why I’m here.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Earlier in the creative journey, I wish I would have been more active on the various social media outlets. Although I’ve had some exposure to e-commerce, I was not as familiar with social media marketing. I have gained a good bit of knowledge along the way however, and I look forward to learning more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dedikations.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topknotdedikations/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/topknotdedikations
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC31FNDFEdzFaIjU3yMTfu4Q

Image Credits
All photography, artwork, and poetry created by DeLea Kearse