We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Megan Strachan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Megan below.
Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I guess in a way, I have always wanted to pursue an artistic career professionally. I have always been a creative person, in all avenues, however, it never really seemed like a realistic or viable dream until I started making and posting my resin jewelry. I got a ton of support online, and I started getting custom requests. That was the moment it kind of clicked, like, hey? I could do this full time one day? Since then, I have expanded my shop from just resin jewelry to include polymer clay jewelry, acrylic jewelry, keychains, stickers, punch-needle coasters, wall hangs, hand-tufted rugs, and more every day! I have had the opportunity recently to make several custom rugs for some wonderful people’s home, and I still have two more waiting as I type this! I still am not anywhere near being able to quit my full-time job, but I am growing and every day the dreams gets a little closer to my grasp!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Well, for starters. Hello everyone! My name is Megan, I am 25 years old, and I love all of mother nature’s beauty, and honestly anything cute. I have always been an artist of many mediums, but The Toadstool Treasury came about from my love of foraging in recent years. My boyfriend and his family forage for mushrooms, and when we started dating I fell in love with it too! I am so incredibly interested in mycelium and fascinated by all of the magic they offer our world. Also, they are beautiful! I wanted to preserve them, like flowers, so I did some research and discovered resin. I began trying to preserve my little friends, and turned them into earrings and necklaces! I originally just made some for myself, as a personal project, but my coworkers at the time loved them and asked if I would make them some too! My boyfriend encouraged me to start posting online, and everyone loved it! From there I decided to make separate social media accounts for my pieces, and I needed a name. Thus, The Toadstool Treasury was born. Since then, I have been feeling more creative than ever and have picked up clay sculpting, punch needling, rug tufting, and I am currently learning wood burning! I have gotten exponentially better at digital art as well, which has definitely assisted me not only in marketing and branding myself, but in creating a ton of new and more professionally made looking products such as my stickers and acrylic earrings. I will say, a huge turning point for me was definitely getting my rug tufting gun. My parents have always been supportive of my artistic abilities, and my dad saw videos online about rug tufting and immediately thought that was something I would be interested in. He and my mom got me my tufting gun and a started kit for Christmas, and my dad built me the frame. I picked it up pretty quickly, with a lot of help from YouTube, and got to work! I have gotten several custom orders for rugs, one being one of my favorite custom pieces I have ever made. A friend of mine asked if I would make a bust style rug of her nude body, in a gem-toned heat map. I am an incredibly passionate advocate for women and self love, and the colors were beautiful, so this was a dream project. The content I posted of the process of making this rug helped grow my platform online significantly. I still struggle with posting consistently, but hey, I’m an artist, not a media marketing expert. I’ll get that one day too, just like everything else.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Primarily, my art centers around wildlife adnative species because I am a huge lover of the outdoors, and all of the natural beauty this earth has to offer. My mission with my art is to help people connect with and appreciate the things around them, and find the beauty in the wildlife in your own backyard. People will travel miles and miles for hiking trails and wildlife, without even knowing what your local woods and lakes have to offer. I am also passionate about local conservation! My boyfriend and I even painted murals for the Thumb Coast Drain Project, to promote clean waterways. Since we live in a Port town on the river, it is so important for us to be reminded that everything goes downstream.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of getting to create and sell my artwork, is absolutely all of the wonderful people I have met. From farmers markets, to festivals, to the internet, I love getting to connect with other creatives and collaborate. I have made some wonderful friends and supporters in other vendors! I love being surrounded with creative people, including my boyfriend who also does a TON of artwork himself as well as being a musician. Being surrounded by like minded creatives has allowed me to grow exponentially as an artist, and I am constantly learning new things!
Contact Info:
- Website: ToadstoolTreasuryMI.etsy.com
- Instagram: thetoadstooltreasury
- Facebook: The Toadstool Treasury
- TikTok: @thetoadstooltreasury