We recently connected with Wendy Hoy and have shared our conversation below.

Wendy , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I have loved being creative from as far back as I can remember spending hours as a child designing fashions and drawing landscapes with colored pencils and crayons. As a young adult though when deciding what to pursue as a career, my mind got in the way of my passion, and I did not pursue my love of art for fear that I was not good enough and I would be unable to support myself.

Now, being mostly retired from a career in health care, I have jumped into new artistic endeavors wholeheartedly and am learning more about myself every day in the process.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Creating something from nothing has always inspired me especially when I see that what I create brings joy to another person. One of my first jobs was working for my father in New York City designing small projects that campers and school children could make from the arts and crafts catalog he promoted. Riding along with my dad and seeing buyers get excited about the kits I had designed made me feel amazing.

While I did not pursue art as a career, I never stopped finding ways to incorporate art and design into my life whether it was as a hobby or as a sideline that I could use to augment my regular income. Over the years, I have had a personalized plastics business where I painted cartoon images and added names to hard plastic containers, made intricate jewelry out of beads or FIMO clay and metal components, fabricated mirrors and picture frames out of rolled paper, crafted sun catchers out of broken glass, wire and beads, and created pins and earrings out of broken jewelry, In addition, I have also taken thousands of photographs in a quest to document what I see around me.

As for marketing my creations. I have held home parties and made a catalog for my embellished plastics, and exhibited my art, jewelry, and decorative tiles at outdoor festivals on weekends. I also enlisted my sisters in selling my creations and was so proud when some of my pins were sold by one of my sisters to the Museum of Fine Arts in Chicago. Now that was a day!

Currently, I have embraced YouTube and discovered fluid art painting. Jumping in with both feet, I have spent hours online learning new techniques and then, practicing them in my studio aka back bedroom. I have created a website that not only includes my fluid art paintings but also jewelry, ornaments, and other one-of-a-kind home decor items.

While I truly am happy when someone buys one of the creations I have posted or exhibited, I most enjoy doing commissioned work even though it can be very stressful. Knowing that someone has shared their vision and I have brought that vision to life for them is so satisfying.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the things that I had to unlearn on my artistic journey is that I don’t have to be the best to call myself an artist. My decision not to go to art school was mostly based on my fear that my art would not be good enough as compared to the rest of the students at the school.

It was not until I took a course called the EST training (which was the most intense and introspective thing I have ever done) did I realize that I was the only person that mattered in what I declared myself to be. So, I stood before the group during that wild training and said, “I am an artist and will do what artists do. Create.”

And I have been creating something every day since whether it was developing courses, trainings, and job aids for my various health care day jobs or doing something with visual arts. Being creative is what helps give my life meaning.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing the excitement on someone’s face when they purchase something I have made and want to take it home with them. People work hard for their money and they need to be touched at some level to be willing to part with it. Marie Kondo, professional organizer, recommends that when you declutter, you should not keep things that do not bring you joy. I like to think that my art elicits joy which is my reason for creating it in the first place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wendyhoyoriginals.com/
• Instagram: @Wendy Hoy Originals
• Facebook: @Wendy Hoy Originals

Image Credits
All photos are taken by me and I am the only person in any image.