Sunday, March 28, 2010

Buttonwilloe

Today I am featureing the Artfire artist Buttonwilloe. Her name is Linda but most people call her Button, She has been married to her husband Richard for 37 years! I first met Button on the Artfire forums. I discovered she is an avid animal lover. Her dog, Tinkerbelle, is a service dog that visits the elderly. They bother REALLY enjoy bringing sunshine and happiness into the lives of others. She also enjoys playing the guitar.
Button is a polymer clay artist in the true sense of the word. She creates the most adorable figurines for ornaments, jewelry, cake toppers... you name it!
I sent her a little questionaire to inquire a little further about her and her artwork. Below are her answers.

How did you get into your craft?

Ever since I was a little girl I loved playing with clay. Way back in the 1970's I began sculpting little bears and other animals. I enjoyed giving them as gifts to friends and family. It made me so happy to see smiles on their faces. With encouragement, I started my business in the early 1980's doing local craft shows and festivals.

Is there any particular artist or person in your life that influences or inspires you?

I am inspired by the sweet faces of babies, human and furry.

What are your favorite materials to work with and why?

I love working with clay because it is so flexible and versitile. It thrills me to start out with a lump of clay and see it transform into a recognizable object. It's the perfect medium to create anything from figurines to abstract art and jewelry. It's about as limitless as one's imagination.

Is there anything that makes your creations stand apart from similar ones/ your competitors?

I really believe our gifts and talents are God given. Discovering them is an adventure. All my creations are original designs. I love it when an idea just pops into my head. I really strive to make pieces that will bring a smile to someone's face.

Anything else you want my reader's to know about (sales, coupons, other services you offer)?

I'd love for you to visit my blog (http://www.buttonwilloe.blogspot.com/) where I love to share inspirational stories and photos of my furry babies. I enjoy having caption contests for funny pictures of Tink and Buddy. I love reading all comments. Here is a post of a very funny one : http://buttonwilloe.blogspot.com/2009/09/is-it-that-time-already_13.html I also sell at local craft shows and festivals and have a shop on Etsy and Zibbet.

To see Button's colorful and adorable creations, you can find her at http://www.artfire.com/users/buttonwilloe

8 comments:

button said...

Thank you so much for the feature in your blog. So nice of you to do this.
:o) button (linda)

Andrea Tronslin said...

What a nice blog! Button is an incredible artist; I have a couple of her items and plan to get more.l

Creatively Jeweled said...

Button is the sweetest person and an incredible artist. I think that one day her little figures are going to become quite collectible.

designsbypatricia said...

Button does such a wonderful job on all of her little figures. They are all just so adorable.

sotocapmania said...

I met Button at the Harvest Festival here in Pomona, CA/2009.

Beautiful Booth filled with adorable creations from a Longtime Talented Artist, with a Big Heart!

I treasure my collectables, they are as Special as their Creator Linda.

divapixie said...

Wow... its so nice to see so many positive comments here about Button! I've only just met her but I have been so impressed with her personality, work ethic, and her artistry in that time. I hope that more people will get to see her work and appreciate it as much as we do!

Creative Critters said...

Button is one of my favorite people on ArtFire :-) Not only does she create wonderful sculptures, but she's a really nice person as well!

Unknown said...

What a nice feature on one of the nicest people I know. She's one of the first people to offer helpful ideas about running a successful craft business, whenever there's a question about doing shows which she does regularly, or anything else she's already learned the hard way! And I like reading her blog, too, always inspiring!