Winner: Susan Faye Carr
Susan Faye Carr is the first-place winner of Women Create’s 2023 Design-A-Bag contest, which drew an overwhelming and impressive array of entries and culminated in Susan’s artwork being chosen for a limited-edition Women Create tote bag.
Susan is an illustrator, crafter and designer living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, Dave, two cats and a house full of vintage treasures. Susan has been making and selling art for over four decades, inspired by nature, gardening and her feline friends. Whimsy and cheerful paint-box colors have always been a signature feature in her ceramic art, soft-sculpture giftware, jewelry design and watercolor paintings.
She is currently exploring digital art and pursuing a career in illustration with a focus on picture books.
Read her full story and learn all about her creative process here.
Connect with Susan:
Website: www.SusanFayeCarr.com
Instagram: Susan.Faye.Carr
Second-Place Winner: Judy Pimperl
Judy’s creative journey began around 60 years ago, at a very young age, when her mother taught her to draw the faces of pretty girls while sitting in a pew at their little country church on Sunday mornings. It was a quiet way to keep her entertained during the church services that were not very enjoyable for a young child. Judy recalls, “Mama always came prepared with some small sheets of plain white paper and a pencil tucked into her Bible.”
It’s fair to say that her mother instilled in her the love of art and all things creative right there in that church pew. Many classes and workshops followed over the decades.
Judy loves to make and beautify things. Whether she’s fabricating silver or copper jewelry in her home studio, painting flowers from her garden, decorating her home or one of her cabins, planning an event or cooking, she’s enjoying every minute.
She simply lives a creative life, noting: “Living a full creative life using my imagination — designing and making — and sharing with others brings me such joy. I can’t imagine not living my life this way. I feel this is part of my purpose. I get so excited with anticipation when planning the next thing that I sometimes find it hard to sleep at night!”
Judy gains much inspiration for her art and jewelry from her surroundings at her home, Pimperl Place, which is located in Alabama, right on the edge of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, aka “America’s Amazon.”
Connect with Judy:
Website: www.DownInTheDelta.net
Instagram: DownInTheDeltaJewelry
Third-Place Winner: Heather LaCoppola
Heather LaCoppola is an artist from Saratoga Springs, New York, who enjoys capturing the upscale city farmhouse essence and lifestyle. Heather’s company Hen Picked offers original art and eclectic finds for your home. Her original oil paintings have nature-inspired subject matter and use various mediums, such as architectural salvage, as well as traditional canvas and Arches archival papers.
When each painting is created, the integrity and beauty of a worn, textured architectural piece or beautiful antique frame is taken into consideration, making each piece truly one of a kind. Heather’s work can also be found on textiles such as tea towels and pillows.
The pieces she creates incorporate the philosophy of old-meets-new, clean but comfortably worn, and most importantly: simple but elegant. Using familiar subject matter and soft colors makes her art not only pleasing to the eye but also leaves the observer at ease. Her work is fresh yet slightly unexpected; it is meant to inspire others to bring the warmth of nature inside their home, and to be surrounded by the things they love.
A studio in the carriage house at her home allows her to be close to her family but also work and create with inspiration. It houses various collec- tions gathered at barn sales, Brimfield, Round Top, family trips and antique shows over the years. It is here that she is able to envision the pieces that would work in her own home and that she hopes will work in the homes of others, too.
Connect with Heather:
Website: www.Etsy.com/Shop/HenPickedShop
Instagram: Hen_Picked
