Artist Spotlight: Jennifer Himstedt
Each month, we highlight one of the talented artists in our reuse community. This month, it’s felt artist, Jennifer Himstedt!
Jennifer is a staple at ACR’s quarterly reuse markets, selling the most adorable felt creatures, accessories, and more. Learn more about her creative process and how she turns even the tiniest scraps into masterpieces!
When did you start making felt art?
From second grade, my grandmother would buy various items from carpet sample books to felt to use for crafting when I would spend summers with her. We'd make mini quilts and plushies all summer long and it was wonderful! I found I loved creating gifts for friends and family that could be personalized and creative. In trying different mediums, working with felt spoke to me as it's so tactile and is basically a fabric building block to really fun creations. I kept on making plushies and always admired vendors at markets so kept on going with the felt art to merge those interests!
Which aspect of creating is your favorite?
Upcycling and finding new life in items. The majority of my items are handmade which gives a literal touch to fabricating a creation and upcycling, which gives a reuse-focused direction. My favorite to make (today) are the ATX bats as I like contrasting colors and using bold hand-stitching as it allows me to give the plushies their own personalities. Finding ways to make a creature using new forms is a fun journey.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I get inspiration from all over but typically land on what makes others and myself smile. I love organizing chaos in general and often carry that into a design process. Sometimes, seeing what scraps I have around gives me ideas as everything (eventually) has a use. Also, I am a fan of sharks, scary movies, and Halloween so I do like making adorable, felt creatures with a twist - like making adorable robots to Michael Myers from Halloween as block creatures.
What is your preferred way to engage with your audience?
Markets! As I'd been considering it for a while, last year's goal was to try a market, and Austin Creative Reuse's Market Days was an amazing and approachable opportunity. Having a growth mindset has stayed with me in many forms, so I'm always learning along the way but having that opportunity to be among great vendors and showcase my own items has been so inspiring! ACR provided the space and encouragement for me as a newbie to test out that goal. You can see upcoming markets I'm venturing to on my Instagram or Facebook accounts.
How does reuse play a part in your creativity?
I enjoy collecting spare or scrap items and using them in creative ways. After each item is made, I then collect the remaining scraps and find a use for them, repeating this process until there are no leftovers. The bigger items I make leave scraps to make jewelry and the smallest pieces are used as stuffing...and so on. I aim to use only repurposed or secondhand items in my process, and ACR makes that possible.
What compels you to donate to ACR?
ACR is a great organization that gives artists (new and established) great inspiration to turn "trash" into something wonderful. This place always has either something I need or something I didn't know I needed. I can also trust that something that doesn't work for me is out of our landfill and hope it finds new life with someone who finds it in the ACR aisle.
Do you have a favorite ACR find? How did you use it?
Besides felt - which I'm pretty partial to...frames. I have many, many framed prints, posters, record sleeves, photos, and other 2D items that are on my walls. I've found the best types of frames and even the most specific sizes and some are in the reserves ready for the next print. In that organized chaos of my plans, I do have a list of frame sizes I that keep an eye out for that provides (yet another) good excuse to stop by ACR.
Where can we find out more about your work?
@scrapsidekick on Instagram where I post about new creations and markets I'll be vending at or https://www.etsy.com/shop/scrapsidekick if you'd like something shipped!
