Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Willingham.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have always been a creative maker at heart from a very young age. It wasn’t until I became a stay-at-home mom that I started crafting and sewing items for sale at local North Fort Worth craft shows. I loved designing my booth space and sewing functional home-use items with beautiful fabrics. After being inspired by a friend, I soon transitioned to creating and publishing my own sewing patterns. I hustled my way into international distribution for my sewing patterns. After attending Quilt Market in Houston for many years, the world of surface pattern design and repeating patterns drove me to dive into the world of fabric design, learning the Adobe suite of software, and obsessing over turning my drawings into patterns.
It was scary to pivot just when my sewing patterns were gaining traction. These early days were such a tremendous time of passion and growth for me. Waking up every morning with butterflies in my stomach to get my day started was a sign that I was on the right track. I had a thirst for learning like I’ve never experienced before and lived and breathed design and marketing. I sent out numerous emails to potential clients every day and started attending art licensing trade shows. My vision for licensing my designs for fabric quickly expanded to the whole world of commercial art. Before I knew it, I had licensed and sold designs, signed with an agency, and was dreaming bigger than ever. All of my hard work was finally paying off. I still remember taking grinning from ear to ear the first time I spotted my designs in a store.
All of these events were amazing but all of the work was starting to take a toll on me. I wasn’t feeling harmony with my agency or that they loved who I was as an artist and I was starting to suffer from major burnout. In 2020, I ended my relationship with my agency and just needed some self-care. I told you I was a maker at heart, so of course, I built a food truck, a farm stand bakery, and started my pottery journey. My procrastination and rest looks very different than others. Pottery was such a gift to me at that time, quieting my mind and demanding focus. It reinvigorated my creativity. At this time, we had been living in Maine for several years and were about to make a huge move back to Texas. I sold my pizza food truck because I knew that I did not want to make pizzas in Texas. We packed up our family and horses and headed down south.
We moved to a completely new area to be close to my husband’s family. Caddo Mills is about an hour east of Dallas. Being new to the area and being the social gal that I am, I quickly plugged myself into the local art scene and having been doing live art events and rooting myself into the local community. I love seeing people react to my paintings and pottery and feel the joy that went into the pieces. Each one has a story and is inspired by the world all around me, the simple, quiet spaces of life that we all need to breathe in, the imperfections that hold so much beauty. It’s about the journey and not the destination. I arrived at the place that I thought I wanted to be, hustled my way there. I learned that even though you love the work you’re doing, you still need to replenish your spirit and let it fill up again.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. As an artist/illustrator you have to have a thick skin when presenting your work and work through all of the No’s to get to your Yes that you’ve been waiting for. Also, learning to care for myself before burnout has been a hard lesson to learn.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am absolutely crazy about florals. I paint them, I sculpt them, I just can’t get enough. It may stem from living in Maine for many years and enduring six months of winter at a time. You dream of spring and flowers. Getting messy also gets me going, whether it’s paint, collage, or pottery, I love working with my hands.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up with a mom that immigrated from Vietnam during the war. She was such a hard worker and a driven woman. As a kid, I worked for our family business, a fast-food Asian restaurant. I wasn’t able to have any hobbies or follow any interests. Even though I couldn’t pursue it, I knew I was creative and loved to draw and make art with any supplies I could get my hands on. When I started a family of my own, I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. Home decor, cooking, and scrapbooking family photos became a creative outlet for me. It wasn’t until 2007 that I founded Revel Designs and started pursuing crafting as a career. It was the perfect time. A handmade revolution was taking place and craft shows were cool again. So much has taken place since then but it’s been a gradual evolution.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.revel-designs.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reveldesigns/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RevelDesignsShop
