Welcome to Taken by the Hand!

Greetings, friends!  My name is Kelly and I've always been what people refer to as "one of those creative types."  As a child, I drew constantly, showing favoritism for crude sketches of fashion models in bell bottoms with a different pattern on each pant leg.  My sweet mother would tell me how great they were as she hung them on the fridge.  I loved crafting.  Often I would see a bracelet or tchotchke in a store and then race home to see if I could figure out how to make it myself.  As I grew up, I continued to create things, and after years of art classes the bodies I drew eventually resembled something human and the crafts became more useful.  I went on to study fine arts in college, where I fell in love with sculpture and printmaking.

But alas, the real world hit me like a freight train.  Post college, I found myself in a tiny apartment with no space or resources, and of course, no money.  I took a job as an assistant at an ad agency and have been living the corporate life ever since. Eventually I became an art director, and I'm grateful that I can be creative in my work (I'd go postal if I had to make sales calls all day). Still, like most people I sit in front of a computer in an office all day, and I miss being able to use my hands for something besides working the stylus in my right while hitting key commands with my left.

Though it took a while for me to begin doing my own work again, once I did, I found it wildly fulfilling.  I looked forward to doing simple projects around the apartment, finding I could be creative within my small space. Eventually my own style developed, which I would describe as graphic/vintage/eclectic.  I had become reacquainted my paws and I wanted to share this joy.  Thus Taken by the Hand was born.  Here you'll find things I'm working on, things I find inspiring, and things that you can create by hand.  Don't get me wrong, I still love graphic arts, but my hope is that you are encouraged to step away from screen and create tangible art, in whatever form you choose.

That's my story.  Thanks for visiting!