In 1996 Jackie Edwards moved back home to Anchorage, Alaska from Atlanta, started her first set of locks, saw the VIBE Magazine cover with Lauren Hill and knew she needed “a hat like that”. So she rediscovered her old yarn stash, made her first hat and out of loneliness started to blog. Before she knew it she’d launched ‘Butta.Fly Wears’ and invited an unknown following into her world of loneliness, creativity, self-discovery and motherhood. In 2002 I too joined the list of readers gaining a sense of camaraderie and eventually a friend. Nine years after an on-line friendship, we met in person for the first time in May and had to find an excuse to “talk art” ‘cause that’s what we do! Meet Jackie Edwards of B.Fly Wears’:
AB: Tell me something about being an artist of color in Anchorage, Alaska…
JE: I don’t know if I want you to print this, but, it’s lonely. I’m sure there are other artists, but I really feel alone and out of place. There’s a lot of creative people here, but they don’t reflect me. Anchorage is very multi-cultural. But there is no black culture here.
AB: Is there a common response you generally get about your work??
JE: How colorful everything is and how that really draws them in. I think color is a great thing and can really transform somebody.
AB: Who or what would you say is your greatest enemy or ally in the creative process and who or what is your muse?
JE: I can be my own worst enemy. Sometimes I question if people will feel the work as much as I do. If something doesn’t come together the way I see it in my head that can affect things or slow me down from finishing something. My kids are my muse!
AB: I love that! I remember early on your kids were always your models and the first to get the dibs on “B.Fly Wears”. They became such an important part of the tone of the blog. What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself on this journey?
JE: That I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
AB: What’s been one of the hardest things to learn ABOUT the artist journey or about “the process” and the greatest reward?
JE: The hardest thing about the process was that I wasn’t prepared for how much of the business side I was going to have to do. It’s really hard to maintain that balance. I thought I’d make a few things and sell to a friend or two but you are constantly having to be out there, meeting people outside of your circle and I wasn’t expecting that. Just TRYING the self-employment thing was a huge turning point in my life.
AB: Tell me some of the ingredients of your work.
JE: Yarn, feel good, a happy bright color, good thoughts and love in every single stitch and in that process there is always a cup of tea involved.
AB: Describe “Butta.Fly Wears” style? What are some of the consistencies in your work?
JE: Butta.Fly Wears is all about being colorful, comfortable and stylish at the same time. My ideal customer is somebody that’s not afraid to be different, daring and wants to be outside of the norm. I put a lot of time and effort into the quality of the work, so the stitches will be on point so I spend a lot of time on the finishing of my work so what’s really consistent is the quality. Unfinished work really gets under my skin.
AB: Give me a common frustration:
JE: Striving for perfection.
AB: You know I love the fact that we first met when i started reading your blog. You were one of the first bloggers I followed and you converted me into one. I like to say that you were blogging before blogging was cool. But you had such a following. …Did you realize what you were doing?
JE: I just started blogging because I didn’t have any friends, and all my friends were out of state. I didn’t expect anyone to find me or read my stuff. It was just a way to empty my thoughts out and just share what I loved and what I was passionate about.
AB: How has your work affected your children? I think it’s so important for our kids to be familiar with our work and more importantly our daughters. They need to know we have these skills and be exposed to them. You never know how it’s going to affect them.
JE: Yes. I’ve noticed a difference between my two daughters. With my oldest it was still a hobby for me and by the time I had my youngest who is now 8, I was in full business mode and had been selling online. I was crocheting everywhere I went. All my youngest daughter talks about is how she’s going to be a fashion designer and how she and her friends are going to open a dress shop!
AB: Are there other mediums you work in regularly?
JE: No, but quite a few that I really want to tackle. I want to work more on combining the needle arts and fine art. I love all needle arts but I’d love to get into some painting and spinning my own yarn.
AB: What is one of the greatest things about Alaska?
JE: It’s gotta be the scenery and the mountains! No other place has mountains like these and they are right smack in front of my house.
AB: …Except Colorado!
JE: I always felt like Denver was sort of the parallel universe to Alaska!
Etsy page: bflywears.etsy.com / Blog: Bflywears.wordpress.com / Twitter: Bflywears / Facebook: facebook.com/bflywears.com
