Big Cat Wild x Domestic
Kelsey Mardis / Bastrop, LA
Favorite Color:
Beeswax candle Gold
What do you sell/make/offer:
Tannery and Atelier specializing in upcycled and heirloom folk craft
What made you get started in the first place?
My background in Theater Props Design and Puppet Building combined with a fateful trip to the Foxfire Museum in Rabun Gap, Ga.
What item of yours is inside the 2024 Galentine Box?
A photo card showcasing some of my creations / tools designed by Hannah Gumbo
Your "treat yo self"go to?
Bathtub + Bluebell every time!
Besides working at a "small business", what other hats do you wear:
Maker / Artist / Historian
Describe briefly what your job/workflow may look like on a "busy" day?
A good audio book, a fat pot of coffee and my to-do list clipboard are my best friends on the weekends and holiday breaks from the Montessori school where I work. If I can get a few hours of deep focus work going in my tanning shed during winter and at the sewing machine the rest of the year on those days I’m in hog heaven.
What is your "dream gig"?
I dream of working as a Louisiana Folklife Historian for traditional crafts… and quiet day to day just tanning hides and making quilts
What motivates/inspires your work?
My grandmother, all the other grandmothers and the future grandmothers that act as culture bearers for us.
Name a productivity tip that you rely heavily on:
A very compassionate to-do list on your most favorite kind of surface! Mines a yellow legal pad on a clipboard eat up with stickers + a nice brush tip pen
How do you measure success?
Success looks like as little waste as possible
Name one belief/thought you had to let go of in order to get to where you are today:
I started out working in theater and I when I left that world I had to let go of the guilt of not directly using my degree in that specific way. I’ve realized along the way, I can still tell stories through honoring and preserving traditional craft.
Where can I buy more of what you make/offer?
My website