Meet Nikki Embry
First, I’m sorry if I’m making a weird face up there. But that aside, in case you couldn’t tell already, I like owls! They are one of my favorite subjects. I just find their magical and mysterious symbolism to be comforting to something in my soul. Also, like owls, I like to remain hidden, quiet and active at night. Yes, total introvert here. But don’t worry, you won’t see just owls with me. There’s going to plenty of other creatures to create in what I like to think of as my enchanted forest. My style tends to be kind of cutesy because I like people to smile (including myself)!
I’ve been an artist as long as I can remember, which is about age 3, when a boy in my preschool class yelled at me to stop coloring outside the lines of my picture. I’m mostly a self taught artist, however I did attend art school for a few years where I studied film and animation and art history. I wound up getting my undergraduate degree in art history. But with animation, that’s where my style really started turning more cutesy and I guess cartooney. Before that, I did nothing but realism, maybe because of that boy who yelled at me in preschool. I got very good at replicating exactly what I saw. But I started getting bored with only copying reality and ventured over into more imaginary realms where I could make up my own world instead.
Why Sculpting?
I really like sculpting because there is something satisfying about a thought or inspiration becoming an actual object that you can hold. With painting or drawing or any two dimensional art you can’t interact with it in the same way because it’s flat. It’s a different kind of illusion. But with something three dimensional like sculpture, you can pick it up and view it from all sides. I just like that. I think it’s really cool.
Right now, my favorite type of clay to use is polymer clay (I use Premo and Super Sculpey most) because it stays pliable until you bake it. I like to be able to change my mind or fix something at my own pace and not have to worry about racing to create before something dries on me. It’s the same reason I like oil best when I’m painting.
Why Plushies?
I’ve always liked to sew and have been sewing since 2008. I mostly made things like quilts and the occasional piece of clothing. Then, I got kind of bored with those things and wanted to try something new. While sculpting and painting my owls, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to make stuffed owls and other fun forest friends?” And the artist in me was like, “Well, of course!” Two seconds later, I started reasearching how to make my own plushies.
Through forums and other websites, I found Choly Knight, a plushie pattern maker. She has tons of free patterns that anyone from beginner to advanced can do. And she allows them free to use what you make to sell. So, I started out using her free owl pattern, where I modified it some to fit the kind of eyes I wanted. I sold nearly all the first owls I made which was very exciting.
Then I moved into trying out some of her other patterns, including the paid ones, while mixing patterns and changing eyes, feet, wings, in order to give them my own spin. I was having so much fun and still am, that I’ve been thinking about concentrating more on the plushies. I have been experimenting with making my own patterns, such as my happy leaf plushie above.
Anything Else?
I adore my iPad and Procreate so I create coloring books – featuring owls, of course! I draw every single image myself on Procreate. You can find my latest coloring book, Color Me Owlsome! on Amazon.
I also write and illustrate my own stories because I’m a total bookworm. I was the type of child whose parents had to drag her out of the bookstore or library. I recently published an early chapter book for children ages 6-9 titled: The Mystery & Marie, which is available on Amazon. It is about a little mouse named Marie who lives in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C, and tries to solve a mystery of a missing sculpture before her museum home is shut down for good. I plan to write some fun owl stories as well!
Basically, all I want to do is create stuff and am most happy surrounded by art supplies, books and a hot cup of tea!
Last, but not least, I have three cats named da Vinci, Mona Lisa and Picasso!