Meet Maria Wulf | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maria Wulf and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
In 2008 I was forty four and getting divorced. I knew I wanted to focus my life on being an artist, something I’d never given the time and energy to.

I had a studio in a small barn on a friend’s farm where I was making my quilts from repurposed fabric. My friend, writer Jon Katz, (who I later married) had his blog for a year or so by then. When one of my quilts sold after he put a picture of it up on his blog and wrote about it, I decided a blog of my own would be a good way to sell my work.

I started my business slowly, working part-time with Deveolpementally Disabled Adults and going to my studio everyday when I got home.

Everyday I would write on my blog called Yes/No Quilts (I later changed the name to Full Moon Fiber Art) about what I did in my studio that day and took pictures of it.

Eventually I was able to quit my part time job and work for myself full time.

My blog has evolved over the years. I now write about my life as well as my work. I live on a farm with Jon and 11 sheep (I sell their wool) two donkeys, three dogs, two cats and three chickens.

My writing and photographs have become as much a part of my creative work as the quilts, potholders and fabricpaintints I make in my studio.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started my business from a barn in upstate NY in 2008. It wasn’t the best year to start a new business, but I didn’t have a lot of overhead and since I worked with repurposed fabric and a 20 year old sewing machine I didn’t need much.

I started by making quilts but they were hard to sell those first few years. So I started making potholders, thinking of them as “little quilts.”
That worked and that first year, in the months before and after Christmas I was making at least 100 potholders a month and sending them out to people all over the country.

That encouraged me and made me see that this was something I could do.

I knew that the story behind the art was important, so I made sure to tell my story with everything I sold. Where the idea came from and how I developed it. I also show the process of how I physically make my art.

At first I was terrified to put my art up for sale on my blog. I was afraid no one would buy it and that I’d fail. But I kept at it with the encouragement of my husband Jon, who at one point called himself the “show your art guru” and danced naked in the snow in front of my car before I left early in the morning to go to my part time job.

People who read my blog started sending me fabric that they no longer wanted. They sent me their mother’s hankies and linens which I made scarves from. When I got my free motion sewing machine, I started drawing pictures on them with it.

My potholders evolved into small stories from the farm. With my sewing machine I’d draw pictures of the chickens sitting with the barn cat on the rocking chair. Or a new lamb on a haybale.

I had regular customers who got to know me and my work. Mostly women who could relate to my personal struggles with feelings of self-worth and independence. All of this came out in my work in positive ways that could inspire and encourage.

People started collecting my potholders.

In the past few years I started making my fabric painting into magnets, cards and posters so they are more accessible.

Even now when I sell most of the quilts before I’m finished making them, I still worry that they won’t sell. But the nature of my art is about trusting my instincts and it has taught me to trust myself. So I keep at it.

Also, my blog, writing and photos have become as much a part of my art as the fiber pieces. For the past six years every Monday Morning, I make a video of me going out to see the animals on the farm. People support my blog with monthly and one-time donations as well as buying my art.

Like any business, I have my highs and lows, I’m proud of the business I’ve built with my art. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in farm country. We have local farmers making artisan cheeses, growing organic vegetables and selling free range meat . You can swim, tube or kayak in the Battenkill River. In the winter you can snowshoe and cross country ski. There are an unusual number of artists in the area some have open studios once a month.

An hour away in Williamstown MA there are museums and theater worth of NYC. Skiing is close by in Vermont.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I didn’t even know how to use a computer before I met my husband the writer and photographer Jon Katz. Although I have a masters in sculpture, he was the first person I ever met who talked about creativity as something of great importance that was to be taken seriously. Who thought it was worthy of spending a life persuing.

He offered me a barn on his farm to use as a studio. That was the first time I felt that someone really believed in me and understood how important art was to me and my life.

Jon encouraged me to start my blog where I sell my art and to write about my life as well as my art. He also bought me my first iPhone (some years ago) which has been an invaluable creative tool for my art and my business.

Our life together has always been about encouraging each other to expand and grow in our creative work and to help others who want to live creative lives too.

I can’t imagine how I would have gone about doing what I do now if not for his initial encouragement and help.

Website: fullmoonfiberart.com

Instagram: maria wulf

Facebook: maria wulf

Youtube: maria wulf

Pinterest: fullmoonfiberart

Other: maria@fullmoonfiberart.com

Image Credits
first Photo by Jon Katz other photos by Maria Wulf