Meet artist and sewing teacher Jane Foster
Hi there! This week I have another one of the spotlights that you’ve all said you love so much. Jump in and discover how Jane Foster, a wonderful artist and lifelong sewing teacher, uses Surface Design in her sewing practice!
Jane fell in love with sewing when she was just six years old. She has been teaching sewing for many years, and showcases one of her fabulous designs in the video version of this spotlight. Within 6 months of joining my Doodles® program and then investing in my Pattern Design Academy® course, she started using her own fabrics to sew, and she has even made clothes for a number of people in #annesuniverse! Jane is an amazing, sought-after teacher in her field, and in this spotlight, she urges us all to just keep going.
The video of my interview with Jane is over on my YouTube channel HERE. Please subscribe to my channel when you pop over there to watch it.
Here are three ways that Jane inspires you to embrace your creative journey:
#1 – Anybody can do it
As we talk about doing hard things like learning Illustrator and working with color, Jane says, “you do it a bit at a time until you can do it, and anybody can do it.”
I think this is so fantastic because a lot of times, we hold ourselves back from really difficult things, and this creative journey can get really challenging and technical. But as you take things one step at a time, like Jane says, one day people will be amazed at all you can do, and you wouldn’t even know when you got so good.
It’s so tempting to want everything to be perfect right away, but I encourage you to go one step at a time. Remember that many people have done this and they’re all from different walks of life as you see in these spotlights, so you can do it too!
#2 – Combine categories
If you find yourself struggling to find out which path is right for you, Jane’s example offers some motivation. She had been sewing long before she joined my Academy® program, but now she designs her own fabric to work with, and she sells her fabrics to her students too. Jane combines two categories called “Direct Selling” which I talk about here, and “Teaching” which I discuss in this blog here.
Your unique path to success in Surface Design could be a combination of different categories, so I encourage you to lean into how you can put together all the categories that speak to you. If you want to know more about the different categories, check out my previous blog posts.
#3 – Push yourself, but just a little bit
At the end of the spotlight, Jane’s closing advice is for you to “keep going, keep pushing yourself just a little bit and doing what you can.” She wants us to know that we don’t need to do it all, and we don’t need to push ourselves to stress and anxiety. This world can be so much fun!
I couldn’t agree more. As creative entrepreneurs especially, it’s so easy to get tied up in our goals and we push ourselves too hard. We can do hard things, but it’s important to remember that we don’t need to make things hard for ourselves.
Whenever you find yourself pushing too hard, you may want to do like Jane says and lean into your community. Remember that the journey can and should be fun. After all, we chose to pursue creativity because of how it lifts our spirits!
If you would like to see more of what Jane is up to, you can find her on Instagram, @sewjane, or on her website, janefosterdesign.com.
To learn more about what other students have been able to accomplish since they began Surface Design, visit my Academy® celebrate page here.
Pop over to my YouTube channel to watch Jane’s interview. Click HERE and please subscribe while you’re over there. It really helps spread the word and get more people to watch my weekly videos.
See you next week!
xo,
Anne
It’s Never Too Late to Create®
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
