Member Artisan Profile: GAR Sticks and String

"Man enough to Knit, Strong enough to Purl" - the tag line says it all.

Meet GAR, one of our younger – but certainly no less talented – members of Handmade Louisiana. GAR creates hand knitted and felted items for his Etsy shop, GAR Sticks and String. He began creating at the age of 11 and has been working steadily at it for 3 years now. How did he get started? He explains, “My mom has always been artsy and when a knitter opened her home for lessons we jumped the opportunity.”

When asked where he finds inspiration, GAR again credits his mother: “My mom is really creative. Not so much me. Just tell me what to do and how to do and I'll get it done.” (Disclaimer: this writer, and customer of GAR’s, disagrees when he says he's not creative. I purchased on of his plushies, a felted hedgehog, for my teen son. The quality and craftsmanship is impressive indeed!).

His favorite material is wool, and he finds knitting relaxing. His favorite piece is the lily baby booties.

When asked what challenges and obstacles he faces, GAR replies, “Just trying to get through teens years. Bringing less drama along as possible and trying to set a good example for my peers.” His words of wisdom for other artisan/sellers: “Never give up, promote, just love people, and pictures matter a lot.”

What’s next for GAR? Llamas, purses, more baskets, gloves and so much more. Perhaps pottery, too. “I’ve done a little pottery and loved it but that was a couple years ago,” he says. “I would love to go back to that.”

Although his mother is from California and his father is from Ohio, GAR has a strong connection to his birth state (Louisiana, of course). “I love that people are SO friendly and love you the second they meet you down here.”

His family is a major influence, rightfully so. “My dad and mom are always there for me and my sister (13 months older than myself) just loves to be around people. We serve God with the best of our ability at an amazing church and have found MANY awesome friends there,” GAR explains. “I personally hope to be the salt and light of the world and be a leader and an example giving hope to a fallen world.”

His creations can be found in his Etsy shop: http://www.garsticksandstring.etsy.com/

Visit his blog at: http://www.garsticksandstring.blogspot.com/

He also sells offline to family, friends, and word of mouth. When asked if there was anything else he wanted us to know, he said, “Well, I love all my customers and sincerely appreciate them. I give glory to God that he gave me this talent!”