If you don't believe in destiny, then you haven't met Julene Harrison. For years, Julene working as a fashion and constructed textile designer, meaning she created designs for fabric. She only got into paper cutting by accident when one day, she made a piece as a birthday gift. She ended up enjoying the process so much that she created two more as wedding presents.
“I started a blog with these pieces and people seemed to like them,” she tells us when we asked what came next. “That's when I started getting commissions, firstly from friends and then from strangers. I think my textile design background helps a lot because I understand about patten and balance, two important elements in my work.”
Julene believes wholeheartedly that it was the Internet and, more specifically, other people's blogs that helped her make paper cutting her full-time job. “I owe a lot to many, many bloggers out there,” she says. “So thanks!”
In addition to her corporate clients like WIRED Magazine, The Telegraph Newspaper, Random House, Scholastic, and Penguin, the West Sussex UK-based artist also creates one-off pieces that are completely customizable. Look through her website under typography and you'll see just what we mean. Whether it be for a wedding, an anniversary, or a birthday, Julene has a way of making some of the most important moments of our lives even more memorable.
I got to ask Julene one of my favorite questions this year, “How do you stay creative?”
Here was her reply.
“Looking at all the wonderful work showcased on blogs spurs me on to keep working hard,” she says. “There is so much amazing work out there (it can be a little intimidating if I'm honest!). I think that through working hard you keep your creativity up. You keep thinking and you keep moving forward.”
