An Interview with Stacy Deny
MilspoFAN: Tell us a little about yourself, your journey as a military spouse, and where you are today.
Stacy: A bit about myself, the craziness behind the maker. I am from a small town in (way north) Northern California. I met my husband in an Auto Shop in high school from a neighboring town. After getting married in our early 20’s, he joined the Navy as a Corpsman, not long after. Currently, married for 13 years and he’s been in just shy of that.
Oh goodness, no one can truly prepare you for Military life! We’ve been stationed on both coasts, seen things we would’ve normally never gotten a chance to see and shared these experiences with our daughters. The Navy has sent us to Portsmouth, Va, 29 Palms, Ca (this was a greenside stint.), to San Antonio, Tx and now Maryland. To say it’s been a wild ride would be an understatement. In my experience as a military wife, we all know, mental strength is necessary, schedules are constantly changing; everything is the same and yet different, like an odd episode of the Twilight Zone.
In all this crazy chaos how do I calm down? Art, it helps calm the soul.
MilspoFAN: How did you become an artist?
Stacy: I grew up poor, we had to make a lot of what we needed. Being crafty was a quick-learned skill and learning how to make that craft look beautiful took practice, errors ( lots of errors) and eventually skill. All of my skills have been self-taught. I suppose that’s why I prefer being a maker rather than an “artist”. I don’t think I could really pinpoint a date in time where “artist” was achieved.
Most of my items are nature based. I love being outside! Nature is full of beautiful creations that are amazingly wondrous.
MilspoFAN: Describe for us your creative work and the aesthetic of your artwork.
Stacy: For my photography, I found I hated editing. Can you get lovely photos? Absolutely! But I would rather spend 100 hours behind my camera, learning new settings and techniques than 100 hours behind a computer screen fixing and editing. Some say a great photographer is one who doesn’t need to edit. That is my personal goal. I want a photo to be what you see, not what I can change it into.
As for woodworking, I tend to find and repurpose wood people have thrown out. Many of my pieces are from trashed pallets or old Christmas trees and random pieces found near the curb. I love these recycled pieces a bit more, because now I can make something that was thrown away into a lovely piece.
Watercolor is by far such a fun media! It’s messy and gorgeous and full of life, all at once. It's very versatile, you can paint loose or extremely detailed. The best part? There’s no wrong way to paint! No rules!
Crocheting, there are rules. Haha! Lately, I have loved getting into more of the costume area of crochet; bigger projects. I had recently made a zombie bear hood and coat. That was my largest project in crochet, but it was such a wonderful challenge to do and alter to make it as unique as my customer wanted.
MilspoFAN: How has your role as a military spouse impacted your work as a painter- creatively, logistically, or otherwise?
Stacy: I think the need to be a maker/artist as a military spouse is like the need to breathe air. You NEED something to break up the wild, crazed, unpredictable days. It’s an anchor to this up-in-the-air lifestyle we have.
MilspoFAN: How do you cultivate your creativity?
Stacy: Mostly, I challenge myself. Drawing up ideas or mashing up crochet patterns to get something new and different. I like not following the “hype” or doing my own thing. I am a twin and it drives me insane to be “like everyone else”. I love to be different and challenge myself in different ways.
MilspoFAN: What’s next for you?
Stacy: My new goal is to start a business to sell my wares. At the moment it has been just random orders through word of mouth. I truly love the idea of having a larger reach to share my creations.
MilspoFAN: What is the most practical piece of advice that you would give to other artists?
Stacy: PRACTICE!
Give yourself pep talks.
Details are all in the layers and it can take many layers to get detailed. You are your own worst critic; remember: your creations are worthy.
You can find Stacy at:
CrochetingCrazy: https://www.facebook.com/crochetingcrazy1
ScrollingCrazy: https://www.facebook.com/Scrollngcrazy/
Naturally Rebellious Photography: https://www.facebook.com/naturallyrebelliousphotography/