By Sophia Lennox
Elm Staff Writer
When searching for a meaningful or unique gift, handmade items are a great way to find something special and support a small business or individual at the same time. Washington College is fortunate enough to have several incredibly talented students who make a variety of goods, including jewelry, stickers, art, crochet, and much more.
Many of these students sell at the semesterly Art Market, hosted by the Art and Art History Club, but sometimes you need a gift or want to treat yourself to something nice when the market is not happening.
Here is a list of some of the incredible artists we have on campus, and how to contact them if you are interested in pursuing their work. This is by no means exhaustive, but a great start to getting connected with student artists.
Francesca Jacobs: Crochet
Jacobs makes crochet stuffed animals, baby blankets, and recently — sweaters for sale. All of her work is related to the environment, as she crochets not only animals and nature-themed pieces, but she also makes sure to consciously source her yarn. She sells her pieces through her Etsy, SwimmingFreeStudio, and at markets. Her next big vending opportunity is the Pine Barrens Makers Fest in New Jersey this September. She has pre-made work for sale and loves to make custom pieces. You can see her work and message her on her crochet Instagram, @swimming.free.studio.
Grace Paquin: Pet products
Paquin creates “all sorts of products for pets,” including collars, bandanas, and mats for service dogs, “like the one you might see the service dog in training Mabry using.” She also makes items like scrunchies, pencil cases, key fobs, and other items for humans. Paquin has a deep care for her sewing and connecting with others through her work and makes sure everything she sells is high quality and made to last. You can see her work on her Instagram and Etsy, both under PearlandGiDesigns.
Morgan Carlson: Prints and jewelry
Carlson is a multi-talented artist who creates linoleum prints, collages, jewelry, and other exploratory artistic pieces. They own an extensive collection of beads which they use to create fun, bright, and custom patterns, particularly with their shaped seed bead pieces that have become very popular among the WC arts community. They lovingly refer to their technique of arranging beads as “noodling.” Their prints will be available for sale for the first time at the upcoming art market. They take inspiration from nature and the environment when creating their work. You can purchase their work by messaging them through their Instagram, @morgoidmakes, and see examples of their work in past editions of the Collegian and Washington College Review.
Anna Treadway: Paintings and jewelry
As expressed in the Elm’s Red Brick Runway feature on Treadway’s unique style in the last issue, Treadway creates unique and custom jewelry from her large collection of vintage and modern beads custom designed to fit an individual. Treadway likes to make matching sets of earrings and necklaces, particularly with crystals and unique beads. The student is also a talented traditional artist, creating oil, and occasionally acrylic, paintings inspired by the natural world. She also has a very high attention to detail.
“I make sure that everything down to the feather count on a bird’s wing or the size and number of leaves on their perch is true-to-life,” Treadway said.
She creates works that heightens her living space and strives to bring natural beauty, especially birds, into her dorm. You can see her work and contact her about a custom piece through her Instagram, @atreadway.art
Cailyn Couture: Custom pet portraits
Couture paints custom acrylic pet portraits for any animal lover. Three of Couture’s paintings — two cats and a dog — were shown in the 100 Proof Student Exhibition last month. Couture’s work complements the color and themes from the portrait in a fun, patterned background. She takes a few images of the pet and combines them in order to perfectly capture the individual pet’s personality. Her portraits make great gifts for anyone who cares for their animal. Her work is not currently on view, but you can contact her on Instagram at @CailynJulia for more information and to commission a piece.
Kennedy Thomason: Vinyl stickers
Elm staff writer Thomason takes inspiration from pop culture, the internet, and contemporary phrases and turns it into cute and trendy stickers. She uses her strong understanding of graphic design, including color and font combinations and drawing to make her stickers appealing. Overall, Thomason enjoys engaging in creative endeavors, including sewing, painting, and embroidering. You can see and purchase her products on her Esty, SolCreativeDesignCo. The name is based on her daughter’s name, Sailor Oliva, becoming “Sol.”
Jaya Basu: Hand-embroidered clothing
Basu embroiders designs on thrifted clothes to individualize pieces. In particular, Basu likes to sew motifs coming out of pockets, using mushroom and botanical designs, line art, and nerdy references. Basu embroiders jeans, hats, collared shirts, denim jackets, and shoes, and also makes small stuffed animals. They emphasize sustainability by reworking garments into something new that can be worn and loved again. To see and purchase their work, visit their Instagram and Etsy pages under the name @BlueJaiEmbroidery, or you can message them via Instagram to set up a purchase without having to go through Etsy.
Skye Hass: Digital art and vinyl stickers
Hass is a digital illustrator who turns their designs into prints, keychains, and stickers. The student takes inspiration from many different areas, mostly leaning toward “creating whimsy and things that bring [them] joy.” They will be a vendor at this year’s Delaware Pride and Dover Comic Con, but they also have an Etsy page, WinterSkyeDesigns where their work can be purchased. They constantly make new work and their catalog is ever-changing, so they encourage people to follow their Instagram, @Winter._.Skye, for updates and to see currently available designs.
Quinn Hammon: Illustration
Hammon works with both digital art and ink to create illustrations for books and graphic novels. Hammon dedicates a lot of energy to the faces of his characters in order to create engaging characters. He does not have anything premade for sale currently, but he creates custom characters, profile pictures, digital illustrations, and stickers, and other art pieces such as YouTube thumbnails and album covers. He is looking to sell prints at the upcoming PAC Art Market on May 4, and they will likely be available afterward as well. You can contact him and see his previous work on Instagram at, @skelrquin.