Mom, Daughter Find Success On Show Circuit Temporary Booths At Shows, Holiday Events Generate Extra Income For Local Artists

Kathy Wilson began hand-painting jewelry 16 years ago when her daughter was young.

“I was looking for a job where I could have her with me,” said Wilson, a full-time Coeur d’Alene artist who’s selling her wares from a holiday kiosk at Silver Lake Mall.

Wilson experimented with different crafts until she found painted jewelry. She oil paints delicate flowers onto mother-of-pearl heart-shaped earrings, necklaces and stick pins.

“It was really easy to keep producing and I really felt like my heart was in it,” said Wilson, who named her business Have a Heart.

She painted at night when her daughter went to bed. About 15 times per year, Wilson would pack her jewelry and her daughter into the car and travel to crafts shows, from Arizona to California.

When her daughter entered eighth grade, she needed to be home more, so Wilson cut her show schedule back. To compensate for lost profits, Wilson began selling her jewelry wholesale.

The years of traveling to craft shows now has paid off - in the form of a real-life economics lesson.

Wilson’s daughter, Shallan, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Idaho, has created her own crafts business - Gone Mad Marbling. Marbling is a technique of staining or painting in a marble pattern. Shallan Wilson marbles sundresses during the summer to earn spending money for college.

The mother and daughter team now travels together to summer crafts shows. Kathy Wilson looks over at her daughter’s booth and smiles when she sees a happy customer leave with a dress.

“I see me in her,” Kathy Wilson said with pride.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos