By Michelle Latshaw

Contributing Reporter

DETROIT — Mary Winkler peers out through her black-rimmed glasses, tilting her head to one side in an effort to steady the uneven frames. She broke the arm on them over two years ago and never repaired them; instead she opted for a quick fix consisting of brown masking tape.

 “I have no want to get them fixed,” she said. “They’ve also become ‘my thing.'”

Sitting at the table in her cramped studio apartment, she applies the last tiny yellow polka dots onto the little pink clay mushrooms that lay before her. She leans back, pulls her brown hair into a tighter ponytail, and admires her latest masterpiece. 

Winkler is a 21-year-old student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Majoring in illustrative art, she attends school full time which leaves a few hours a day for homework and her “constant obsessive process” of creating art.

“From doodling in sketchbooks, on napkins, in the margins of my notes in classes … whatever falls out of my head, whatever inspires me that day, I want to make into something new,” she said. 

Most of her designs are colorful jewelry pieces made from polymer clay formed in fun food shapes like mushrooms, donuts, candies and even toaster pastries.

 “Right now I’m obsessed with inanimate objects. I draw and paint them a lot. I sculpt them out of clay and put them on ear wires and string them on necklaces,” she said. 

Winkler survives by selling her jewelry art while she attends school full time. She used to sell her artwork at craft shows in the area but found that it was very time consuming and less profitable. 

Owning an art store also proved too costly, until she was introduced, by a fellow Detroit artist and friend, to Etsy.com: an online community for buying and selling handmade art, similar to eBay.com.

Etsy gives Detroit artists like Winkler the ability and resources to reach across the country via the Internet and sell their handmade art online. Since its launch in June 2005, Etsy features more than 100,000 sellers from around the world. 

“Etsy allows me the chance to get more exposure than my own shop would at this time,” she said. “I’m always getting new customers and getting more traffic to my shop.”

Grabbing her laptop, Winkler pulls up her Etsy “store front.” The top of the page reads, “Acrylicana … lovely cute handmade.” 

“I wanted a name that embodied my love of art and paint and creation with my love of culture. I thought about the word ‘Americana’, which I just think is fun to say … and tweaked it to ‘Acrylicana’,” she said.

Below are pictures, prices and descriptions of the 123 different handmade items she has for sale. 

Winkler began listing items in January 2007, making her first sale within a couple of days. She usually sells one or two items a day now. 

“Etsy is so much more user friendly [than Ebay]. They’re marketed toward those who love and create all things handmade. It’s kitschy goodness,” she said.

“It could have a lot to do with the political climate here as well as our economy,” she said. “But I love the culture. The beautiful architecture, the people; the fact that I can call it home. Breathing it all in is such a good thing.”

Brushing aside her bangs, Winkler glances around her studio which is inundated with sketches, illustrations, digital pictures and finished polymer clay pieces that will soon become future income. 

“Right now, while I’m a full-time student, I survive on my art. It’s met with a lot of sacrifice, but so, so worth it,” she said. “Every little bit helps.”