Today we’d like to introduce you to Jane Hudson.
Hi Jane, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
In 1976, I opened a needlepoint shop in Lexington, KY, selling canvases I had designed and painted. I became known for doing custom canvases. My children called it “anything for a buck.” I loved that because it meant I was painting and designing something unique daily. 1978, I added to this by opening a wholesale line called JHL&Co, selling my designs to other stores nationwide. I moved my retail shop to Rock Hill, SC, in 2001. At that time, I turned my wholesale line over to a distributor who uses copy painters in Germany. I still own it, but they did all the work after I designed the original. I have a new wholesale line and website: www.jjneedlepointdesigns.com – again selling to shops around the country, so now I have 2 separate lines.
I bought the house next door to the shop for my out-of-town customers to use. However, I sold my retail shop last year to give me more time to paint. I do not miss the hours working retail – I miss my customers as I thought of each of them as my friend. During all these years, I have spent a week every year just doing art for art’s sake, which is separate from needlepoint canvases. I sculpt, paint pastels, oils, and watercolors, and do encaustics. At this age, I want to spend more and more time just creating for the sake of creating. I am showing in a gallery – Luca Studio and Gallery in Fort Mill for the first time.
Please talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned. Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I was a single mother of 2 for many, many years. I had to juggle painting all the custom canvases, running the retail business, and keeping my family together with all that being a single parent entails. I did not sleep much. And, as my children so kindly put it, I could have made a lot more money doing anything else. Only in the past few years have they said how proud they are of me to have kept and followed my dreams doing what I loved. I needed to move to South Carolina to help my daughter. I was afraid I would lose my business, but I kept all my Kentucky customers and met and added all the new ones from the Carolinas. It turned out better than I could have imagined.
Thanks for sharing that. Could you tell us more about your business?
For 46 years, I was Two’s Company Needlepoint – a retail shop. I was the sole owner. Now, I am JJ Needlepoint Designs. I paint for other retail shops all around the country. While I have a line they can order from, my claim to fame is my custom canvases. Custom canvases were the main product Two’s Company was known for. People send me pictures of their dogs, cats, houses, and business logos for me to put on canvas. I paint belt canvases, Christmas stockings, picture frames, ornaments, purses, rugs, kneelers, and paraments for churches. I have designed for over 30 churches around the country and 2 synagogues. I am proud that I supported and put 2 girls through college all by myself doing this form of art. Now, I am getting orders from people for paintings – primarily houses and dogs, but I am just starting this chapter of my life. At 77, it is exciting.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
Before I sold my shop, I had 8 employees who worked in the shop and 6 finishers who finished the needlepoint pieces into stockings, ornaments, etc. Now I work alone. I am collaborating with Kelly Lucarelli of Luca Gallery and Studio to see what she wants to hang of mine in her gallery.
Contact Info:
- Website: jjneedlepointdesigns.com
- Instagram: astheneedlepoints
- Facebook: Jane Hudson
- Linkedin: Jane H Hudson
