Accidental ArtMaker, LLC

The Accidental ArtMaker is a furniture artist and teacher of how to upcycle and paint all the things! Based in Camas, I carry the full Iron Orchard Designs product line, Amy Howard Home paint and brushes plus jewelry making supplies for all your creative projects. All products ship anywhere in the USA within one business day.

Accidental ArtMaker is owned by Sharon Dawson. I started 7 years ago painting and upcyling furniture that I bought at garage sales or found by the side of the road. Using chalk paint and stencils, I painted new life and beauty into the pieces. Eventually my house ran out of room for all the furniture upcyles and she started to consign the pieces at her local antique and vintage store.

Two years ago the Accidental ArtMaker came across Iron Orchard Designs products. Starting first with IOD stamps, I learned the basics on how to prep the stamps and then use them with IOD ink or chalk paint. IOD products transformed my furniture and art in ways stencils could never achieve. Moving quickly to IOD Transfers and Moulds, my obsession and knowledge of the products grew exponentially. I soon decided that becoming an IOD Stockist was part of my life’s journey. Sharing the joy of creating art no matter your experience or background is an important part of my vision as well.

There are so many wonderful IOD products that have evolved my artistry skills the last couple of years. It’s more then just the products though, it is what happens during the process of using them. I want to introduce you to one of the mantras from the IOD Sisters’ Manifesto that has been a huge part of my growth as an artist: Failure is a lovely part of the process, embrace it and look for happy accidents. Failure has been the biggest part of my evolving as an artist. I cannot tell you how many times I mess up as I am working on a piece and get so angry with myself for ruining whatever I am working on so passionately. When I look at these pictures of my first scroll top desk, I distinctly remember all the things I did wrong. At one point, it looked like butchered butterflies had bled out on the bottom half of the desk. How pissed off I was! Two years ago, I stewed on that anger for a while and figured out how to fix my hot mess up. have learned to embrace the mistakes and absorb them into my art intentionally. It is not failure, but truly a happy accident. When I look at my most recent roll top desk, all I see are the things I learned along the way and a beautiful place for a person to enjoy writing their first book or studying for their big test