Cassady Fulbright is a recent graduate from the University of North Georgia with a major in Studio Art and now sells hand embroidered goods and custom paintings. However, the young artist did what most freshman do and started off her collegiate career on a completely different path than the one she’s drawn for herself now.

The former wildlife management major at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College turned quickly to business at UNG with art nowhere in sight until the summer of 2016 when she got a job working for Glorieta Adventure Camps, a Christian summer camp for kids in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Fulbright said that she ended up falling in love with the creation of art while in New Mexico.

“The art culture is so different and so wild,” said Fulbright “you’re bound to just become immersed in the art culture because it is such a part of the everyday there.”

She stayed on with the camp through December as a recruitment intern when a mentor gave her the idea of becoming an art teacher through her passion for kids and art.

“I came back to UNG ready to go, I knew the exact major I wanted to be in and so I started out in art education.”

After several fundamental education classes, Fulbright came to the conclusion that she wanted to mainly be in art and changed her major for the final time to studio art with a double concentration in photography and painting.

Fulbright says that she is good at photography but prefers painting.

“I paint from my photos, so I have to have those good photos to paint. It goes hand in hand,” said Fulbright, “When they do hire me [for photography] it’s just fun.”

Fulbright embodies the name creator and even picked up hand embroidery after being inspired and fascinated by embroidery handouts that were given out by her former textiles professor.

“I did four embroidered patterns, my own patterns, on shirts and posted them and ended up being able to sell them.”

The photographer, painter, and now embroiderer makes custom designs and says that she loves creating new things that she hasn’t done before, and it keeps people wanting more.

“I do have a lot of trouble being okay if something’s not perfect,” said Fulbright, “but I always tell myself if they wanted something perfect, they would take it to a machine embroidery.”

Fulbright says that she used to struggle with liking the work that she made but the key to her success is hard work, consistency, and the guts to pursue something with everything she has.

“I felt unhappy with some parts of paintings and I feel like I am just now to the point where I can say I love this, and I love how it’s turning out.

She hopes to pursue a masters in studio art so she can teach college art classes but, in the meantime, she continues to paint and create new designs while she works a scribing job in the medical field. She recently just put one of her stone fly drawings on a glass beer mug.

“I never took an art class in high school, never knew if I could even draw,” said Fulbright, “that first art class was so intimidating and I suck at drawing. I still suck at drawing, but I found my niche just by keeping it up.”

With her camera and canvas in tow, she plans on capturing the world through the lenses of her eyes and instilling inspiration into others just as it’s been done to her.

Follow her art page @cassadycreates on Instagram and see more of her work on her personal website.