Former University of Wisconsin plant pathologist R.V. James took his lifelong interest in plants and transformed it into both a creative outlet and a business.
Following his retirement from UW in 2008, James decided to pursue a past hobby that he first discovered in junior high: printing his own original designs. Starting in his childhood, after his parents gave him a silk screening kit, James sold his designs in the form of cards at local church craft fairs.
“I was dumbfounded that I could make something that someone would want to buy,” James said.
James did not completely delve into this art form, though, until retirement, when he opened his own shop on popular craft vending site Etsy under the name RVJamesDesigns. Today, James now has more than a thousand items available for purchase, which consist mostly of mugs and ceramic tiles printed with his photography and design, but also an assortment of pillows, tapestries and other home decor.
James said about 75 percent of his photographed designs show flowers from his own garden, which contains anywhere from 800 to 1,000 new bulbs each year. This glimpse into his own backyard is what makes James’ work unique and personal.
“It’s the love of plants,” James said. “It’s the main thing that triggered what I do.”
Because of his father’s own love of gardening, James grew up always loving flowers. This love for flowers only grew more when his father gave him his own small plot of space to garden in their yard.
James’ own vast, intricate garden today contains an array of plants — including more than 400 types of daylilies and a UW inspired red and white front yard display of flowers that attracts local attention. James explains that people he doesn’t know will express their fondness towards the displays.
Through this, the garden serves as the perfect inspiration and source for photography samples, as James tries to exemplify the perfect summary of Wisconsin agriculture through his work. Born and raised in Wisconsin, James sees beauty in the place he calls home.
“That’s an important part: the place,” James said. “I’m a Wisconsin person.”
James is making a name for himself online with his designs, and he claims he doesn’t see many shops that are a direct competitor. Unlike other popular Etsy shops, where users of the website sell their goods, James offers hand printed decor and clothing of his own original garden designs.
Despite his international sales now, James did not have immediate success on Etsy.
“I put 15 things there [on Etsy] … and they sat there for two years,” James said.
As James spent the next year devoting an hour a day to promote his work, he began making sales. Along with the silk screening technique in which James first learned to print designs, he now uses dye sublimation, a technique which he explains is more individual yet less time consuming and involves heating and pressing solid ink onto products such as t-shirts and mugs. Through dye sublimation, James is able to make unique, individual pieces without mass production.
While James believes that the greatest reward of his business is creating the crafts themselves, he hopes that with time, it can be a greater supplement of pay.
“It’s very rewarding to have it pay for itself,” James said.
Although it’s unclear where James’ enterprise will lead him in the future, for now James has found a fulfilling commercial outlet through which he can share small glimpses into his deep passion of native flowers and Wisconsin heritage.
