BY SHALEEN DESTEFANO
Like most families, we found puzzling to be an excellent way to connect and distract during the pandemic. Unlike banging pots at 5pm, this activity stuck. When we found ēklektik pieces at Firefly Handmade, we instantly fell in love. Not only for their unique acrylic design, but because they shared a love for local art. We had the pleasure of meeting with fellow Wash Park neighbor and the brains behind ēklektik, Courtney Spehar.
Tell us how your journey as an entrepreneur began.
I am an Interior Designer by trade, but I am also a very busy mom of three children. Like all moms, I am incredibly busy chauffeuring the kids around to their activities, helping with homework, hosting playdates & sleepovers, oh, and working. We move at such a fast pace, it suddenly hit me a while back… although I spend a lot of “time” with my kids, it wasn’t as much quality time as I would like.
Now that my children are older, I have tried slowing things down… finding simple activities to connect with them more. We really were not a puzzling family. However, on a snowy day a couple of years ago, I randomly pulled a puzzle out of our closet and noticed myself getting lost in it. I’m competitive in nature, and absolutely love the sense of completion, and tackling tasks. I had forgotten how much fun puzzling can be! In fact, super rewarding and therapeutic.
As each child would come and go that day, they would add a couple pieces here & there. It was at this time I realized what incredible 1-on-1 time it was puzzling with them. We were truly connecting… talking about the image, finding “the” piece, and talking about other life things too. Although we didn’t come anywhere near completing the puzzle that day, I realized that this was an amazing activity for the family. After they all went to bed, I sat back down with a glass of wine, put on my favorite Spotify album, and got back to puzzling…I was locked in.
And so it began, our family’s new way to connect, and conversely MY peaceful end to the hectic days. As we began doing more puzzles, I realized that these puzzle companies were missing a really great opportunity for the consumer to display their hard work within their homes. As a professional Interior Designer, I did not love the images we were spending so much time assembling, and the framing options were not of good quality. So, I set out to select art-forward imagery that I would want on my own walls, and to design a really unique, cool frame.
I have always had an obsession with colored acrylic, and therefore wanted to select vibrant colors that would complement the puzzled artwork. Is it a puzzle or is it art? We are mutually both… ēklektik pieces is an acrylic form of puzzled art. We are such a unique product that we are the perfect gift for the person who literally has everything! You don’t have to be a puzzler to love our products. You just have to love beautiful things. After many years in the making, ēklektik pieces officially launched in August 2023.
What does the creative process look like for you from design to completion?
I personally curate our portfolio based on artwork/artists that I would want to see hanging on the walls in my own home. Our goal, is to collaborate with artists whom we admire, for their work and who they are as individuals. We begin by designing the puzzle pieces.
Our ēklektik artists are extremely thoughtful in designing each individual puzzle piece and therefore it is a quite extensive process that takes months. The piece designs are inspired by elements within the artwork, and often times, very typical of elements that you find throughout that artist’s work. It is our intention to enhance the artwork through the unique acrylic medium. Once we custom design the acrylic pieces, we laser cut them, and verify their structural integrity and design intent to make certain that not only are we are in line with the artists we are representing, but that the pieces interlock in order to create the perfect puzzle. Our puzzles truly are… art within art!
How did you come up with the unique idea to use acrylic for your puzzles and what can you tell us about the framing process?
The acrylic idea actually began with the frames! Who doesn’t love, vibrant, colored acrylic? Especially these days, acrylic is all the rage and very on trend. A couple of years ago, there was a puzzle that I really enjoyed assembling. I didn’t LOVE the image, but it was on my table for weeks and my sweet Dad knew it took my family a lot of time to complete so he bought me the frame to showcase & display our hard work. The $100 frame arrived and it was, for lack of a better description, super flimsy. I have an appreciation for beautiful, high-quality products that represent my style. And this was not it. So, I set out to design colorful, acrylic frames that could compliment the puzzle. Our custom-designed frames can be used with all of our art puzzles and are easy to use. Either assemble your puzzle right on the frame, or on any flat surface (and easily slide the puzzle onto the frame). Close the top tray and you are ready to display/hang either vertically or horizontally. Super easy, no messy glue either!
We are all familiar with traditional particle board puzzles and even the wooden jigsaw puzzles. But after designing the colored acrylic frames, we decided ēklektik pieces should take puzzling to a whole new dimension (literally) by putting the imagery on clear acrylic as well. Once we tried it, we were obsessed! Seeing the image through the sides of the pieces is just so unique. Not to mention, you can really feel the exceptional quality of the acrylic pieces in the way they “klick” together. Such a sense of satisfaction!
Our cover for this month features the work of Danielle SeeWalker. We obviously share a love for her powerful work, and we love to see her art transform in your puzzles. What can you tell us about this partnership and do you have other artists you will be collaborating with in the future?
Danielle is an incredibly talented multidisciplinary artist. Her artwork pays homage to her identity as a Lakota Native American. We collaborated with her on two pieces in our portfolio. One is entitled Wičhíšta and the other is Patrick Kills Crow. Patrick Kills Crow is a portrait of a Lakota elder who recently passed. The original piece is currently on display in Danielle’s exhibit at the History Colorado Center. We tried to honor him by including his iconic handkerchief and other Native American elements in the piece designs.
Every month we feature a new artist. In addition to Danielle, we have featured other local artists such as Austin Fowler and Skela. We collaborate with artists from all over the US. A Swan in Palm Beach is by Kyle Lucks, based out of West Palm beach. Our artist designed that puzzle to include swan shapes, palm trees, and even the Worth Avenue Clock Tower. We love working with these talented artists, and we believe the feeling is mutual as, our puzzles allow for one to fully interact with the art through the specially designed pieces.
Your use of color is one thing that really drew us in, is this a signature move, or do you plan on working with earthier tones in the future?
I am a color girl! Color evokes emotion. Your interior space can have such a dramatic impact on your mood. My personality is more vibrant, and energetic and this is reflective in my interior design, as well as our artwork portfolio. I am not vanilla, and therefore, our designs will never be such. Not to mention, who wants to spend a bunch of time assembling a vanilla puzzle? I can’t imagine that would bring about much joy, right?
How did you find yourself in Colorado?
I was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. In 2001, I graduated from the University of MO- Columbia, moved out to Denver, and met my husband out here. After getting married, we moved to his home town of Kansas City, and then to northern CA for a couple of years. It was nice living in various cities and experiencing different areas of the country. But ultimately, once we started our family, we decided that Denver was the best place for us to raise our children. We absolutely love everything about Colorado and cannot imagine living anywhere else!
What can we expect from you in the future?
My mind is constantly turning with ideas. Often times, I have to reign myself in or I would never get anything accomplished! We are always releasing new artists and creating new designs. We are also thrilled to introduce our children’s/teen’s line coming this summer. And, let’s just say this… there are “bigger” things to come for ēklektik pieces and we absolutely cannot wait for you all to enjoy them!
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Courtney! We can’t wait to see which new artists you bring to our kitchen table in the future. To learn more visit eklektikpieces.com.