Creator’s Corner presented by U.S. Bank

Christy Johnson, the founder and CEO of United Goods, has been a graphic designer and artist in Minneapolis since 2003. A life-long creative, she's loved to draw since she was a kid. Over time, Christy developed a unique style of illustration, and began creating minimalistic, graphic prints. She makes State Icons, which are high-quality, mini framed landmark prints that celebrate the U.S. landmarks that mean the world to you. These “memories in a frame” are small-but-mighty, high-quality giclée prints that she draws digitally—with a mouse! After she prints them, Christy places the tiny art pieces in frames that are hand-made by her parents.

Lei Washinton, founder of Barefoot Potter, is a home potter and artist based out of Minneapolis, MN. She first tried pottery in high school and quickly fell in love with it, primarily as a hobby to bring her joy. She spent some time away from pottery to begin her career in education, which she still does as her day job, but she jumped back into it a few years ago and her business took off. During the last few years, she has had the wonderful opportunity to create pottery that really embodies who she is, with her work displaying themes of joy, sass, whimsy, and nature. She hopes each piece she creates bring happiness to her customers each time they use it.

Samantha Breneman's woodworking journey began in the summer of 2012, when she needed a coffee table for her college house. She enlisted the help of her grandfather, Wayne, and they got to work building the table out of an old shipping pallet and a couple of boards they found in his garage located on Fox Lake near Sherburn, MN. Samantha found joy in that project and continued to hone her craft until 2015 when she founded Fox Lake Furniture. Today, Samantha crafts unique furniture and home accessories from locally sourced lumber, including the remaining pallet wood from her grandparents' garage, in her wood shop located just outside of Trimont, MN.