Art For the Young at Heart

Posted on Jul 20

Cassie Dyer calls her colorful creations Happy Art For the Young at Heart!

It's nearly impossible to not feel happy after stepping foot into Cassie Dyer's studio in the Middletown Pendleton Art Center. The studio walls are painted bright orange with her colorful, whimsical art covering almost every inch. Cassie is the owner and creator behind JellyDoodles — a shop where you'll find paintings, stickers, buttons, t-shirts and more — all showcasing the positive, playful, vibrant, lighthearted style that JellyDoodles is all about.

Meet the Artist

Cassie Dyer opened up her JellyDoodles studio inside of the Middletown Pendleton Art Center and also sells her art on Etsy.

The funniest part is... Cassie never expected that she would one day make a career out of art.

"I always wanted to be an artist, but I never thought I was any good at painting," she says. "I even have a picture of me in kindergarten wearing a little artist beret."

As she got older, Cassie decided to pursue photography and got her degree in 2005— which she called the dawn of the digital age. In an era when everyone has professional-like cameras already on their cellphones, Cassie figured she would carry over what she already knew to digital drawings and learning to paint.

"My paintings made me happy so I just kept doing them, and eventually I got better," she says. "Everyone starts somewhere so if it makes you happy, just keep it up."

Cassie even keeps her first ever JellyDoodles painting on the chalkboard in her studio. Now, Cassie likes to refer to her work as Happy Art for the Young at Heart— and it's easy to see why.

Happy Art is for Everyone

Walking into the JellyDoodles studio is an instant mood boost. Cassie is always creating new art and thinking of ideas. Her studio offers a wide variety of postcards, T-shirts, stickers, buttons, paintings, necklaces... and so much more.

The majority of JellyDoodles art features cute animals and whimsical creatures with funny sayings. Really, it's the overwhelming cute that makes her art so special.

Cassie's stickers are one of her more popular items, for both adults and children alike. They are perfect for decorating laptops, water bottles, party favors, or any kind of crafts.

My personal favorite are the canvas paintings of all the different animals! Cassie's favorite animal is actually a duck, but she never paints them... "I don't think I can do them justice, they're so cute!" she laughs.

Her favorite animal derives from four pet ducks she used to have near a pond at her childhood home— Rocky, Bullwinkle, Peanut and Jelly.

Along with her canvas paintings of animals, Cassie also makes books. One of her books is a How To Draw JellyDoodles, so you can learn how to draw or paint some of the animals for yourself! The book includes 40 animals and she encourages anyone to give it a try.

"I love sitting down to create something and then seeing it in full effect," she says. "Sometimes I say I just want to bottle that feeling."

Character Buttons

If you might be saying you think you're too adult for her incredibly fun animal art, chances are you'll still love these buttons...

JellyDoodle buttons are another one of Cassie's top sellers— with packs of them created for the TV shows The Office and The Golden Girls or even popular movies like Mean Girls.

There's a large variety found in the JellyDoodles studio and it's an absolute blast to see it in person. What's even better, is if you have your own idea, Cassie is available to make custom paintings, which make for the best gifts ever— for others, or yourself!

Custom Requests

I had reached out to Cassie after seeing a ton of custom water-color paintings she did for other customers. I had an idea for a friend of mine expecting her first baby in a few months... and the finished product was adorable!

I placed my custom painting in a frame and paired it with another JellyDoodles book to make for the ultimate Baby Shower gift— it was a huge hit. If you would like to place your own custom order, you can reach out to JellyDoodles via Facebook to request your idea. Keep up with her social media too and check in for her new characters and creative ideas... there's always something to look forward to with JellyDoodles!

Cakes

JellyDoodles does a collaboration with Central Pastry Shop! Central Pastry now offers JellyDoodles cake designs. The designs are offered in the Look Books so next time you visit, be sure to flip through and see the awesome designs.