Irene Mudd

My name is Irene Mudd, and I am the artist behind Guided Hand Studio! I received my BFA in painting and fiber art from the Hite Art Institute in 2017 and currently live and work in Louisville, KY. I have been creating art for as long as I can remember, always in a variety of different mediums, including but not limited to painting, drawing, collage/cut paper, textiles, embroidery, and knitting. Guided Hand Studio functions as the illustration & product design “arm” of my artistic practice, but I maintain a fine art studio practice as well. My current work deals with the connection between folklore, women’s histories, and craft, as well as the relationship between art and magic. To check out my fine art portfolio, go to irenemudd.com. Guided Hand Studio began as my first project out of art school: my tarot deck, the Guided Hand Tarot. Created by hand at a feverish pace in the summer of 2017, the Guided Hand Tarot is a 78-card deck created from a combination of collage/cut paper, painting, drawing, and embroidery. Since Kickstarting the deck in 2018, I have sold it to tarot lovers all over the world. The name “Guided Hand” is a reference to one of my all-time favorite artists, Hilma af Klint—a painter and Spiritualist medium who believed unseen forces would guide her hand in creating her stunning abstract paintings. She viewed herself as a conduit for the spirit realm to relay messages through visual art, notably dismissing that her paintings were a product of her own mind. This notion that art-making is not necessarily a solo effort but a co-collaboration with invisible divine forces, is something that has inspired me for years and shifted the way I view process and creation. Guided Hand Studio’s mission is to create artfully designed products and decor that inspire a sense of sensuality & enchantment in everyday life. I’m a firm believer that the objects and decor we surround ourselves with make a direct impact on our psyches and the energy of our environments, which influences our capacities for inspiration, love, and spiritual awakening.