Home Is Where The Wood Is
Christie Hill’s journey into professional custom woodworking actually began recreationally, as a hobby. Christie is originally from the Philadelphia area, and moved out to Harrisburg many years ago with her husband. In her new home, she had a two story wall that they had the hardest time figuring out how to decorate. Christie decided she wanted to surprise her husband (who is Canadian) with a Canadian themed wall. She secretly stored a bunch of items, but had trouble finding that one last piece that would bring everything together. Her mom suggested she make something herself, and the rest is history.
After seeing Christie’s artwork on her own wall, her friends began to ask her to make things for their homes, and for several years she was creating custom woodwork for friends and family just for fun. After several years, she decided to turn her hobby into a business, and in 2019, Junebug and Josie was born.
Christie’s passion for woodworking and creating wall art began early in her childhood, as tinkering with wood and tools was always in her family, even before she was born. Her grandfather worked with wood and built his own wood shop, and her father owned his own construction business, and also had his own workshop in their basement. So Christie was exposed to wood and tools from the get-go. She remembers following her dad around his shop, and always playing with scrap pieces of wood and paint. She made her very first piece of art - a piece of wood that had the words, ‘The Pickle Juice Club” painted on it, which her parents actually saved, and just recently regifted to Christie for Christmas. She has inherited her grandfather’s tools, and takes pride in using her family’s pieces in making her work.
Her business, Junebug and Josie, was named after her grandmothers, June and Josephine. June is also an artist, a painter, and Josephine, who just turned 96 this past New Year’s Eve, is an avid gardener and worked with flowers, so creativity has truly run through Christie’s lineage in many ways. It is so important to Christie that her family is truly in every piece of wood. She says, “Family is important to me and I wanted to find a way, however small, to show my gratitude for the love they have given me my entire life.”
Christie was so excited to hear about The York Merchant when it first opened because she loved that it was truly made for artists, artisans and crafters. She thought it was the perfect opportunity to be around other creative people who shared the same passions, and who all put blood, sweat, and tears into what they do. She loves being surrounded by people who take a lot of pride in what they do, and who continuously support each other through their creative journeys. Every time she leaves the marketplace, it’s with a smile on her face.
One of Christie’s favorite things to do is create custom orders for her clients. She loves helping people to think outside-of-the-box of typical “welcome” signs. All of her work is completely unique and one of a kind, as she hand paints everything and never uses stencils. Her work is inspired by her love of “beautifully imperfect” antique tavern and trade signs, folk art, and Americana, and her pieces are meant to be “perfectly imperfect.”
To learn more about Christie and see more of her work, please visit her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JunebugandJosie