Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy (JD) Hecht.
Hi Jeremy (JD), thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started Creatively Cutz during the pandemic, when everything felt closed in and uncertain. Like a lot of people, I was stuck indoors, trying to find something that could keep my mind busy and give me a creative outlet. I had a Cricut and a Silhouette machine sitting in my office, mostly forgotten, and one day I pulled them back out.
That led me to shadow boxes. I saw one online and became fascinated by how light, paper, layers, and depth could create an entire little world inside a frame. I bought a template, took it apart, rebuilt it, and started learning how those dimensional pieces worked from the inside out.
What I didn’t fully realize at the time was that I wasn’t just learning a craft. I was also working through a darker emotional period. The first B.O.X. I made came from that place. It was created during a hard time, but it became something I was proud of. It showed me that even when things feel heavy, something beautiful can still come out of it.
The real turning point came when I found an adult coloring page of a girl walking alone through rainy streets. Something about that image stayed with me. I started imagining her world in layers and building it piece by piece inside a dimensional canvas. Every layer made the scene feel more alive. That one piece opened the door.
Not long after that, I had a work trip to Washington, DC, and in four days I created fifteen new layered worlds. That was when I realized this was more than a random pandemic hobby. Something had clicked.
I started sharing the pieces online, and people responded to them. They connected with the depth, the lighting, and the emotional feeling behind them. What had started as a personal refuge slowly turned into something other people wanted to be part of. Custom requests started coming in, and with encouragement from friends and supporters, I opened an Etsy shop called Creatively Paper.
Eventually, life got busy again and work took over, but the pull toward making never went away. Over time, Creatively Paper evolved into Creatively Cutz Studio. The work expanded beyond paper into acrylic painting, dimensional construction, lighting, glass, The Forge, Raw Canvas, and other projects, but the foundation is still the same.
At its core, Creatively Cutz started as a way to create light in a difficult time. Today, it has become a studio built around layers, emotion, construction, and one-of-one expression. Each B.O.X., each painting, and each piece carries part of that original idea: that art can hold a whole world inside it, even when it begins in a place of uncertainty.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it definitely has not been a smooth road.
Creatively Cutz started during a difficult emotional season, so the beginning was already tied to trying to create my way through uncertainty, isolation, and some darker moments. In that sense, the studio was never born from a perfectly planned business strategy. It started as survival, curiosity, and a need to make something with my hands when everything else felt heavy.
One of the biggest struggles has been figuring out how to turn something deeply personal into something sustainable. At first, the B.O.X. pieces were just for me. They were a refuge. Then people started responding to them, asking for custom pieces, and encouraging me to sell them. That was exciting, but also intimidating. There is a big difference between making something because your heart needs to make it and suddenly having to price it, package it, explain it, ship it, photograph it, archive it, and present it professionally.
Marketing has been another major challenge, especially being newer to Nashville and trying to get my art in front of people who do not know me yet. There is a whole different layer to building visibility in a new city. You are not just making the work. You are trying to find your audience, introduce yourself, show up consistently, and convince people to stop scrolling long enough to actually see what you are creating.
That is especially tricky with dimensional work, because photos have a habit of flattening everything into a polite little pancake. So much of what I make depends on depth, shadow, lighting, layers, and the way a piece changes when you move around it. A photograph can show the image, but it does not always capture the experience. That has pushed me to think harder about video, better photography, storytelling, and finding ways to help people understand that the work is not flat, even when the screen tries to make it look that way.
Another challenge has been balancing creativity with real life. My professional work in events, graphics, and project management has always been demanding, and there were times when Creatively Cutz had to take a back seat. The passion never left, but the time and energy were not always there. That stop-and-start rhythm can be frustrating because the ideas keep coming even when life does not leave room to chase them.
I have also had to grow through the business side of being an artist. Building a website, managing inventory, creating product listings, documenting work, learning pricing, developing collections, developing a local presence, and figuring out how to communicate the value of handmade, one-of-one art has all been its own education. The art may come from emotion, but the studio still needs structure.
And honestly, there has been the internal struggle too. Calling yourself an artist, putting your work out into the world, asking people to value it, and trusting that what you make matters is not always easy. There is a lot of doubt that tries to sneak in through the side door wearing tap shoes.
But the struggles are also part of the work now. Creatively Cutz is built on layers, and so is the story behind it. The difficult parts did not stop the studio from growing. They became part of why it exists.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Creatively Cutz Studio is built around layered, one-of-one artwork. I work across abstract acrylic painting, dimensional B.O.X. pieces, painted glass, and creative experiences like Raw Canvas, but the common thread is construction. My work is rarely just one surface. It is built in layers, whether that means poured acrylic, cut paper, plexiglass, light, shadow, or physical dimension.
What I am probably best known for are my B.O.X. pieces, which stands for Beyond Ordinary eXpression. They are dimensional artworks built inside frames using layered cut paper, acrylic elements, lighting, and depth to create small worlds. They started as shadow-box-inspired pieces, but over time they became their own thing. They are not prints. They are not flat illustrations. They are constructed pieces that change depending on the light, the angle, and how close you are to them.
I also create abstract acrylic paintings, many of which are rooted in movement, color, and emotional response. Some are fluid and atmospheric, while others have a stronger built or architectural feeling. Over time, those two sides of the studio have started talking to each other more. The paintings bring the movement, and the dimensional work brings the structure. Somewhere in that overlap is where Creatively Cutz really lives.
One of the things I am most proud of is that the studio has continued to grow without losing the reason it started. It began as a way to create through a hard time, and now it has expanded into full collections, custom work, The Forge, Raw Canvas, painted glass, and The Finders Collection. Each project has its own purpose, but they all connect back to the same idea: art should feel alive, personal, and accessible.
The Finders Collection is a free art drop project I created through Creatively Cutz Studio. I release original, one-of-one paintings out into the world for people to discover, take home, and register as the official finder. Each piece includes information connecting it back to the studio, and once it is registered, the finder receives the official documentation for the artwork. I love the idea of removing the barrier between people and original art. Instead of asking someone to walk into a gallery or make a purchase, the artwork finds them first.
The project is also about giving each piece a journey. A painting begins in the studio, gets released into a real location, is discovered by someone, and then continues its life in a new home. That story becomes part of the artwork’s provenance. It is part treasure hunt, part community connection, and part reminder that art does not always have to wait politely on a wall for someone to notice it.
I am especially proud of The Forge, because it takes the one-of-one idea even further. Each piece starts with a unique abstract pour background, then gets paired with a selected design and built into a finished dimensional artwork. No two foundations are the same, so even if the design is familiar, the final piece has its own identity. It allows people to be part of the creative process without turning the art into something mass-produced.
I am also proud of Raw Canvas, because it gives people permission to create. A lot of people walk in saying they are not artists or that they are not creative, and I love proving them wrong in the best way. Raw Canvas is not about perfection. It is about letting people experience the moment when color, movement, and instinct start working together. That matters to me.
What sets Creatively Cutz apart is the combination of emotion and construction. My background in graphics, events, and production gave me a strong sense of structure, but the artwork itself comes from a much more personal place. I am not interested in making things that feel manufactured or interchangeable. I want the viewer to feel the hand in the work, the decisions, the layers, the little complications.
A lot of my work looks bold or playful at first, but underneath that is a serious commitment to detail. Nothing is “just simple.” Even the pieces that feel bright or fun usually have a lot of planning, cutting, building, layering, and problem-solving behind them. That is really the heart of the studio: taking an idea, giving it dimension, and building it until it has its own little pulse.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like best about Nashville is that creativity is everywhere, but it does not all look the same. People usually think of music first, and of course that is a huge part of the city, but there is also this wider creative current running through Nashville. You can feel it in the makers, artists, designers, small businesses, performers, writers, food, murals, markets, and all the little pockets where people are building something of their own.
As someone who is still working to get my art out into the city, I appreciate that Nashville feels like a place where creative people can keep finding new doors. Some are obvious. Some are hidden in an alley wearing boots and holding a guitar. But they are there.
What I like least is probably how hard it can be to break through the noise. Nashville is full of talented people, which is exciting, but it also means you have to work really hard to be seen. When you are newer to the city and trying to introduce your work, build connections, and find your audience, it can feel like you are shouting into a very stylish thunderstorm.
There is also the practical side: growth, traffic, rising costs, and the pace of change. Nashville has so much energy, but sometimes it feels like the city is growing faster than people can catch their breath.
But even with that, I still see Nashville as a city with a strong creative pulse. It challenges you to show up, sharpen your voice, and keep building. For me, that makes it both frustrating and inspiring, which honestly feels very appropriate for an artist.
Pricing:
- The Finders Collection: These pieces are released as free original art drops. Finders do not purchase the artwork. They discover it, register it, and receive official documentation after verification.
- Commissions and custom work: Pricing varies based on size, materials, complexity, and timeline. Custom projects are quoted individually.
- Raw Canvas experiences: Raw Canvas pour-painting sessions begin with a $50 online deposit, with the remaining balance due in person.
- Creatively Cutz B.O.X. artworks: Dimensional B.O.X. pieces typically start around $128, depending on the design, materials, lighting, and build complexity.
- Painting pricing is often based on size: For many canvas works, pricing follows a simple structure based on the artwork’s dimensions.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.creativelycutz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativelycutz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creativelycutz
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyhecht/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CreativelyCutz
