Daisy McClellan always knew she wanted to be surrounded by art and make things with her hands. Since she can remember she has always loved painting, fiber art, and partaking in traditional crafts as a form of meditation and self care. At Smith College she studied Studio Art and Spanish which led to working in advertising and branding. Meanwhile a jewelry making hobby rapidly turned into a full fledged business making her a top seller on Etsy and taking her around the country selling her designs at various boutiques and maker markets. 

In 2014, she and her husband Christian opened gather, a brick and mortar retail shop in San Francisco where they featured over 200 artists and hosted both public and private creative workshops. Some of their largest events were in the form of team building workshops with companies like Etsy, Pinterest, Zen Desk and Nerd Wallet. In addition, Daisy designed a clothing collection for women and young children that was featured on the front page of the style section of the San Francisco Chronicle, founded a bi-annual shopping market for local boutiques, and worked with several artists on joint collaborations. In early 2020 Daisy and Christian sold the business to move to Charleston, South Carolina with their three young sons. 

Through a workshop at gather, Daisy found punch needle and jumped in with two feet bringing her modern take to this traditional technique. Combining punch needle with sewing she makes wearable objects like bright jackets and bags as well as items for the home like plant holders and heirloom stuffed animals and baby teethers. She was selected as an artist-in-resident at the Gibbes Museum of Art in 2021 and debuted her first solo show there in 2022. Interested in continually learning new things, she has started incorporating the use of a rug tufting gun as well as experimenting with non-traditional, easily sourced, and affordable materials like butcher’s twine, recycled clothing, and raffia into her work. She sells her pieces as well as DIY punch needle kits on her website (www.daisymcclellan.com), in local shops, and at regional art fairs. In addition to creating she offers her expertise as a maker teaching workshops, summer camps, and retreats ranging from fiber arts to natural dyeing in galleries and shops around the country.