Tina Williams Savage did not set out to be artist, but she always loved to doodle.

Savage has papers she saved from high school that are decorated with doodles. As an adult, she would often draw when she got home from a long day at work.

“I would come home from work and be stressed, and I would start doodling,” Savage said.

Savage would color in her doodles with bright, vibrant colors. As the years passed, she amassed more and more of the colorful designs.

“I had all of these designs and I decided to put some of them on tote bags to give to my friends,” she recalled. “One day my daughters said, ‘Mom, these are so cool, you should sell them.’”

Things took off from there, Savage said.

Today, Savage’s TWS Designs appear on everything from tote bags and calendars to clothing to magnets. Savage described the artwork of TWS Designs as “happy.”

“My art is fun and funky,” she said. “It makes me happy. When I look at my designs, I catch myself smiling.”

Her artwork is happy, but also a little psychedelic, she said.

“My children will say, ‘Mom, we can tell you grew up in the 70’s by the way you draw,” Savage said, laughing.

The names of her designs are as fun and funky as her artwork. Many of her designs feature fish, including one she calls Old Man Fish. There are whimsical animals including Patriotic Rooster. Other designs feature multi-colored guitars and free-flowing flowers.

“My artwork is hard to put into a category,” Savage said. “I just start drawing and it turns into something.”

“A lot of what I draw comes from how I am feeling,” she continued. “You can tell how I feel by what I draw.”

Savage began TWS Designs by selling to friends. She later expanded to selling her designs on the internet. Now, her artwork can be found on clothing at Watkinsville’s Southern Belles and Beaus children’s boutique.

“I was just thrilled that they fell in love with my artwork,” she said. “When people like my artwork, I know they are happy, because my artwork is happy.”

Her intoxicating designs will also be on display at the upcoming Fall Festival. A lifelong resident of Oconee County, she said she looks forward to seeing old friends as much as she anticipates introducing her designs to new ones.

TWS Designs is doing well, but Savage said her hope is to have more and more stores selling her designs.

“It has always been my dream to have my designs sold in stores,” she said. “I am hoping someone with connections will see my designs one day, and help me get my designs in lots of stores.”

TWS Designs and Savage’s artwork is a second job, one the Oconee resident does at night and on weekends. She admitted that sometimes she gets going on a design, and just doesn’t stop.

“I will be working at midnight, and my family will tease me and say it is way past my bedtime,” she said.

As she works at nights and on weekends, new designs continue to evolve. Savage recently started putting her designs on pillows. After the design is transferred, she then uses colorful embroidery threads to outline the artwork.

No matter what design she is working on at the time, Savage said her artwork never fails to make her happy.

“It doesn’t matter what I am working on, because I love it all,” she said. “And, I love the joy I get from seeing the looks on people’s faces when they see my designs,” she said.

She hopes to continue drawing even after she retires from her full-time job. She said she just never wants to quit doing what she started doing as a teenager at Oconee County High School.

“Even when I am older and retire, I hope to still be drawing,” Savage said. “And, it all started by accident. It started because I loved to doodle.”

Savage’s artwork can be found on an assortment of children’s clothing at Southern Belles and Beaus, located on Main Street in downtown Watkinsville. Designs can also be viewed at www.cafepress.com/twsavage.

You can also get more information about TWS Designs by emailing the artist at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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