Etsy, other stuff, sniffle, etc

by ruralpearl | Dec 16, 2011 | News & Events

Thank you so much to all of you who have placed recent orders in my Etsy store. All orders placed today (as of right now anyway, 2:30pm cst) through Monday, Dec. 19, will ship out Monday afternoon, and all those orders plus any orders through Wednesday for $18 or above shipping to any US address will be upgraded to Priority Mail to get there by Christmas Eve. (Priority Mail is not guaranteed by the USPS to be 2-3 days, but it hasn’t failed me yet…)

I haven’t gotten around to listing my coffee mugs or ornaments in my online store yet… I’ve spent the last week doing bare minimal work as I try to deal with a snarky, close-to-feverish winter cold likely egged on by shifty Kansas weather… I’m keeping my blog updated though! That’s easy to do from the couch.. If you were hoping to order either of those, shoot me an email.

My Final Friday exhibit opening at Elevate in Lawrence is being moved to Dec. 23. I won’t have as much new work hanging as I’d hoped, but there will be prints and greeting cards available plus all the great stuff that Elevate already has. I also may or may not be there pending a possible road trip to visit family in Colorado.

I’ve also added two new exhibits to my “Upcoming Events” (on the home page) that are one year or more down the road. More info on those later. Til next time..

Interview by Ukrainian designer Lilja Teptjaeva

by ruralpearl | Dec 12, 2011 | News & Events

Awhile back, I did an interview with Lilja to present to her students in the Ukraine as part of her design class curriculum. Here it is in english. Read the full version with images in Ukrainian here (if you can read Ukrainian..): http://poglyad.com/blog/21/668/
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–Tell me something about yourself: where is studying, living and working, what is your main activity? What are you trying to achieve in life?

I live and work in a small town in Kansas which is directly in the middle of the United States. I studied Business and Art at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS, and then I went on to study Interactive Telecommunications, which is an artistic program based on new media and technology, at New York University in New York City.

My main activity is making cut paper art and is what I do as my full-time job. I sell art at art fairs and on the internet, license designs to companies for products, and I also do some design and illustration work.
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— How do you think is necessary or professional art education in order to achieve serious professional results? As happened in your life?

I think a professional art education is important to give you some foundation and to expose you to things that you may not have seen before. In my case, I knew I always wanted to be an artist but was not sure in what medium, and I just happened to accidently discover cut paper art during an extra-curricular activity during my studies at New York University.
I think the most important thing to achieve serious professional results is to work hard at what you are most passionate about, regardless of how extensive your education is. Passion and drive come from within and will take you as far as you’ll allow yourself to go.
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— In what shows and projects you have participated that have solo exhibitions?

My most recent solo exhibition was at the Carnegie Arts Center in Leavenworth, Kansas. I’ve done several other smaller exhibitions around the Kansas City area over the last couple years, and I have a three-artist exhibit coming up in August at the Carnegie Cultural Center in Ottawa, Kansas.
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— Whose foreign artwork inspires you, in which the artist would like to learn?

The artist that ultimately inspired me to do cut paper art is Lotte Reiniger, a silhouette animation artist, from Germany. I’m also inspired by german artist Gerhard Marcks and french animation artist Michel Ocelot, among many others. My favorite visual artist is little known Walter Henry Williams, who was originally from the US but lived out the last years of his life in Denmark.
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— What helps and hinders you in work and in life, what inspires itself on creativity? Who would like to thank you, and for what (as the artist)?

I am mostly inspired by nature: animals and wildflowers. I love being outdoors and observing nature.

I am hindered mostly by my own mind. It’s easy to let doubts, stress and worries take over the creative process.

I am very thankful to my mother and grandmother for giving me the support I really needed to put in the time to make art my full-time job. I’m also incredibly thankful to all the people who have inspired me, encouraged me, purchased my art, or have in any other way supported what I am doing.
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— Tell me please, have you ever illustrate a book or some other printed matter? Do you want to work with the book?

I recently finished doing illustrations for a series of Native American folk tales for a company in the USA. I would love to illustrate books. I feel like I’m slowly evolving in that direction.
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— What materials you use in the paper, what kind of paper used? I saw your earlier work – you did black and white composition, but now you use colored paper. Tell me please, why you started to use colored paper – this is connected somehow with your life, you want color, or is it just a new creative experiment?

The paper that I use is called Canson Mi-Teintes drawing paper. I also use tissue paper to add color.

I started out doing mostly black and white compositions because it was the simplest thing I could do while learning how to cut paper and figuring out my style at the same. I love color too much not to use it. Adding color also creates more of a challenge with each work — figuring out what colors to use, how much to use, and where to use them. However, I still do some black and white works. There is also a challenge in making something visually appealing only using black and white.
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— I know that you are working in the bakery. Also, you create pictures made of paper cutting. It is two different specialties and it’s fun! How do you all keep up? How it helps you work in a bakery working with paper, and it helps you work with paper work in a bakery?

About 6 or 7 years ago, I co-founded a bakery in Brooklyn, New York, and I worked there for several years and did artwork only as a hobby. As I got more comfortable with my art, I knew that the bakery was not for me and that art was what I wanted to spend all my time doing, so I left the bakery to move back to Kansas and pursue paper cutting as a full-time job. I still do the daily production lists and invoicing for the bakery via the internet, but I’m no longer part of the physical production process.
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— On which project you are working out, what you do is new? What are your creative plans for the future?

I’m always working on new original works to sell at art fairs and shows. I’m also currently working on a black and white series for my show at the Carnegie Cultural Center.

I don’t really have any definitive creative plans, except to continue working and see what unfolds. New and exciting things that I never would imagine always seem to come along as long as I keep working.
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— I think that artists in each country have their unique features of the life and work, but they all have much in common, is not it? What would you advise young artists and wish them?

Work hard at your art.
Take all the inspiration that you can and make it into something that is uniquely your own.
Follow your gut: if something feels right, go with it. If something doesn’t feel right, work at it until it does.
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Postcards by Bizarr Verlag

by ruralpearl | Dec 12, 2011 | News & Events

Just found in my mailbox- a package full of postcards with my artwork licensed and published by Bizarr Verlag in Germany. I’ll be doing some giveaways on my Facebook page after the holidays, including a few sets of these. Otherwise available in Europe. Stay tuned!