A place for artists and creatives

Interview with Romanian Painter Ioana Iacob: Transforming Traditional Romanian Roof Tiles Into Works of Art

adminJuly 27, 2017July 27, 2017Leave a comment

It is my pleasure to introduce Ioana Iacob from Bucharest, Romania who creates small paintings on local reclaimed wood roof tiles. Her Etsy shop is filled with colorful paintings that are perfect for small spaces.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey with art?

I have been dreaming of this all my life. Having grown up in a family where almost everybody was drawing and painting, art and colors have fascinated me since I was a little kid. Both my grandfathers painted and I loved the smell and feel of the painting studio. However, I always believed I was not good enough. Fast forward many years later, after finishing photography school and having had a few group exhibitions, I started believing in myself as an artist.

As I got older, I also realized that life is too short and that we should do what we love. Painting came easy, after I discovered acrylic painting. I could not stop painting after discovering the little wooden tiles I use as support for my mini paintings. I came across them when refurbishing my parents house, in the mountains. What are they? They are actually pieces of wood used for roofing houses, the traditional way, in some areas of Romania. They are hand carved by local craftsmen and nailed like pieces of puzzles to make a perfect cover for any house.

What is life like in Bucharest, Romania? Do you have any favorite spots you can recommend visitors?

Life in Bucharest is great. So is Romania. Do come to see for yourselves! I have lived in the city all my life, but rural life and Romanian traditions and country lifestyle have always attracted me. You can catch a glimpse of these by visiting Bucharest Village and Romanian Peasant Museums. There you can also see houses that have roofs tiled with small wooden tiles, like the ones I use for painting.

Where do you draw your inspiration and vibrant color schemes from? Why the use of wood?

I like living a simple life, enjoy spending time with my family. They and my friends are my main inspiration.

I also love the bright colors that bring life to the wood, make it more animated. Each small painted wooden tile can sparkle up any room.

Do you have any favorite music that you like to listen to while you create?

The laughter of my three children is music to my ears and the one I listen to every time I paint. In the rare moments they are asleep, I like to listen to classical music or turn on the radio.

Are you working on any new and exciting projects, or have any outstanding artistic or business goals for the near future?

Plans for the future? I have read that you become a real artist after you have painted 1000 pictures. I have yet to reach that number and call myself a true artist :). I also dream of my own studio with a garden, where I can paint under the sun.

You can like and follow Ioana on Facebook to stay updated on her latest tile paintings!

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How to Successfully Sell Art on Redbubble

adminJuly 24, 2017July 24, 20171 Comment

Many of us artists who are new to selling on Redbubble, or have tried to sell on Redbubble and have tried to figure out their niche and what sells best, and how and what to promote, often give up after a year or two, or even less. The next 9 artists give their advice on how to successfully sell art on Redbubble and what has worked best for them.

Redbubble Artist @artiisan

“My most selling products are definitely phone cases, but also notebooks and t-shirts are very popular! My top selling design is Floral Dance. I have only had good experiences on Redbubble. The RB team is so helpful and really interested in promoting their artists! I’ve been featured on the RB front page three times in three months and they’ve also re-posted my work two times on their 160k Instagram account. When RB featured my work Floral Dance on their front page, my sales went crazy and now Floral Dance is one of the top selling floral designs on the site. I also do some marketing on my own Instagram account @art.iisan where I mention when there’s a sale on or just post pictures of my products. I also have other sites that I sell my designs on, but Redbubble definitely makes the best sales. But I should also say that I’ve been very active myself; I add new works almost weekly, post eye-catching product pictures on my Instagram and tag Redbubble in the pics. I also take part if Redbubble arranges competitions, such as last spring’s #Staycay design challenge. Try to build good visibility! :)”

Redbubble Artist @ednama

“I sell stickers the most on my Redbubble shop, especially the ones that have been featured on Redbubble’s homepage, such as this one. I promote my artwork mainly on my Instagram account, I share my drawing progress and interact with people in the comments. Redbubble is a really great platform that you can sell your artwork instantly, so your followers can buy your latest work! Besides Redbubble, I also sell self-printed products on Etsy, where I pack and ship the products directly to the buyers – I love to include a small thank you card within the orders, so to show how much I appreciate every single one of them!”

Redbubble Artist @vonplatypus

“My Redbubble bestseller is a design called Missing, which imagines the Loch Ness Monster being searched for through the milk carton ads that look for missing people. Being featured a few times in Redbubble’s Found section definitely helped make this design popular, because although I have the same design available on other sites like TeePublic and Society6, none of those have come even close to the numbers Missing has done on Redbubble. To be honest, I don’t do a lot of marketing of my designs – I usually find it more fun to promote the artwork of others at my websites TeeMagnet.com and Compete-tee-tion.com. This is probably partially because my focus with my artwork tends to be sites like Shirt.Woot.com, where you sell the rights to the artwork and it becomes their exclusive property. Although many find the rights issue to be a drawback, I find that it can be a real plus for people like me who are less active in marketing their own work – in a way, the site does it for you! It gives me more time to make new designs, rather than dwelling on things I’ve already created.”

Redbubble Artist @obinsun

“The most successful item sold in my Redbubble shop are T-Shirts of my design “Cat Got Your Soul?” As far as marketing goes, I have a neglected Twitter account and that’s about it. I make up for my lack of marketing by being prolific when it comes to producing art. The more I create the more my work gets noticed which equals more sales across all designs. I do sell on a variety of POD sites too, but most of my income comes through Redbubble, Threadless and Design By Humans. For Threadless I submit to contests as much as possible and with DBH I simply upload all my work just like I do with Redbubble. The two things that contribute most to my overall sales would be having a design featured on the Redbubble “found feed” and getting a print on featured on Threadless.”

Redbubble Artist @BeardyGraphics

“So, my Redbubble shop bestseller is this guy – “Blue Beard”. I use Instagram and Facebook to promote my illustrations & stuff. Sometimes Redbubble puts my art on their Facebook cover, or make a post about it. So it works, of course :). Also, I sell my art on Society6 and TeePublic. I think that sometimes sales in my Society6 store are more successful because they offer free shipping from time to time, but sometimes I think all of my shops share somewhat equal success.”

Redbubble Artist @5mmpaper

“The design I sell the most is an 80’s retro Memphis inspired pattern, and mostly on phone cases. The sales increased drastically when RB featured this product on the homepage, and I am still selling it well as it is also featured in pattern design suggestions by RB. To promote my work I mainly post my work on Pinterest, and I also submit my work to groups when I upload new work. I don’t really use teams that much. I also sell on Society6 and find I sell a bit more there, and also a larger variety of designs. I feel that with really good texts and keywords on S6 you can make a bigger difference in terms of showing up in the search results. The kind of products I sell on RB are also different from S6. On RB I sell more lifestyle products such as phone cases and notebooks, and on S6 I sell more home decor products such as pillows.”

Redbubble Artist @EricFan

“My best-selling piece on Redbubble is Space Sloth followed closely by Music Man. At the moment I haven’t been doing a lot to promote my work, since I’ve been busy with a lot of book projects. In the past I mostly used the usual social media platforms for promotion: Facebook and Instagram primarily. The staff at Redbubble have been very helpful as far as gaining more exposure, by featuring my work on the Found page, and in some of their blog postings. I sell my work on a few other sites, namely Society6, DenyDesigns, Displate, Caseable. I’ve had good success on Society6, I think because (again) the staff have been very helpful about featuring my work, and they have a good system for generating traffic with their curator program. The curator program allows other users to “curate” other artist’s work and post it to sites like Pinterest and blogs, for which they receive a royalty from each linked sale.”

Redbubble Artist @aterkaderk

“I sell the most of my coffee cup sticker. It’s a flower pattern and drawing I made for fun one day. I didn’t have to do any outside marketing. I know sharing posts on Instagram and Pinterest can really help people, but I was surprised when I started selling lots of stickers after a few months. I was lucky enough to eventually have my coffee cup sticker reach the trending pages, and eventually it got to the first page. Then, I got featured on the front page of the site and since then I’ve been starting to sell phone cases, shirts, and notebooks here and there.

I definitely think selling content that can reach a wide audience is helpful, as well as having lots of different items. Stickers are the easiest to sell because they’re cheap and people buy a few at once. I make a decent amount of money from my other sticker sales combined, but it’s not really one design in particular besides the coffee cup. From my experience, having one product that does really well can make you the most money.”

Redbubble Artist @evasabrekova

“My top selling works include Lighthouse, Redbeard, and Meow Meow Meow. People buy themon stickers very often, but also on t-shirts, pillows and canvas prints. I am not in any groups, because I don’t have much time for being active in social networking 🙂 Somehow two of my works entered into the Found page, and one on the main banner of the site and it increased sales significantly. Maybe it’s because Redbubble follows me on Instagram and sometimes liking my work? In any case, all advertising and promotion of my work I do on Instagram.
You can also find me on the websites Design By Humans (registered a couple days ago, so too early to say about success) and the Russian website maryjane.ru (not bad, but most selling works are differ from RB) and pinkbus.ru (a few sales).”

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General Tips

Title your work with a descriptive and catchy title.

Tag your work with words that accurately describe the work, and use as many multi-word tags as possible .

Descriptions are picked up by Google and other search engines – be as descriptive as possible.

Join and participate in Redbubble groups and become an integrated part of the community.

Promote your work on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Stumbleupon, WeHeartIt, etc.

Buy your own work to sell in coffee shops or other local businesses, or to give as gifts and show off.

Journal often to let people know what you’re up to or that there’s a new design in your shop.

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Recommended Books

Legal Guide for the Visual Artist

Vector Basic Training: A Systematic Creative Process for Building Precision Vector Artwork (2nd Edition)

Selling Art Online: The Creative Guide to Turning Your Artistic Work into Cash

In DIY, Etsy

10 Fun DIY Art Kits

adminJuly 23, 2017July 24, 2017Leave a comment

These 10 beginner DIY art kits are so inspiring, as well as affordable! Start with a kit to learn some basic embroidery, origami, painting, etc, and in the end you’ll also have something fun to display on your wall or shelf.

The first kit comes from The Wild Woods on Etsy – learn how to carve your own stamps with this kit, which contains all the carving tools and blades that you’ll need, as well as carving blocks and ink!

This DIY printable bird garland comes as an instant download from the Printspiring Etsy shop. You can see a video of this garland here. After downloading, you can print each bird yourself and follow the instructions to make the garland.

The Wildflower Art Studio sells beautiful starter kits, including this DIY watercolor kit. This kit includes beginner tutorials on beginner watercolor painting techniques and projects, along with all the brushes, paints, and paper needed.

This pop-up weaving loom from Hawthorn Handmade comes with everything needed to make your own woven wall hangings. Their shop specializes in craft kits for beginners.

Learn how to bind your own books with this bookbinding kit from Clever Hands.

This DIY Leaf and Flower Press Kit is handmade in the US with cherry and maple wood, and details are included on how to collect your leaves, press and mount them.

Wooden Deckle sells a beautiful DIY paper making kit to help you make usable artistic paper.

This DIY string art kit from ARTERNO contains everything needed for making fun string art designs.

This nature inspired embroidery kit sold by the Jenny Blair Kits shop is perfect for beginner embroiderers.

This DIY zentangle painting kit from Mayhem Here comes with a printed giraffe on cotton canvas mounted to a custom piece of wood, resulting in a fished piece of art once painted.

In Etsy, Sculpture, Textile Art

Past Your Porch Light: The Soft Sculptures of Etsy Artist Jessie Cunningham

adminJuly 22, 2017Leave a comment

It is my pleasure to introduce Etsy artist Jessie Cunningham from Ontario, Canada! Jessie’s shop, Past Your Porch Light, is a charming place where “grizzlies wander and owls take wing.” We both hope you enjoy this artist interview and can give Jessie’s shop a look-see!

Each creature you sculpt seems to come from a dreamland! Where do you get the ideas for your soft sculpted creatures?

That kind of dreamy quality is something I really value, in art and in life, and I’m so pleased that it comes across. For the most part my inspiration comes from where you’d expect, nature and wildlife. I grew up in Canada with access to the woods behind our house and as a child I’d climb trees for hours exploring that world. I had notions of being a professional animal watcher or leaving home to make friends with orcas off the coast of British Columbia, and while I grew out of those somewhat unrealistic ideas (mostly) I’ve never lost my fascination with the animal kingdom. There’s a magical quality to those sort of unconquered areas of life that I can daydream about for hours, personalities or stories I can imagine creatures having, and more and more that’s where my creations find their beginning.

That dreamland and the details in our own natural world play the biggest parts – I can obsess over conveying the weight in a grizzly bears footstep, or capturing the posture of a badger pausing to listen to its surroundings before moving on. Other times even a song or scene in a film can spark an idea.

Why did you decide to use this soft sculpting medium for these creatures and not another medium? How long does it take you to make one of your soft sculptures?

It’s been a slow process of discovery but the love and obsession was immediate once found. I’ve tried many kinds of art since I was young, I knew I wanted to create but not always what or how. When I first dabbled with fabric I worked with faux fur- it’s great stuff but messy and can be difficult to maneuver, which is ultimately why I discovered felt as a medium.

Wool felt sort of happened to me when I was dealing with some health issues that restricted me from using more labor intensive materials, it was something I could easily pile next to me on the couch on a bad day and sew by hand. During that time I watched a lot of nature documentaries, and one day was struck by the image of a polar bear. Their silhouette and posture is so distinctive, almost otherworldly, and I knew I wanted to somehow capture that, and the feeling it gave me, and make it into something tangible. That iconic shape became the focal point of that first soft sculpture project, and those are things I pay close attention to on every new undertaking. While I still integrate previous mediums into new works, wool felt has really taken root with me. It may change, it will definitely evolve, but for now I’m really enjoying finding those shapes and feelings in felt.

How did business on Etsy start and how has your experience been so far?

I found Etsy more out of necessity than because I had a plan. I posted something I’d made on another website and to my shock it became popular very quickly, people would message asking how to purchase and I needed to scramble to figure that out. The business aspect is the area I’ve struggled with the most – I didn’t go into this established as an artist, or even as the person I was going to be, it’s been something I’ve grown alongside of (sometimes clumsily, I changed my brand name a few times.)

I think a lot of artists get into this “JUST CREATE” mindset and maybe don’t put the effort they may have to into getting the art seen. For a long, long time that was a huge issue for me, but Etsy has taught me a lot. There’s a really resourceful community there rich with advice and opportunity, but I also think promoting off the website is very important too. Instagram has been my biggest help in that arena.

Do you have any future plans for your business and do you plan on adding any new creature designs to the shop?

At any given time I have about 6 new creature designs in a prototype stage, with dozens more on paper and loping around my mind. As for future plans, they range from developing a better understanding of color combinations and design to something as ambitious as having a studio space. I’m still very much in my beginning stages so I’m mostly happy to continue to learn- but I also have some very cool collaborations coming up as well that I’m pretty excited about.

Jessie also sells enamel pins in her shop along with her soft sculptures:

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Interview with Anastasia from Asilda Store: Life Selling on Etsy

adminJuly 18, 2017July 19, 2017Leave a comment

I’m happy to introduce Anastasia from the Etsy shop Asilda Store. Anastasia’s shop is based in Playa del Rey, CA, and focuses on selling pins, patches, and stickers for photographers (especially film photographers!). Feel free to read my interview with her to get to know more about herself and her life selling on Etsy, and make sure to check out her shop!

The concept behind your shop and items is so focused and unique! Where did the idea come from of starting a shop that sold patches, pins, and stickers for photographers?

I got involved in a pin/patches project for a motorcycle company back in May of 2014. Then I did a trip on Route 66 and bought everything I could find along the way. I looked at all displays, all packaging, all patches and pins I could find. At that time I got the bug. After doing 6 tour patches for the motorcycle company, I got more into it and wanted to expand the lineup to more designs and more stores. That didn’t get any support, so I was sitting at home around Xmas time thinking I should just do something for myself. I knew film photographers including myself who are very passionate about the craft, so that was clearly a great starting point. I am currently selling products in 2 series, with the future plans for 2 more themes. It’s all coming up, but in a remote future. With 3 designs I launched the store and in an hour got an order for 5 items. Then more orders started to come in, and more… I think this is very much a skyrocketing business to be in right now.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where your love for photography came from?

If you read my bio, it’s kind of a wild jungle :). Tennis player, entrepreneur, photographer, store owner, web designer, etc. I have many interests and if we’re talking about Asilda Store, it was never the main thing I always wanted to do. I see my career in photography as the focus. Just so happened that I also really like working on the business side too, and am involved with multiple companies on that end. I love doing reviews, I love working on new pins and patches…it’s just all part of a mix of who I am. I tend to mention just a few things when I meet new people because everything together becomes too much. But it feels comfortable to me to have so many interests. Asilda Store somehow combined all the things I learned from everywhere else and added up to become this awesome venture that I am very proud of.

What process do you go through to create and complete one of your patches or pins? They’re so eye-catching.

There is a lot of research and preparation involved. I start with general ideas and things I want to tell people through the phrases and designs. I look up tons of inspiration photos and pull everything I can to give to the designer. I usually work with 1-2. It’s been a challenge to find new designers to keep the volume going and stay true to how I want things to look. So there has been many times when I had to back away from working with some designers. I have a briefing document on the specifics of manufacturing of pins and patches with thread colors, guidelines on borders and coloring. Both pins and patches are pretty technical when it comes to making them, so I’m still learning what works best and what doesn’t. For a new person it’s not easy to imagine how a vector design will look as a product, so I try to train and help my designers as much as possible. I have one awesome guy who did most of what I have in store right now and he keeps getting better and better. Once the illustration is complete, which usually takes weeks before it’s looking exactly how I imagined it, I talk to the manufacturers and get the digital proof with recommended changes. After that I choose the materials and sizing and send all this off to production, which is another 3-4 weeks. It’s a long process…

How has business been on Etsy?

It’s picking up. I am doing much larger volume through the main website store (asildastore.com), but Etsy is a perfect place to capture the audience that’s craving for cool things like pins and patches. Etsy is for people who appreciate all the different crafts and that is why it’s a great place to reach many passionate enthusiasts for specific products, like mine.

Do you have any advice for the blooming creative seller?

Make and sell what you like. Also, enjoy the process of promoting your products. I’ve started a business before where I liked building the product, but not selling it and that whole things failed pretty quickly. You need to have a bit of an obsession :).

Make sure to visit Asilda Store on Etsy to get one of these awesome pins/patches/or stickers! Anastasia also sells t-shirts.

Subscribe to The Art Spectrum for more interesting interviews in your inbox.

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15 Awesome Art Blogs + Blogger Recognition Award

adminJuly 14, 2017July 19, 2017Leave a comment

This week I was surprised with a Blogger Recognition Award from Charlyse of the Real Life Real Mom blog. Thank you Charlyse! Considering I just secured a domain for my blog, this definitely came as a pleasant surprise. Now I’d like to pay it forward by recognizing and nominating 15 art blogs for the Blogger Recognition Award – all of these blogs are beautiful and amazing:

If you’ve been nominated, here is what you do next.

*Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.

*Write a post to show your award.

*Give a brief story of how your blog started.

*Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.

*Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.

*Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated and provide the link to the post you created.

How did my blog start?

When I was 16 or 17 I had a big interest in art (I still do – went to school for Art History and am now an Art Librarian), as well as wanting to meet other artists. I started The Art Spectrum as a way to meet other artists and learn more about their work, process, and lives through blog featured interviews. I started on Blogger, moved to WordPress a few years later, and finally to self hosted a couple of weeks ago!

Advice to New Bloggers

Look for all the advice! My go to place for advice currently has been Facebook Groups – in particular Start a Money Making Blog. I’ve also found some great community groups that have to do with art and blogging on Google+. Also, read as much as you can, never stop reading.

Interview with Graphic Artist Jackie Hurd

adminJuly 11, 2017July 11, 2017Leave a comment

It is my pleasure to introduce graphic artist Jackie Hurd, creator of colorful pattern designs and vector art!

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey with art?

I would draw for hours and hours as a kid, it was both my entertainment and my escape. But my true journey with art started when I joined the U.S. Air Force back in 2003. The job they gave me was graphic design! They sent me to their version of art school where I sat and painted in camouflage and left with a solid foundation in design and military bearing. After a 10 year journey with the military, I decided to go freelance and I’ve been a freelance designer since 2014, the bulk of my clients consist of craft breweries needing beer labels designed…. it’s kind of funny because I’m not really a beer drinker. A few years ago I decided to finish my degree and elected to finish it in Illustration instead of graphic design. While working through my course work, I discovered and fell in love with the world of surface pattern design.

Where does your inspiration stem from? Do you ever use references for your work?

I am inspired by many things. I have a few kids, a cat, a dog, some chickens… they are always giving me ideas. Lately I’ve been really into landscaping my yard so these days I’m finding a lot of inspiration from being outside. Flowers, trees… And yes, I do use references for my work. Before I start a new pattern collection I make a mood board. I also do a lot of research to learn everything I can about the subject of my collection, I feel like that’s important.

What does the process look like to create one of your pattern pieces?

The process of making a pattern for me starts with a page full of doodles, sometimes in pen, sometimes in marker or paint. Most of the time, once I get my work scanned in, I work solely in Adobe Illustrator to color in and create my patterns. I love working in vector! The best way to learn about my process is to check out my Skillshare class.

How has selling been going on Redbubble? Do you have any advice for artists interested in showcasing/selling their work on there?

Selling on Redbubble has been such a great experience. I’ve still got plenty of beer projects to do, my own art projects now take up the bulk of my work day. I am finally at a point where I am making an income selling my work. I can actually pay a bill or two every month with my Redbubble earnings! My advice for artists selling or wishing to start selling on Redbubble is that it’s not a competition. Redbubble and success as an artist in general works best when you immerse yourself in the creative community. Get to know the other artists, comment on their work. If your work is good and you’re active on the platform, you’ll have a better chance at getting noticed and making sales.

Have you worked on or will you be working on any new and exciting projects?

I am actually working on a very exciting project right now with a fellow surface pattern designer who lives in the U.K. I can’t say much about it at the moment but we’ll be making an announcement in August so more to follow on that 🙂

What are some of your artistic and business goals for the near future?

I would love to land a licensing contract and see my work on some boutique shelves! My other goal is to get more classes up on Skillshare, I absolutely love teaching and sharing my approach to design.

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Follow Jackie on Instagram

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Recommended Reading

Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines

Vector Basic Training: A Systematic Creative Process for Building Precision Vector Artwork (2nd Edition)

Color and Pattern: 50 Playful Exercises for Exploring Pattern Design

In Painting

Interview with Russian Artist Anastasia Cherepneva: Inspired By Nature

adminJuly 10, 2017July 11, 2017Leave a comment

Today’s interview features Russian artist Anastasia Cherepneva, who lives in Moscow and primarily sells on Redbubble, Shutterstock, and does freelance work for Russian publishers and universities.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your development into a graphic artist and illustrator, and where you draw your inspiration from?

I’m an illustrator and graphic designer. Sometimes I sew, knit or felt toys and make dolls. I like to travel and draw northern nature. I used to draw and create things since my childhood. I attended art school, but later decided to be an engineer. I graduated technical university, but didn’t stop drawing. I can’t imagine my life without creation, so I attended some art courses and now work for different freelance projects connected with education. I draw my inspiration from nature: I like to travel, walk in the forest, visit botanical gardens and observe animals and birds.

What does the process look like for creating your nature illustrations?

When it’s possible I prefer to work in the open air, not in studio. I like daylight for watercolor works, so most of my works were made during my travels.

Are you working on any new and exciting projects (or have you, recently)? What have been some of your favorite freelance gigs?

I’ve just finished big project that I’ve been working on for half a year. It’s a handmade book about travelling to Svalbard (Spitsbergen, Norway) last year. I think some of illustrations from it soon will appear on Redbubble.

What has your experience been like selling on Redbubble? Do you sell your work on any other platforms?

Selling on Redbubble is great thing. It was my dream to make something useful out of my drawings: postcards, bags, pillows, etc. I’m so happy that I can realize my dream on Redbubble. I also try to sell my work on Pinkbus.ru, a Russian print shop.

Do you listen to music while you create, and if so, what are some of your current favorites songs/artists?

I’m not used to listening to music when I draw, but for inspiration I listen to folk or rock music.
My favourite band is “Orgia Pravednikov“, a Russian folk-rock musical group.

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Don’t forget to check out Stacy’s website and subscribe to The Art Spectrum for more artist interviews!

Recommended Reading

In Etsy, Mixed Media

Artist Interview with Vera J. from Studio VerSie: Wall Hangings & Weavings

adminJuly 1, 2017July 19, 20174 Comments

It is my pleasure to feature Vera Jonkers from the Studio VerSie Etsy shop in Delft, Netherlands who makes modern woven wall hangings! I hope you get some awesome wall decor ideas after reading this post!

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you got into weaving?

I’ve been a crafter for as long as I can remember. As a child I was always drawing, painting and making things. But it wasn’t until I got pregnant with my first child that I started gravitating towards yarn. I studied Architecture at the Technical University of Delft, but that didn’t result in a creative job. This creativity had to come out somehow, so I dabbled in a few creative hobbies, like knitting, crochet, painting and even screen printing. That’s when I discovered woven wall hangings in magazines, online and in stores, which sparked my interest towards weaving. It wasn’t until my husband coincidentally bought a loom for my daughter that I really started to pursue the idea of weaving. I started looking for tutorials online, stole my daughters loom and got started. It instantly got me addicted! I’ve been weaving almost every day for a year and half now and I love it. Finally, I have found something I am very passionate about.

What is the creative process like of creating one of your wall hangings? How long does it take to complete the entire process?

Most of the time it starts with me seeing something inspiring, like a combination of colors or an interesting pattern. This usually gives me a visual idea of something I could make. Then I will sit on it for a while to let the idea grow and take form. When I feel it’s time, I make a little sketch in my notebook and lately I even paint them. From there I start weaving. It usually takes me about a week to make the larger weavings.

How do you like to organize your studio/work space?

At the moment I have a temporary studio, but in a few months I’ll be moving and I’m so looking forward to that. I really love everything interior and I want my work space to be a happy place. I envision shelves filled with yarn, a large desk with a lot of space to weave and pack orders, a lot of light and inspiration on the walls.

Do you like to listen to music while creating? If so what artists or songs have been favorites lately?

I love listening to music. My taste is very diverse, it depends so much on my mood. Among my favourites are the soundtrack of the movie ‘Into the Wild’, the Common Linnets (Dutch) with ‘Calm After the Storm’ (you should really listen to that one!). One of my favourite songs is ‘Follow the Sun’ from Xavier Rudd. But I also love to listen to Dance music, from artists like Martin Garrix. You can find me dancing in my studio regularly!

What is life like in the Netherlands?

Besides the weather, I love living in the Netherlands. The people are fun and outgoing, the cities are filled with so much history. The Netherlands is a small country, but we are an innovative little bunch of people and I really appreciate being a part of that. There is one thing I miss though and that is mountains, it is so flat here. I guess that’s why we can basically live on our bicycles!