A Weird Craving: Lisa Romero

I've mentioned often here that I am interested in not just the finished product, but the process. I love seeing the middle and the why's and hows of why people create. I love the messy details and being challenged and inspired by learning about what drives people in doing what they do. So I'm really excited to be starting a series of interviews with artists and other creative types to get a bit of insight into why, how and what it is they do and what motivates them. First up, one of my favourite Twitter pals, fantastic artist Lisa Romero of Paperbullet. I love Lisa's use of colour, her commitment to using all found and reused materials and bright vibrant style. Enjoy!

Can you tell us a little bit about your background? The journey you took to be where you are and what you're doing at the moment?
I’ve always loved to draw, and when I was in high school I really wanted to be a fashion illustrator. I went to art school, but I can’t sew and I’m not a very good student (I’m really more comfortable teaching myself things) so I dropped out and kind of forgot about art for a while. About six years ago I needed a hobby and sort of fell back into painting. I picked up clients here and there and after I had my kid two years ago decided not to go back to the nine to five. Now I don’t think I could go back if I tried.

At the moment I am doing things for private clients on the web, blog graphics, print work for an online scrapbooking company and printer, and collaborations with other artists. I’ve done a tee shirt collaboration with Locomotive, that should be out soon, and the new Artful Agendas were just released with one of my cover images.

That and spending time with my lovely crazy two year old and my wonderful husband Isaac.

Why do you create? What is it about being creative (in whatever sense) that makes it something important for you to do?

It’s a weird craving. Almost like something I have to do instead of want to. Something in my head is always thinking of how to make something out of something else. Even when I mess something up I see something else that can be done with it. So I start painting over it and going in a new direction. If I don’t paint or draw for a few days I get really cranky. I’m super lucky I live with someone who understands that. What my daughter is going to think of it when she gets older I don’t know.

Where do you look for inspiration?

Thrift stores! I love finding things that give me ideas that I can pick up for a dollar or two and put in my studio to inspire me. Old things, cracked and peeling. Wood. Glass. Very elemental and primitive things. Happy things, kiddie things, primary colored things. Bright, smiling, friendly faces. People who go to thrift stores are usually there because they have the same mentality- why buy new when there’s so much out there that can be had for half the stash? And it already has that lived-in cushiony feel.

Following you on Twitter I've been lucky to see many of your works in progress and I'm sure to most of us it seems like it always flows easily but I imagine this isn't always the case! Are there ever times when being expected to be creative for work feels overwhelming? How do you work through those feelings?

Yes. I think everyone who has a creative job feels that way at some point. Here, monkey, dance. Dance, I said! But I like to dance, so I dance. Sometimes I try to remind myself not to think so much. Pushing hard is the best way to stop up my creative process. I pause, pour a cup of coffee, out on a good movie and pull out a magazine. I try to let things I enjoy saturate my sponge and then start to let things flow. The more I do something, like working under pressure, the more my brain is able to repeat the process. I try to remember that even though I may not feel I can do it, I CAN. I just have to believe in myself.

What are the most rewarding and most difficult parts of your job and your creative life in general?

Totally easy question. Working from home after so many years of working a 9-5 I see how easy it is to forget about having a life outside of work. Those worlds are so intertwined for me I know that I’ll never be able to pry them apart- what I do is who I am. It is the reason I could never go back to the “straight job” world. It is hard to have time for yourself when you work this way but I’ve realized I’d be doing this regardless. I do feel that being immersed in it has made me grow more as an artist- that really looking at it from this perspective has made me realize what is really important to me and what is totally superfluous.

If you weren't doing what you're doing now, what would you like to be doing?

I’m really interested in set and production design. Because I’ve been thrifting so avidly for so many years I’ve accumulated a nice conglomeration of things and a real feel for staging. I wish I had a bigger house, I’d play dress up with it all day.

To see more, check out the studio visit and inspiration post with Lisa over at ML4U.

Thanks so much Lisa!

New Things

I was taking some photos for Darling Heart yesterday and I thought I would snap some shots of a few new things around our house I've collected or been given and are brightening up these long grey days we're having. Checking the weather at the moment kind of makes me want to cry a little, rain, rain and more rain! Oh well, I thought I'd perhaps bought my Hunter Boots for nothing with the mild winter we had, so I guess now is my chance to bust those out!

1. I picked up this wee girl for a steal while browsing Ebay recently, and imagine my delight when I found out that not only does she have giant clogs, but she also does a little dance! At least I think she's a girl, not totally convinced though. I mean she is wearing a dress, but it's not as if there would be anything wrong with a young Dutch boy doing the same. Perhaps it's a doll to fight gender binaries? Yes, I like that.

2. This isn't actually something new, but when I was hanging out with Maya yesterday who had gifted it to me, I realised that I hadn't yet shown it off. So nice to have friends that thrift treats for you! I love hankies, (just to look at though, I can't bring myself to actually use them!) and really like the dainty embroidery on this one with the hat tip to my Australian roots.

3. I was so excited to find this pinecone outside our place! I love pine cones, but I never seem to see these large curved ones that I really adore. It's been perched up on a shelf in our entrance way, making the perfect jaunty little ornament.

4. Craving Coral. I grabbed this at Rexall the other day when I was there in search of some sea salt chocolate (obsessed) as it was pretty much the same colour that I'd been drooling over after seeing the inspiration post for the Wikstenmade latest collection photo shoot. I absolutely love that Nars semi-matte orange red lipstick but don't know that I'd ever be brave enough to actually wear it. This nail polish is the next best thing, and the name totally cracks me up. I love how serious/sensual/carefree all at once make-up companies try to make their names seem. I also love how much this colour reminds me of my Mum circa 1990 and that my 10 yr old self would have most likely been horrified to think that this colour would one day be gracing my nails, too.

Hope your Monday is going well friends! I'm sorry to say that I haven't made a Monday Mix as I wanted to make the follow up to my NZ oldies one now that it is the last day of NZ Music Month, but finding newer NZ music online seems to be pretty much impossible. I have been enjoying this mix though, so perhaps you could check that one out for your Monday listening!

Calm before the storm

One of the things I'm really going to miss about this city are the Coast Mountains. It's not as if New Zealand is lacking in the dramatic scenery department, but there is something so beautiful about sitting at the beach and looking across at snow capped and mist enshrouded mountains. It is somehow completely overwhelming and totally peaceful at the same time.

Last night as I was heading to a prenatal meeting near Locarno Beach, I took a quick moment to snap some photos of the mountains. The sky was so moody, just about to rain, and I love the way little pockets of clouds seem to get caught in folds of the mountains. As much as I might complain about how fickle the weather is here, and how much I hate wet feet, I have to admit I love that heavy calm before the storm that we so often get here. It looks like the greys and rain are going to stick around for the weekend, so I imagine we'll be spending most of it inside cozying up. We've got to get ready for upcoming markets, I have some sewing projects I'd like to work on, and I'm going to try and do a bit of a blog redesign. I want space for bigger pictures!

Hope your weekends are lovely. Any plans?

Amish Love: Becca Standtlander

Ever since visiting an Amish community in Wisconsin when I was 5, I have been totally fascinated by their way of life. I'll say perhaps this could be in part due to being able to choose from the largest selection of homemade pies I have ever seen when we visited, but also perhaps because I have a lot of love for whitewashed walls and rolling fields. There is something so perfect to me about to combination of dark muted toned clothing and the green and white of the environment. I'll admit that I once had a secret fantasy that I would somehow be accepted into an Amish community, but would act as some kind of mediator between them and the outside world. All the pie I could eat, yet still internet access. Natch.

Now that I'm older, I feel a little uncomfortable about this slightly othering view, but I think as a kid seeing something so drastically different from your own way of life is pretty thrilling.

I do still love the aesthetic found in Amish communities, and I think this love is what first draw me to the work of Becca Stadtlander (ok, that and a tweet from Jeannette I believe?). The colours and contrast are so beautiful, and I love the ever so slight folk art feel to them. She seems to capture a little insight into a community closed off to us all, yet so intriguing. Now to choose which prints to buy from her store! She also has a great blog that she keeps up to date with what she's working on, and it is all so lovely. I particularly like her English Safari inspired work, amazing.