Interview: Sarah from Sometimes I Swirl

Well, I’m a 28-year-old midwestern girl with a big extended family, lots of random hobbies and interests, and I live with my husband and our two weird-o cats. And most days, I think I have a crazy mind. I love kicking pebbles or little sticks when I walk…. purple is my favorite color… I am addicted to my smart phone… and I would never be able to renounce carbs.

Yes, definitely. Some of my earliest memories involve creating in some way. I used to looove coloring books and was constantly asking my mom and dad to color with me as a young child. I can also remember being about 5 years old, and when my mom would get that huge Sears catalog in the mail, I would steal it and rip out pages and cut them up and make collages of what my future home would look like, not to mention, I was constantly doodling on things, so yes, from very early on, I was constantly using my imagination to create things. 

When I was blogging about some of my drawings a couple of years ago and people commented that I should open my own etsy shop. 

Pretty eclectic, maybe a little hippie, flowy, colorful, whimsical at times, weird at other times, perhaps even a little dark every now and then, it’s just very varied… 🙂 

I have dabbled in just about everything. Literally. All kinds of paints (water-based oils, acrylic, true oils, watercolor, etc), colored pencils, charcoal, India ink, fabric, thread, wire, glass, ink pens, art markers, oil pastels, you name it. I prefer to use archival ink pens, specifically Prismacolor, and I adore working with DMC embroidery floss and all kinds of fabric. 

It depends on the medium, and how inspired I feel. With my drawings, for example, I usually have no idea what the drawing will end up like when I begin – I just start putting down lines. Even when I’m embroidering, I seldom work from a pattern. So I just start sewing and the full picture starts to form and I just put it all together. I don’t know, I can’t think of a better way to describe it! I will say that I do very little sketching or planning – I often just dive in and see what comes about. That’s not to say they’re all successful tries – I have an entire drawer of scrapped embroideries and a whole stack of crappy drawings that were just going in a terrible direction. 

What inspires your works?

Colors that I see in daily life are huge inspirations – patterns, florals, designs, architecture, abstract design of all kinds.. all of these things affect my brain and what I want to express, to some degree. As far as other artists, I’d have to say that lately, I’ve been strongly inspired by Christina Entcheva and Jess Racklyeft. Always have been and always will be inspired by Paul Klee. And some amazing fibers artists: Jazmin Berakha, Louise Gardiner,Maxine Sutton, Daniel Kornrumpf.,

I think it’s important to realize you’re not going to create perfect works of art with every try – sometimes, things just turn to crap. When I tend to churn out back-to-back pieces of crap and it feels like I have to force my way through, then I know I’m in a rut. In those instances, I have learned to walk away and stop obsessing over the thing that I’m working on. You have to fill that head space with something else, so I go find new music to listen to, watch a movie, make my cat chase his tail, fixate on a room to re-design in my home, you know, anything to get my mind off it. Sometimes, I’ve taken breaks that last weeks.   

Why thank you! That particular piece took about 4.5 hours I’d say. They all take HOURS, as do most of my drawings. The biggest hoops can take upwards of 8 hours, and I tend to work on them in increments of 30 minutes or so in the evenings and on the weekends. 

A MESS. Haha, seriously though, always messy. It’s a home office that is never clean. There’s the corner for my laptop and printers, then a shelf full of shipping supplies and finished hoops, and then the rest is chaos. But it’s one of those weird enigmas that as soon as I clean it, I can never find what I need. Yes, it’s messy, but I know where things are. 

Tricky question!! Okay, I pick the kitty hoop. (above)
I am a self-proclaimed crazy cat lady and the little nose and curled tail get me every time. 

RESEARCH. RESEARCH. RESEARCH. There are countless resources out there to help a new seller, on etsy itself (in the forums, blog posts, weekly “etsy success” emails) and there are toooonnsss of other blogs and forums on the web that offer really incredible tips. Also, networking is so important, so get on twitter, facebook, flickr, tumblr, etc., and have conversations with other artists and small business owners. 

Hmm, very recently, only a few months ago, and yes spoonflower is incredible. I very much get the feel that it’s a small, close-knit company of artists who genuinely support small business, handmade. 

Oh, yes! , I’d have to say http://www.feelingstitchy.com/ is at the top of my list, but here are some others in my google reader: http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/  http://ispy-diy.blogspot.com/ http://wildolive.blogspot.com/  http://kfddesigns.blogspot.com/  http://www.mygirlthursday.com/  http://betterafter.blogspot.com/  http://decorology.blogspot.com/   oh I could seriously go on forever… my google reader is always full! 

Another interesting question! Hmm. I think I’d choose Tori Amos, because her musical talent is just insane, and also, she lives in this secluded home in the English country side, just her and her family, and it sounds magical. 

Thank you so much Sarah. You gave some wonderful answers to these questions. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see you or your works on Crafted. 🙂 

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