Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Congratulations!!

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This week’s winner of the Tuesday Treasury Challenge is none other than the Captain of Etsian Artists, Elizabeth in the guise on TheNakedHippie! Her take on the theme of MOD resulted in the excellent MOD-How I See It! Treasury, a worthy winner!

Now as Elizabeth couldn’t really interview herself I got the pleasure of speaking to her about the vibe behind The Naked Hippie, her art, her creative process, her goals, her dreams and where the color pink fits into all of this!! Grab a drink, a cookie is also allowed, and relax as you find out about what the Captain gets up to when she isn’t producing Treasury Thursdays, Wonderful Wednesdays or any of the other many things she does for the team.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Elizabeth -

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your shop?
Well most of you already know me better as Elizabeth or Oddball of Oddball Art Co. but it was actually The Naked Hippie that won this challenge! The Naked Hippie is my newest project, beaded barefoot sandals made from Hemp. Right now that is all I sell in this shop but I am planning on branching out into other hemp items such as bracelets and necklaces, keychains and possibly even clothes one day all made out of hemp.

What inspired you to open your shop?
I felt that I needed another creative outlet and since I have been making these sandals for a lot of years, mainly just for myself and close friends and family I thought it would be a great summer venture. Barefoot sandals are growing more and more popular all the time!


Besides designing & creating things, what do you do?
Honestly I don't do much else lol. I clean the house and take care of the many animal friends that live here with me, oh and my husband too. Other then that I do art and more art!


Where, who or what does your influence come from?
My influence comes from everywhere and everything around me in everyday life. I find myself inspired by the beautiful colors in nature. I like to attend auctions, I try to go every Sunday to the local estate auction here. I always come home with a box of vintage jewelry that I can take apart and use the beads to create new sandals for The Naked Hippie. I just love getting all the 'new' old beads cleaned up and then figuring out what color of hemp will look the best with what and then creating some cool new sandals for my shop.


What inspires you to be creative?
I don't think there is anyone thing that inspires me to be creative. I am always thinking about a project in the back of my mind. Even while I am vacuuming the house or doing the dishes, the whole time I am thinking about whatever art project I have on the go or a pair of sandals I am planning on putting together. Actually I guess its not really in the back of my mind, its more like at the front of every thought.


How do you get out of a creative rut?
I go for a walk with my dog. Usually just getting outside on a beautiful day and taking my Doodle Isabelle for a walk along the country side will help inspire a new project or help get me out of a rut.


When did you first discover that you were or wanted to be an artist?
I have known I wanted to be an artist ever since I was a small child. I use to love to paint as a very young child, I can remember finger painting and then eventually learning how to make my brushes work how I wanted them too. I don't remember ever not painting lol. As a teenager I always made my own clothes, I always wanted what I wore to be cutting edge and totally different from everyone else so I made it myself. I would watch fashion television and then design my own clothes inspired by the top fashion trends in Paris and New York. I actually went to College for Fashion Design and despite finishing with a 3.89 GPA I realized that my heart just wasn't in it the way it used to be and that all I really wanted to do was to paint.


Can you describe your creative process for us?
My process started with creating my studio to be the perfect place for me to do my art, meaning that it needed to be totally PINK! lol This is no joke, it really is completely and totally pink. 3 of the walls are a bright bubblegum pink and then 1 accent wall that is hot pink. I have a bubblegum pink television, with a pink remote to match lol And most of my decorating is all in pink as well. This gives me the perfect setting to find my inspiration. When I come into my studio to create it starts with lighting a few scented candles or some incense, depends on the mood I'm in I guess. Then I put an old record on the turntable, I have a few hundred to choose from lol (I told you I go to a lot of auctions) At this point I am ready to get down to business.


What is your most cherished handmade possession?
After sitting here and thinking about it I really can't name 1 most cherished handmade possession. The reason is because I have so many. My family is and has always been really big into handmade. Ever since I was a little girl I can remember making stuff with my mom, dad, grandparents or them all making stuff for me. My mom use to make my clothes for me until she taught me how to make my own and she is also big on home cooking, and I take after her, if we can make it our self we DON"T buy from the store, such as stuff like jam or cookies or pies. My husband is great with his hands and wood so he builds a lot of stuff for our house, including parts of the house itself. So it is really hard to choose just one thing from one person, I cherish a lot of stuff in my life that is all handmade by my family.


Where do you see or want your shop to be this time next year?
By this time next year my hope is that my shop has taken off and I am making steady sales of my barefoot sandals and possibly branching off into more hemp goodies.


Where would you like to be in ten years?
In ten years my hope is that my shop has become "the" place to go for barefoot sandals!


What is your best advice to newbie Etesian's just opening their shops?
Promote promote promote!!!!! Be active in the Etsy community, join a team like Etsian Artists to help you be active, meet people and learn new things. Never stop promoting!!!!!


Where else other then Etsy can you be found on the net?
The Naked Hippie on Facebook ♥
www.facebook.com/pages/The-Naked-Hippie/129835480428831 (I need more likes so I can have my own link hint hint lol)

other then that one all the other places are in OddballArtCo. name I didn't figure I needed 2 of absolutely everything lol.............

OFFICIAL Oddball Art Co. Website ♥
http://www.oddballartco.com/
Oddball Art Co. On-line Shop ♥ http://www.oddballartco.etsy.com/
Oddball Art Co. Blog ♥ http://www.oddballartco.blogspot.com/
Oddball Art Co. on Tumblr ♥ http://www.oddballartco.tumblr.com/
Oddball Art Co. on Twitter ♥ www.twitter.com/oddballartco
Oddball Art Co. on Facebook ♥ www.facebook.com/oddballartco
Elizabeth Matlack on Facebook ♥ www.facebook.com/bethmatlack
Oddball Art Co. on Behance Network ♥ www.be.net/oddballart
Oddball Art Co. on Flickr ♥ www.flickr.com/photos/oddballartco

Do you have any coupon codes that you would like to share with our readers?

I do..... MYTREAT10 is good at either of my 2 shops for 10% off anything in either shop and if you mention this post/interview in the notes to seller I will send you a FREE GIFT with purchase from either shop as well www.thenakedhippie.etsy.com or www.oddballartco.etsy.com

2 comments:

  1. Awesome article! Learning the "people" part of the art is always fun for me.
    Isabelle sounds wonderful :)
    Black

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks for sharing, Elizabeth, now we know more about the woman behind the artist. You pain beautifully.

    ReplyDelete

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