Monday, September 6, 2010

Victorian ladies by Musetype





Another wonderful etsy artist that I met in the chat room, Musetypes, makes these incredible drawn and etched necklaces.
I have never seen this technique used in this small format. I think that you will enjoy these pocket masterpieces.

1) How long have you been selling on etsy?

I’ve been selling on Etsy only since mid March, but my wife has had a shop there almost three years. She’s the one who encouraged me to set up shop.

2) Do you have advice for etsy newbies?

Being a relative ‘newbie’ myself, I really don’t have any sales advice, but I will say this. Create from your heart, do your passion and live your highest creative potential.

3) What are your fave etsy shops and why?

Of course, my wife’s jewlery shop www.mataharijewelry.etsy.com. Her passion comes through in all her creations and inspires me to keep going. So do her sales. Being college art school trained myself, I’m attracted to more traditional art shops such as: www.HelenGotlib.etsy.com, www.kmencher.etsy.com, & www.Rudolfkurz.etsy.com. These shops show some true artistic skill, creativity, and devotion to the craft.

4) What are your fave pieces in your shop and why?

That changes all the time. The custom portraits of a customer’s grandmother and great aunt I am very fond of. The fact that someone would trust and pay me to capture a relative, and that they really liked the results mean a lot to me. My Hand Drawn Clay Scrimshaw Nudes and Portraits really excite me because the capture a naiveté and expressionistic quality that I’ve been trying so hard to achieve in my work.

5) What plans do you have for your shop?

I am currently working on a series of twelve digital pen and ink drawings of Victorian women. A departure from the jewelry, getting back to what I love: drawing. I will be selling these as reproduction u-prints. Delivering a digital file that the customer can either print on their printer or take it to be printed.

6) How long have you been creating art?

I’ve been a non-selling artist all my life. I’ve never really put much energy into the selling thing. My art has always been a means of personal expression and a way to feel connected to life. Right now, it’s an adventure to see what is possible, as far as sales go and where working in a more commercial field takes my art.

7) Who are your art heroes?

Kandinsky, Jasper Johns, Edward Hopper, Egon Schiele, and Whistler

8) Where do your ideas come from?

It’s also here that my wife had an influence on me. She’s passionate about vintage things, particularly Victorian era. So, I spent a lot of time on-line looking at and collecting vintage posters, sheet music and photographs. I’m a process oriented type of person. So, a lot of the challenge and intrigue comes in figuring out ‘how’ to do something, like the Etchings on Clay, the Clay Scrimshaws, and the Brass Etchings.

9) What do you do when you have a creative block?

Look at other shops. Look at vintage material and go to the art museum.

10) What other interests do you have that feed into your art?
When I’m not drawing or making jewelry, I make a living designing and drawing 3D high tech tools and products on the computer. I also enjoy gardening, cooking and playing with my two pet ferrets, Luigi and Sophia.

See his fabulous shop here!