In Residence: Interviews With Creative People

 

No. 2

 

This is the second in the In Residence series, which features creative people telling us more about themselves and what they do.

 

I really enjoy learning more about creative people and their process.

 

Up today, Bev Feldman of Linkouture. If I remember correctly, I met Bev through the etsy team I captained for two years. She has a lovely spririt and a great sense of humor, and creates really wonderful chainmaille jewelry.

 

Meet Bev.

 

 

MM: What is the first thing you remember creating?

Bev:  One of the first things I remember creating was when I was in preschool. We made candlesticks out of some foam and covered them in tinfoil. I thought they were the coolest things. My mother held on to them for many years, and kept them in a cabinet among her fancier silver ones.

 

 

MM: Where did you grow up and do you think it has an impact on your current designs. If so, how?

Bev: I grew up in New Jersey, in the suburbs of New York City. I don’t know that this had any impact on my designs, but I think perhaps our summer family trips to Cape Cod (and a love of traveling) might have had an influence on some of my jewelry. I love collecting beach items: stones, shells, sea glass. I have a newer line of necklaces and bracelets that incorporate beach stones that I have collected in my travels and set myself. They remind me both of my travels and where I have been, as well of course the beach (which is one of my favorite places to be).

 

 

MM: Was your creativity nurtured as a child?

Bev: Yes, very much so! I always had art materials at my fingertips. Our family’s basement was like my own private studio, especially since it was only partially finished for so many years. I was constantly making things and trying new mediums and doing pretend play down there. I also remember one day in fourth grade when I was home sick I decided I wanted to learn right then and there to knit, so my mom went out to buy me my first skein of yarn and knitting needles and taught me how to get started. My parents also enrolled me in several art classes at our local community arts center, which I loved! Although academics were very important to my family, they definitely nurtured my creative side as well.

 

 

MM: How do you nurture your own creativity now?

Bev: I nurture my own creativity through multiple channels. In addition to making chainmaille jewelry, I take a jewelry metalsmithing class once a week, where I have the opportunity to make things I do not have the equipment to do at home, and to learn new skills under a very talented jewelry metalsmither, Laurie Savage. I blog regularly at www.linkouture.com. For my 30th birthday last year, I received my first DSLR camera from my parents and husband. I love experimenting with photography and playing around with editing. And periodically I will take a break and try a new craft, either to enhance my jewelry or as something to do just for the sake of trying something new.

 

 

MM: What’s your favorite thing to listen to while you work?

 

Bev: I often have the television on in the background while I’m making jewelry, but when I’m writing I usually put on the radio or Pandora. For some reason I work really well with music that makes me want to dance. Periodically when I’m making jewelry I will listen to a podcast, either story slams from The Moth or the latest Freakonomics podcast. Although now I am also starting to enhance my Russian (my husband is originally from Russia), so I’ve been listening to the Pimsleur Russian CD’s.

 

 

MM: How did you come to be a jewelry designer/maker?

Bev: I have always dabbled in jewelry making, but it wasn’t that I discovered chainmaille about three years ago that I really started getting into it. I started with the Byzantine weave, moved onto the mobius weave, and then decided to experiment with different size rings and incorporating different weaves and other jewelry-making techniques that I had learned into my chianmaille. I just fell in love with the look of chainmaille and the process of making it.

 

 

 

 

MM: What tool can’t you live without?

Bev: I absolutely cannot live without my flat nose pliers; they are essential for making chainmaille. They have soft, cushioned handles (and it doesn’t hurt that the handles are my favorite color, purple) and make the process of opening and closing hundred of tiny rings so fluid and easy. I had been using a different pair of pliers for awhile before I got these, and I was constantly nicking the metal.

 

 

MM: What’s your favorite thing about creating?

Bev: I really enjoy watching the transformation process. Since my jewelry often starts with a pile of rings, it is amazing to see them go from just that to something that you can wear.

 

 

MM: Is there something people would be surprised to learn about you?

Bev: I think people tend to be surprised to learn that I backpacked around South America for 5 months with my husband at the beginning of 2012. I know my friends were surprised to learn I would be quitting my job to do that! Until that point, I think it was something completely out of character for me, but it has opened the doors for me to try things I wouldn’t have otherwise (including being a self-employed creative business owner!)

 

 

MM: Messy or organized?

Bev: Oh man, I am so ridiculously messy. But it’s a organized messy--organized chaos, if you will. I usually know where things are. Periodically I get to a point where I going on a cleaning binge, but usually the fruits of that labor are short-lived.

 

MM: Just for fun.......favorite movie genre?

Bev: I’m such a sucker for romantic comedies. I consider myself a pretty cheesy person, and many romcoms are pretty cheesy. They tend to be so predictable, but sometimes you’re just in the mood for a happy ending!

 

 

MM: Favorite place?

Bev: Right now, my favorite place is my front porch on a beautiful, sunny day. I love to have my morning cup of coffee and read out there as my day as getting started, and to do work on my computer out there. Even though I live right off of a major street, it is surprisingly calm and peaceful, especially early in the day.

 

 

MM: Can you share two pieces of advice with other creators? Yes two.

 

Bev:

1. Connect with other creators. The advice and support I have received from others in the handmade community has been invaluable.

 

2. Do what you love! If at some level you’re not creating for yourself, it is going to make the process so much more tedious and take the joy out of creating.

 

 

You'll find Bev in these places.

 

Linkouture on Etsy     Linkouture Blog

Twitter     Facebook      Google+

 

A big thanks to Bev!

 

So, is there something in particular that Bev shared that speaks to you? Did you check out her shop? What's your favorite piece?

 

I'm over the moon with the combination of natural rocks/stones with the silver chainmaille. Gorgeous work.

 

If you want to find out more about me, hop on over to Linkouture today for the interview I did with Bev! Thanks again Bev.

 

 

 

Freeform Friday

 

Since Bev is a sucker for romantic comedies, a clip from one of my handsdown favorites. I don't know why, perhaps because I love Goldie, but I could watch Overboard again and again and again. OK, I have watched Overboard again and again and again. I laugh just as hard everytime. Even Gar loves it. If you don't know the premise, Goldie plays a very rich, insufferable, horribly mannered woman who falls overboard from her yacht and ends up with amnesia. Kurt Russel plays the carpenter she jipped, and he's the only one who shows up to claim her. He brings her home in hopes that he'll at least get his money back by having her act as the 'Mom' and clean the house. It's a classic Gary Marshall flick complete with Roddy McDowell as Goldie's butler. There are just little comments throughout this film that bust my gut.  Click here if you're reading by email or if you're reading on the Muse (the embedding was disabled).

 

 

And to get things going on this Friday, here's a song that just makes me feel good. For some odd reason it reminds me of the 80s. I really have no idea why. Go figure. [click here if you're reading by email].

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's hot for the weekend? It's bascially rainy and miserable and supposed to stay that way through tomorrow. Who knows, maybe we'll throw a tarp up by the campfire before the Bruins game tonight. You just never know with us. Hoping we can pull out the last win we need to cinch the series tonight.  No real plans other than watching the Bs. A bonus video because the Bruins Bear makes me laugh. He does an excellent robot.

 

 

 

 

Have a great Friday and thanks for being here.

 

Ciao for now,

 

In Residence: Cari-Jane Hakes, Hybrid Handmade

No. 1

This is the first in the new Mercantile Muse series, In Residence. I love learning more about creative people, their process and their inspiration. I hope you will too.

First up is Cari-Jane Hakes of Hybrid Handmade. I can't quite remember how I met Cari, was it through etsy and then her blog or the other way around. I think perhaps the other way around.  No matter, it's time for you to meet her too.

 

 

MM: What is the first thing you remember creating?

Cari-Jane: I think it was teeny tiny 'self published' illustrated books on my typewriter!

 

MM: Was your creativity nurtured as a child?

Cari-Jane: Not particularly and I don't mean this in a bad way - I think as a family we were always a bit busy moving house!

 

MM: Where did you grow up and do you think it has an impact on your current designs. If so, how?

Cari-Jane: Hmm, where didn't I grow up? I went to 7 different schools as a child spread all over the UK. I think the biggest influence on my designs are what I'm surrounded by right now but bits of wild remote Scottish highlands definitely creep into many of my pieces.

MM: How do you nurture your own creativity now?

Cari-Jane: I'm always amazed at what can occur when I create a little time and space and sit down with my sketchbook and just draw and draw and draw.  That and getting out and about with my camera.  Getting right down in the dirt on my hands and knees and looking at teeny tiny things up close is a constant source of wonder to me. 

 

MM: What’s your favorite thing to listen to while you work?

Cari-Jane: Ohhhh podcasts!  There is nothing better than someone talking in your ear when you are a solitary workshop based artist!  It is the second most wonderful thing about my work that I get to listen to wonderful, inspiring and informative things while I work. 

 

MM: What’s your greatest inspiration in your work?

Cari-Jane: Colour, nature and architecture. 

 

MM: Having studied architecture, how did you come to be a jewelry designer and metal-smith?

Cari-Jane: I started studying jewellery at night school when I was pregnant with my second child.  Designing teeny tiny perfect things in silver became my retreat from the rigours of motherhood.  It used all of my architectural design skills but I didn't have to go to site meetings or deal with builders!

 

 

 

MM: Can you share some of the steps to your process?

Cari-Jane: It will often kick off with a theme, like the current one 'Into the Wild' (or the one before that 'The Myth of the Aurora Borealis').  I'll collect colours and images connected to the theme and then I make prototypes.  Precious metals are so expensive now so I need to know that a design idea is going to work before I commit to cutting any silver.  Paper and card models are all very well but I often have to go the extra mile and actually see it in brass or copper. 

 

MM: What are you favorite materials to work with and why?

Cari-Jane: Silver, naturally.  I find it amazing how many guises it can take - the way it accepts leaf skeleton textures still knocks me for six every time I get a really good print.  I love the way silver patinates (when it oxidises and goes black) which gold doesn't do.  It is a very versatile material. 

 

MM: What tool can’t you live without?

Cari-Jane: Rolling mill!  It's the way I get all my textures into my silver.  That said, my brother is building me a hydraulic press - so I reserve the right to alter this declaration at a later date. 

 

MM: What’s your favorite thing about creating?

Cari-Jane: Sending the pieces off.  I love the thought of these pieces scattered all over the world, becoming part of people's heritage, story, being passed down and on.  It is a privilege to be asked to create these special pieces.

 

MM: Is there something people would be surprised to learn about you?

Cari-Jane: I accidentally moved to France for 4 years.  No one saw it coming, not even me! 

 

MM: When is ‘your time’ in the studio when you’re really ‘on’?

Cari-Jane: Solitary, no distractions, probably late at night (although, I don't make a habit of it). 

 

MM: If a song was written about your work, what would it be called? Or if there is a song that reflects your work, what is it?

Cari-Jane: I think I have a mini-play list.  I often get completely hooked on songs in films - it is the combination of the music, the story and images and often I create my deigns with a whole world of images and stories and music in mind.

So......

1. Falling Slowly from the film 'Once' composed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. 

2. Comptine d'un autre été -L'après-midi from the film Amélie composer by Yann Tiersen

3. Hard Sun from the film 'Into The Wild' composed by Eddie Vedder

 

MM: What’s your favorite memory of creating?

Cari-Jane: Getting messy on the kitchen floor with a big long roll of paper and two small paint covered boys!

 

MM: Messy or organized?

Cari-Jane: Organised - but messy when I'm actually making. 

 

MM: If you could sit down and enjoy a glass of wine with anyone (living or dead) and talk about the process of creating, who would it be?

Cari-Jane: Barbara Hepworth. 

 

MM: What does it mean to you to be creative?

Cari-Jane: I honestly can't imagine NOT doing what I do.  I'd go as far as to say that it is essential to my being as a person.  In moments when a design comes together I feel completely whole. 

 

 

MM: Is there anything that frustrates you when you’re working in the studio?

Cari-Jane: When things don't solder properly. 

 

MM: What’s your studio space like right now?

Cari-Jane: Right now, it is busy with a new commission so there are a couple of paper models, my sketch book is out covered in copper dust from the two prototypes I have been making. 

 

MM: Favorite sound?

Cari-Jane: The chattering sound of pebbles when they roll around on a steep beach as a wave retreats.

 

MM: Favorite place?

Cari-Jane: Besides HOME, it would have to be West Dean College, Chichester.  I went there once for a residential course.  It was like heaven on earth.  So, so beautiful. 

 

MM: Favorite thing to create?

Cari-Jane: Rings!  They are so expressive and dynamic.  I love expanding the canvas of a ring, making them almost armour like, fiercely feminine, tough enough to smash through glass ceilings and go adventuring with.

 

MM: Is there a quote that speaks to you as a creative person?

Cari-Jane: My late Grandfather once wrote to me following a disappointing time in my life.  He sent me a watch from the Oxfam shop he was volunteering in, and wrote me a letter telling me….'you've still got time'.  Wise words from a wise wise man.

 

MM: Can you share two pieces of advice with other creators? 

Cari-Jane:

1.  It's good to look around and see what is going on, what other people are doing,  but then you just have to shut that all off and do it.

2.  Doors close for a reason.  Get up, dust yourself off, and get on with something else.

 

On a side note, I can't close without mentioning the uuber cool shoes Cari is wearing in the last photo. The award-winning Mojitoes, designed by none other than the Hybrid Handmade husband, Mr. Julian Hakes. 

Many thanks to my friend Cari for sharing and having the guts to be the first creative person featured. I truly appreciate the thought and time that went into answering my many questions.

In case you missed them the first time, here's two of the reasons that make me so happy to have connected with this creative, talented and thoughtful woman.

"The chattering sound of pebbles when they roll around on a steep beach as a wave retreats." I never would have thought of 'chattering' myself, but that's exactly it. I too love that noise. I could sit and listen to the waves retreating for hours. 

"I love expanding the canvas of a ring, making them almost armour like, fiercely feminine, tough enough to smash through glass ceilings and go adventuring with."

Merci, mon ami.

 

Hybrid Handmade shop/ Hybrid Handmade blog

 

Freeform Friday

Here's a little something from Cari's interview. If you don't know Glen Hansard, you should.  Enjoy this lovely song. This video makes me really miss Dublin. If you're reading via email, click here.

 

 

Any plans for the weekend? Tonight is hockey night. Have I told you I'm a rabid hockey fan lately? It's scary. I do love my Bruins.

Have a good one whatever you do.

 

Ciao for now,