Kathleen Bostick Studio ... Vermont, USA

Artist: Kathleen Bostick
Business: Kathleen Bostick Studio
Web site: http://studiometalsmith.etsy.com and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katkrafty/
Location: Wilder, VT (but soon moving back to Southern California)


What do you create?
I make jewelry and small metal sculpture and objects.

Where and when do you do your creative work?
I make my work on my days off and I stay after work and use the studio. I try to fit it in whenever possible.

Do you have another "day job"?
I do have a day job right now. I am the assistant jewelry studio manager at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. I teach people how to make jewelry. It’s a temporary position for me, one school year. I will be leaving here in June to go back to my home and husband in California. In September I will be going back to school. I will be a grad student at San Diego State University in the Jewelry/Metals program.




Where and what did you study?
I have a BFA in jewelry/metalsmithing from California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.

What inspires you and what motivates you?
Lots of things! I just really like making things. I like problem solving, thinking of an object and the figuring out how to make it. I like to make people laugh, and think, so I will use humor and sarcasm in my sculpture pieces. I also like to make narrative sculpture. Vintage ads, cookbooks, and magazines from the 1940s to the 1970s amuse me, some of them are so ridiculously funny and I intend on working with images from these in the future. I love graphic designs especially Japanese crests and op art.

When did you start doing this?
I started working with metal in 2000, right before college, so I’m still pretty new at it. I have a lot to learn.




Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
I have always loved to draw. I was a horse girl when I was really young and would draw them for hours in my room! I used to paint fantasy landscapes in high school. Art and craft have always been a big part of my life.

When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I started selling jewelry on EBay in 1999, I think. Nothing like what I make now, but wire wrapped, beaded things. It was fun, but I wasn’t really making a profit. I took a long time off from trying to sell my work. It’s hard to make art when you are thinking about a customer. I just starting selling on Etsy and I hope to sell enough to keep from having to get a job while going to school.




How did you choose the name for your business?
I opened my original Etsy shop under the name KatKrafty. I still have it and will be selling supplies and crafty things I make in that one. I chose the studiometalsmith.etsy name because that’s what I am! I lucked out and was able to purchase the domain name, so I wanted them to match. I don’t have the web site up yet, but I’m working on it.

What do you love most about creating your work?
I love working with my hands and becoming one with my tools. It’s a great thing when they become an extension of your hand and mind. It takes years for this to happen, to really hone your craft. I feel like I’m getting there. I’m becoming more knowledgeable of my materials and what their limits are and this is going to make me freer to create what I envision.




What's the most fascinating place you've been?
Kazakhstan. I actually went there to work on a Rocket Launch in the 1990s.

A book you love:
One book? Gosh I’m a book junkie! I love “how to” books. Right now, I’m building up my knitting book collection. Yeah, I knit!

What is the most interesting thing about you?
Hmmm… I used to play bass guitar in a Goth band in the late 1980s and I have the tattoos to prove it. That usually gets some laughs.




What achievement are you most proud of?
I had my (metal) artwork shown at SOFA Chicago and SOFA New York a couple of years ago and I will be in a show later this year at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco.

What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Network; meet as many people in your field as possible. Those connections can really pay off.




What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
I find it challenging to feel confident. I am always worried what others think and that can be paralyzing at times.

What do you love to do in your free time?
I love to knit. I have four projects in progress, two sweaters, a hat, and some mittens.




What are you working on right now?
I am making samples for an upcoming class I’m teaching on Damascene, the process of inlaying fine silver and gold into steel.

What do you hope to achieve next?
I hope I can get that MFA! After that, I want to be a University Professor.