Andrea Heimer Party Art ... Washington, USA

Artist: Andrea Heimer
Business: Andrea Heimer Party Art
Web site: www.andreaheimer.com
Location: Bellingham, Washington

What do you create?
I make bright, pop oriented paintings I call "Party Art."



Where and when do you do your creative work?
I paint on my old formica table right in the middle of the house, usually very late at night.

Do you have another "day job"?
I am also in a band with my husband, Mark. We're called No-Fi Soul Rebellion
and play really fun interesting music and have a very interactive live show. In
many ways Mark's music is a counterpart to my artwork.


Where and what did you study?
In my years leading up to painting I was freelance writer. In fact, it was in the middle of writing a book on art that I first decided to try my hand at painting. Turns out it was much more fun than writing!


Where do you find inspiration?
Ack, everywhere really. Bright colors are great, old catalogs and magazine ads, too. The design aesthetics of the '50s and '60s. Also other artists who are out there making things happen for themselves. Jason A. in San Francisco and Jonathon Kimbrell in Texas come to mind.

What motivates you?
My husband is fantastic. I watched him build a successful music venture with what is essentially a one man act with little help. He makes me want to work hard at what I do.



When did you start doing this?
Almost exactly one year ago, in June of 2006.

Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
Yes! Hours and hours of tracing my coloring books and making my own designs with them.



When and why did you decide to start your own business?
In June 2006 I was tired of just writing about art, I wanted to make it. The stress of deadlines was also getting to me. Now the only deadlines I deal with are self-imposed.

How did you choose the name for your business?
I call my paintings "Party Art," operating under the idea is that art should be fun to look at and inspire conversation, like a party on your walls.



What do you love most about creating your work?
I'm not going to lie. Selling it!

What's the most fascinating place you've been?
Summer in Alaska is magical. The eerie twilight that occurs instead of nightfall is really something.



A book you love:
Doh! Good question. Any one I don't have to write?

What is the most interesting thing about you?
In my musical life I am in a band but play no instruments. That's pretty good, no?



What achievement are you most proud of?
My favorite thing is making affordable art for people's houses. People spend a lot of time in their homes, and when they want to hang something of yours where they will be presumably be looking at it all the time – that's a good feeling.

What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Be organized, be persistent, and make people want to pay attention to you.



What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
I have an eye disease where I have sporadic stretches of extreme pain and have a hard time keeping my eyes open for long periods of time. This is a major bummer for a painter as you would expect, but I'm working through it.

What do you love to do in your free time?
Horseback riding, outdoor exploring, junkshop hunting, and eating cupcakes.



What do you hope to achieve next?
I'd like to get a show at a nice gallery in New York. Jonathan Levine, I'm looking at you!

Creative Thursday ... California, USA

Artist: Marisa Anne Haedike
Business: Creative Thursday
Web sites: www.creativethursday.com, creativethursday.etsy.com
Your location: Los Angeles, CA

What do you create?
I've done everything from furniture design to jewelry design. Presently my love lies in daily painting, and I've just recently started sculpting some of my painting characters out of clay. Taking my work from 2D to 3D is a whole new creative adventure.

I also write and produce a podcast that I post on my blog on Thursdays, sharing my story and others living the creative life, called Creative Thursday... of course.



Where and when do you do your creative work?
All over the house! and outside too. I'm a transient creator. I even paint sitting in my bed sometimes. I am looking forward to my dream studio soon, though!

I create at all hours of the day. I keep trying to keep a schedule or routine, but I just don't think that is my style. When the inspiration comes, I run with it.



Do you have another "day job"?
I left my last day job, which was as an interior designer about eight years ago. It has taken many attempts in the entrepreneurial world to find the work that resonates with me most. And it is all finally coming together now! I have just recently been able to support myself financially solely with my art. I am thrilled and excited every day to create work that I love so much.



Where and what did you study?
I attended the University of Florida in Gainesville and graduated with a BS in Advertising. I would have just majored in art, but didn't think I could make a living with an art degree. I did end up with an "outside concentration" (they didn't offer minors for some odd reason) in art with two years of continuing education in Interior Design after that.



What inspires you and what motivates you?
Oh, everything really. Life is inspiring in so many forms. Here are just a few of my favorites: nature, animals, housing, music, movies, cooking, the farmers market, LOVE, color, designer Tricia Guild, other artists past and present, blogs, photography, books, people's stories of how they found their way to live a life that they are happy with. I believe when you are inspired, the by-product is that you are motivated.

When did you start doing this?
As soon as I could pick up a crayon, so at two or three, but it took me years before I trusted that this is what I was supposed to be. I have been painting professionally two years now.



Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
Oh yes. In fact when I was about eight or nine I made tiny marker drawings, framed them in embroidery frames and sold them to my family.

Also when I was twelve, I had a neighbor who live across the street, named Toots. She had a ceramic kiln. She invited me over to paint ceramics almost every day. She was like a grandmother to me during this time. We then participated together in my first every craft show/fair. I sold some of the work I created making $100. I was so proud! Looking back now, I think I had an enterpreneurial spirit early on.

I grew up an only child, and we are known for having a lot of time alone to be with our imagination and create and I did. I was always supported in my creativity especially by my Oma, (German for grandmother). Every summer I would travel to Germany and for some reason I felt my most creative there. I felt like I had all the time in the world just to create. And every year, I would try some new project from making pine cone owls, to watercolors, to the marker drawings, to creating characters out of felt. For a while I had a dollhouse and would create furnishings for it and clothes for the little dollhouse family all the time. I loved it!



When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I just couldn't seem to find people to work for who would support me in where I wanted to go next. I loved the idea of having a lifestyle that felt free including the opportunity to explore creative freedom.



How did you choose the name for your business?
One of my favorite stories... When I was working for someone else, as an interior designer, I still didn't feel like I had enough creativity in my life. I had a friend who had just recently given birth to twins and she was missing her creativity too. I suggested that we pick one day a week and get together for creative projects. I loved Thursdays, for some reason that has always been my favorite day of the week. So that day it was. We usually just got together and had wine and discussed all of our creative plans, but hey that got the ball rolling!



What do you love most about creating your work?
I love how easily the ideas come to me. I love creating the little characters that have evolved and made appearances in my work just in the last eight months. I love that I love my work so much, that it feels this amazing to create every day. I love inspiring others to follow their creative dreams!

What's the most fascinating place you've been?
Hong Kong, when I was 10. That city leaves quite an impression on a young girl from the States.



A book you love:
Make Your Creative Dreams Real by Sark

What is the most interesting thing about you?
Oh, good question, and a hard one to answer about myself. I think that the most interesting thing in my life thus far is the path I've taken to follow my creative dreams, and how often I was not supported by my peers, that often my career choice didn't seem to come together – but that I still forged on to ultimately find what I am happiest doing, to trust myself more, to trust my creativity and to find support and amazing friendships in my peers now.



What achievement are you most proud of?
I'm proud that I didn't ever give up (believe me when I say I could have many times) and have consistently chosen a life filled with adventure, risk taking, authenticity, integrity and heart, a life of following one's dreams.

What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Love what you do and just start. Start somewhere. You can't get it wrong! Surround yourself with people who see your vision and hold true to your own vision, always. With that said, while keeping that vision and staying true to yourself, be open and excited about where the current takes you. There may be something waiting for you that you hadn't thought of that is even better than what you originally had in mind. Believe, believe, believe (third time's a charm) that you can do it!



What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Not comparing myself to others.
Not taking other's actions quite so personally.

What do you love to do in your free time?
Honestly, I love what I do so much that I'm usually painting, but I also take yoga classes weekly and will be surfing again this summer! I love traveling, visiting with friends and family, taking walks, dining at fabulously delicious restaurants. Oh, yes and I love watching movies too, especially indies! And all of these activities include one or all of my loves, Sean my boyfriend and the three pets that share our home, Lulu the Great Dane, Reilly and Garbo the kitties.



What are you working on right now?
I license my art and will be working on some new pieces to add to the collection this week. I will also be sculpting more clay characters, as I'm obsessed with those little things!!
And I hope to be adding a new podcast to my blog.


What do you hope to achieve next?
I'm wide open. I feel so happy to do what I love already that everything is icing on the cake, but I have big dreams so I'm looking forward to what is next. In the immediate future, I may be collaborating on children's book.

Jared in Kansas Fine Art Photography... Kansas, USA

Artist: Jared May
Business: Jared in Kansas Fine Art Photography
Web sites: jaredks.etsy.com, jaredks.blogspot.com
Location: beautiful NE Kansas, USA

What do you create?
Photography, with the occasional painting thrown in for fun.



Where and when do you do your creative work?
I think about images a good part of my day. Many of my best photographs were taken on my way to work or on the way home. I'll see something, pull the car over, take a few shots, and then get on to work. I try to leave a few minutes early in the mornings just for this reason.

Do you have another "day job" ?
I teach math at an alternative high school. I love it.



Where and what did you study?
I have a degree in secondary social studies education from Kansas State, and I'm currently working on a masters degree in Educational Administration, so I may soon be a principal somewhere. In terms of art, I once took a class in figure painting. I should take more art classes; I really enjoyed that one.

What inspires you and what motivates you?
I am constantly amazed by the beauty of nature. It is always there, around us. I try to capture small pieces of it in my work.



When did you start doing this?
My mom put a camera in my hands at a young age. I've been shooting since I was eight, and I've been learning through trial and error since then.

Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
I do. I loved some of our vacation destinations just for the photographic opportunities they provided for me. My parents were very patient waiting for me to photograph different things on our trips.



When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I started my Etsy shop in December, and I started a CafePress shop the same day. I was not convinced that anything would come from either one, but I figured it was worth a shot. I never made a penny on CafePress, but my Etsy shop has really taken off. I feel very lucky, and I'm just having fun with it.



How did you choose the name for your business?
When I first joined Flickr, I came across a fantastic photographer who went by the name of Chris in Nebraska. I liked the feel of that, so I just plugged my information in.

What do you love most about creating your work?
Shooting beautiful images is very calming for me. I also love being able to share my work with others. The idea that my images bring happiness to others is very cool to me.



What's the most fascinating place you've been?
My favorite place in the world is the Konza Prairie, which is a semi-protected piece of tallgrass prairie located about five miles south of Manhattan, Kansas. It is used for research by the local university, but they've set aside an area for public trails, and I just love being there. Many of my favorite photographs were taken there.



A book you love:
I read a lot, but I rarely reread anything. The best book I've read recently was Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin's history of Abraham Lincoln.

What is the most interesting thing about you?
Wow. I really have no idea. My students seem impressed by how quickly I can do math in my head. I'm quite good at chess. I don't know.



What achievement are you most proud of?
I think my wife and I are doing a good job raising our three boys. It's the top priority for both of us, and I'm proud of that.

What advice would you give artists starting their own business?
Have fun, do all you can to have happy buyers, and make fantastic art.



What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Patience. I'm not nearly as good as I'd like to be, and I have to consciously choose to be patient about my own artistic development.

What do you love to do in your free time?
Hike through beautiful places and take photographs along the way.



What are you working on right now?
We are going to go to a handful of national parks this summer, and I have been spending a good deal of mental energy trying to figure out just what types of shots I want to get when we're there. I have found that it is much easier to photograph places you've seen hundreds of times than when you are a new visitor. This is my first time trying this new visualization technique, so we'll see if it gets results.



What do you hope to achieve next?
I try not to worry about these things. I keep trying to improve my photography, and I work to have happy buyers, and I figure the rest will work out however it's going to work out.

mLee ... Massachusetts, USA

Artist: Marissa L. Swinghammer
Business: mLee
Web site: mleefineart.com
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

What do you create?
I create one of a kind woodblock prints. Lately I have been using every bit of them even the failures by pressing those into one of a kind buttons, magnets and pocket mirrors! I'm rather tickled that even when a piece doesn't work as a whole I am able to make something pretty from it in the end.




Where and when do you do your creative work?
Whenever I feel like it. I do this full time on my own schedule.

Do you have another "day job"?
I'm lucky enough that I have been able to focus on my art for close to two years now. Before that I had odd jobs around Boston but I just couldn't get serious about anything other than art. Now that I am about to have a baby, having a job already at home seems even more ideal.




Where and what did you study?
I studied printmaking at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio. Other than the first two years I didn't enjoy my time there very much and came out of school with a major creative block. This block didn't lift until I took a woodblock printing class (something I barely tried in undergrad) at Mass Art here in Boston during the summer of 2005. It changed everything for me.




Where do you find inspiration?
Nature and just looking around me with open eyes, sketchbook in hand. I tend to pull color combinations from all over and use them in my pieces. Color is very important to me.

What motivates you?
The desire to not be miserable. And if I am not making art for an extended period of time I am quite miserable.




When did you start doing this?
I started doing art when I was just a little thing, but I didn't find the right outlet for it until 2005 when I fell head over heels with woodblock printmaking and a relaxed style of making these prints.

Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
My parents had a lot of books and I liked sifting through them randomly before I could even read. I remember picking out a Matisse book and copying the pieces using my crayons and presenting them to my mother.



When and why did you decide to start your own business?
After struggling for a number of years after college I realized that working for "the man" was not for me.

How did you choose the name for your business?
Even though my last name is Swinghammer I don't sign my work with that name. It is my married name, there is already and artist with that last name (a cousin of my husband) and I like how mLee looks as a signature. Short and sweet. My middle name is Lee and I am quite attached to that middle name.




What do you love most about creating your work?
The rush I get after I finish a piece and am pleased. But I love every aspect of it except for tearing paper to size for printing and clean up.

What's the most fascinating place you've been?
I'm pretty boring when it comes to traveling and haven't really been to any places that I would call fascinating. What comes to mind is an island in upper Maine that I went to last Memorial Day. It was so cut off and beautiful and I had never seen stars like that before.

A book you love:
Middlesex has been at the top of that list for a few years now.



What is the most interesting thing about you?
Nothing had more of an impact on my life than my mother's long-running battle with cancer that ended with her death ten years ago. Even though she died eventually she went down fighting and she is my hero. When she was diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was just a baby, they gave her six months to live. She lived nearly twenty years.




What achievement are you most proud of?
I'm pretty proud of my art and what I accomplished last year in a very short period of time. As soon as I got serious about getting my work out there in a way that works for me everything seemed to fall into place. I'm proud to be able to say that I have hundreds of pieces of my art hanging all over the world.



What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Have a good support system. Having a supportive and encouraging husband, boyfriend or just some very good friends means so much when doing something like this. I have both a supportive husband and some wonderful friends that encourage me all the time.

What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
I am my biggest challenge. Sometimes nothing seems to satisfy me. This is a very unpredictable world and that certainly takes getting used to.


What do you love to do in your free time?
I read a lot and enjoy taking my greyhound on walks around town.

What are you working on right now?
Making a baby. I'm eight months pregnant and I have to say that it has slowed down my art pretty significantly. First I was sick and now I am just tired and hot. Gone are the days where I print five to six hours non-stop, starting and finishing thirty pieces in one session.



What do you hope to achieve next?
I really need to clean my studio so I can print. I'd like to be able to find a way to work art into my life after the baby comes. I'm taking things as they come.