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.

Azure Grackle ... Massachusetts, USA

Artist: Jennifer Schmitt
Business: Azure Grackle
Web sites: www.azuregrackle.com and azuregrackle.etsy.com
Location: Concord, Massachusetts

What do you create?
Original relief prints, primarily woodcuts, but I just began working more with linoleum. I'm also taking a class on monoprints and monotypes.




Where and when do you do your creative work?
I work mostly at home. I have a baby press that will take a plate up to 9" x 14". I work in my apartment, usually printing on long afternoons. Carving can happen any time because there is less clean-up, but more often than not it happens in the evenings in front of the TV.




Do you have another "day job" or did you leave one to pursue your art?
Yes and yes. Currently I work part-time at a local art museum on the Visitor Services staff. This allows me to both be out in the world and be surrounded by inspiring art, and also have enough time at home to get my own work done as well.

I left a job as a web designer 18 months ago, not sure what I wanted to do next, but I knew in my bones I needed to make a change. Having the luxury of some time to play and explore, I discovered that I am an artist and this is what I want to do.




Where and what did you study?
I majored in American Studies at Smith College and since then have taken at least ten creative writing (fiction) workshops. I thought if anything, I would be a novelist.

Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in nature, history, good stories, other artists, Mary Oliver's poetry, basically anywhere my eyes are open.




What motivates you?
For five years I worked as a web designer in a research institute, and before that for a start-up company. I wondered why I wasn't excited by what I was doing. In annual reviews, I could never answer the questions "Where do you see yourself in five years?" or "What do you want to accomplish?". I finally realized that despite being a good job and a good place to work, it wasn't enough and I wasn't happy. So what motivates me? The desire not to go back.



When did you start doing this?
I started doing woodcuts in October of 2006 after a workshop by Marissa Swinghammer, although I did do a linoleum cut in 7th grade art class. It still hangs on my wall. (Thanks, Mr. Ardito!)

Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
Absolutely! I learned to knit from my mom around age five. In kindergarten, I got scolded many times because I would always mix the basic paint colors, especially white and blue for the sky.



When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I can't say I made a conscious decision, it grew from a very casual start on Etsy. I had a closet full of unused yarn and started to sell it off. I added beaded necklaces and knit cuff bracelets. Once I discovered the woodcuts and felt good about them, I started to sell them too.

How did you choose the name for your business?
When I signed up for Etsy, I wanted to use a new name. I had just visited Mass MoCA (museum of contemporary art) and stayed at a B&B that had turned their ugly cement garage into a full scale installation. They had commissioned an artist who covered it in giant grackles on a bright green background and cherry blossoms. There was something about it that I fell in love with. So fishing for names, I came up with Grackle. Then because I love colors, added Azure. I like how it looks. I had no idea it would become so important.



What do you love most about creating your work?
I love working with colors and how they interact. The colors that you think won't go together often prove to be the most interesting prints. I love the surprise that comes when you pull the paper off the block or plate. No matter how planned, you never quite know how it will turn out.

What's the most fascinating place you've been?
I've been to Greece, England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Hawaii. I love them all for teaching me new things. Hawaii has a special place in my heart because I trace the beginnings of the changes I've made in my life to that trip. But I think the most fascinating place I've been will be whatever is next.



A book you love:
Just one? Sorry. Here are a few:
Collected Poems – Mary Oliver
The Probably Future – Alice Hoffman
The Golden Compass – Philip Hoffman
Possession – A. S. Byatt




What is the most interesting thing about you?
In March, I started a collaborative printmaking project based on the Periodic Table of Elements. More than 90 printmakers from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and Italy are producing 6" x 6" prints of the 118 elements using all sorts of printmaking techniques – woodcut, linocut, monotype, solar plate, etching, lithography, silkscreen, gocco. The project started on a whim after and has turned out to be fun and inspiring. Bigger than I ever imagined.

What achievement are you most proud of?
I'm proud I took the risk to pursue my art and make changes to build a life I like rather than stay safe and live without all the colors.




What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Just think of the next step and the next step and the next. Looking at the whole prospect can be overwhelming.

What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Believing that I can really do this. Finding the balance between overworking a piece and leaving it too simple because I'm afraid I'll ruin it if I add another layer.

What do you love to do in your free time?
Knit, watch TV, be mellow with friends, spend time with family, read, doodle, try new ideas, make a mess.



What are you working on right now?
I'm experimenting with monoprint techniques for my class. I'm also using local colonial gravestone carvings as inspiration for new blocks.

What do you hope to achieve next?
I'd love to be selling locally in a gallery, not just online. Mostly, I hope to continue to learn and (hopefully) watch my art grow stronger.

Mizu Designs ... Australia

Name: Kylie Budge
Business: Mizu Designs
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Web site: http://mizudesigns.etsy.com and www.flickr.com/photos/59201941@N00/

What do you make?
I make Japanese style woodblock prints and cards. The Japanese printmaking technique differs from many styles used in the West in that it uses watercolour inks and a small disc covered in a bamboo leaf called a 'baren' as the press. No big machines or smelly toxic chemicals! I also like the way watercolour inks give a gentle, soft feeling to the finished print.

Where and when do you do your creative work?
I squeeze my printmaking in any time I can. Mostly it's weekends because I'm employed at a university during the week. I have a room in my house where I work. I'd love to have a proper studio space one day. Daylight hours are best for printmaking because of the light. It's really hard carving tiny lines into a woodblock at night. I do this sometimes when I'm working to a deadline but it's not kind on the eyes and will make me a blind woman before my time! Mornings are good and it's when my energy is high. I've realised over the years that I can't carve blocks or print all day long - it's tough on my arms and shoulders. I need to switch between designing, carving and printing so I don't exhaust myself. It's a very physical art form.




Do you have another "day job?
Oh how I wish I didn't have a day job and could be a fulltime printmaker! I really admire those who have the courage (or finances) to do just that. I have a very respectable full-time day job which I enjoy but doing this and being a printmaker sometimes feel like I am two different people in the onebody. I feel quite split at times.

Where and what did you study?
The split I feel between my current paid profession in education and fine art first became an issue when I finished high school. At 17 I was faced with making a choice between accepting a place at art school or becoming a teacher. I chose the latter and have been torn ever since. I have a Masters Degree in Education and other qualifications in linguistics education. I moved to Japan in 1998 and worked as a teacher at a university there. At the same time I began studying woodblock printing or 'moku hanga' with a Japanese artist. I lived there for 7 years and studied printmaking the whole time while keeping my day job in teaching to finance my life there.




What inspires you and what motivates you?
I'm continuously inspired by nature and everything about the natural world. I love indigenous Australian plant life and the experience of living on such a hot, dry ancient continent. I love the extremes of weather we have here and the incredibly varied environment of such a vast, open country.

I'm also inspired by Japan - the old and lovely aspects mostly. After so many years of living there the Japanese aesthetic has permeated my being.

When did you start doing this?
I began printmaking in high school. I remember playing around with silk screens and chemicals and printing onto fabric. I went through this stage at school of making lots of handprinted fabric and then sewing it into wacky clothing creations for my family members. They had no choice about this as I often gave these creations as presents at Christmas. My mum was always very gracious in how she received these gifts. They were probably quite hideous but she was always supportive of what I made.




When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I've only just started my online shop. Friends have been nagging me to do this for ages. I've sold prints and cards at exhibitions in Kyoto and that motivated me to do something when I returned to Australia. An online shop is such a wonderful way of reaching out to people I wouldn't normally come across. I've even sold one of my cards to a man in Sweden!

How did you choose the name for your business?
My design name, 'Mizu', means water in Japanese. For me, water signifies life and the very essence of all things. I use watercolour inks because they are an integral part of the Japanese process of printmaking, and so the name flowed from there.

What do you love most about doing your work?
If a print is going well and I like what I see at the end of the process then it's very satisfying. Woodblock printing is an incredibly time consuming art form. The carving of blocks (one block per colour) can take a very long time to complete. During this part of the process it's very hard to know whether the design is going to work. It's not until you do a trial print that you get an idea of if it's all going to come together. I think that's why I find the actual printing part the most satisfying. It's quite a build up to this point, and then suddenly, like magic, you get to see an image on paper!




What's the most fascinating place you've been?
That's such a hard question to answer! I loved traveling in Cambodia but also in Vietnam - I've been there twice now. I adore Sapa, a small village in the mountains of north-west Vietnam near the Chinese border. Australians love Asia. It's so close it's in our blood.

A book you love:
What I Loved, a novel by Siri Hustvedt. Also Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty.

What's the most interesting thing about you?
That I grew up in such a small country town in northern Australia, yet have been able to experience life in so many amazing places, including my seven-year adventure in Japan.

What achievement are you most proud of?
Staying calm while being stranded on a small Thai island during the tsunami in 2004. I was surrounded by chaos and a great deal of fear, but somehow I didn't let it overwhelm me. I was deeply impressed by the Thais on the island and how they handled that disaster. I think their centred, balanced but caring way of dealing with that difficult time may have rubbed off onto me.




What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Here a few thoughts – be courageous, talk to other people who are doing what you'd like to do, ask lots of questions, don't be too shy, be a little outrageous, and have a go – life is so short.

What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Working alone can be hard at times. It's easy to let the negative voices take over when you're having a bad day and a design isn't working out. The internet is the best thing ever for networking and talking to other printmakers or artists about ideas or techniques. There are many many artists online now and some wonderful creative communities to engage with.

What do you love to do in your free time?
I love the bush so I go hiking and camping when I can. Being outdoors is really important for me to feel balanced after spending lots of time inside working. If I can't get away to go camping I love walking around my neighbourhood, going for a picnic somewhere or pottering around in my garden.

What are you working on right now?
I'm working on a small print for a collaborative print project that a woman in the US is organising. I also have a few other prints that I'm working on, some big, some small. I'm always formulating designs in my sketchbook.

What do you hope to achieve next?
I'd like to organise an exhibition of my prints in Australia. I've been meaning to do this since I got back here but time has slipped away. That would be a really nice thing to do.