Michele Maule ... Michigan, USA

Artist: Michele Maule
Business: Michele Maule
Web sites: michelemaule.com, how2drawacupofcoffee.blogspot.com, michelemaule.etsy.com
Location: Pontiac, Michigan

What do you create?
Paintings, original prints, giclee prints, ACEOs.


Where and when do you do your creative work?
I work from my apartment. I am a morning person so I typically work in the morning and throughout the day.

Do you have another "day job"?
This is it! This is my job and I couldn't be happier. I moved to Pontiac this last summer. My boyfriend was accepted into grad school at Cranbrook Academy of Art and I decided to go with him. I looked for a job for two months. I turned in over 30 resumes and 20 applications. Nothing. I did get interviewed twice for a similar position that I had in Portland, and I didn't get it... that was the final straw. I don't remember ever feeling so down about myself. I decided that while I was looking for a job I would make some small art and try to sell it on Etsy... and that's how I got started!


Where and what did you study?
I studied fine art with an emphasis in printmaking at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

Where do you find inspiration?
This is a good question for me. When I lived in Portland I seemed to find inspiration everywhere. A rainy spring day walking down 23rd with my iPod could fill me up for days... but Pontiac, Michigan... not so much. I have been relying a lot on my feelings of missing home as well as all the uncertainty that comes along with Michael, my fiance, being done with grad school. There are so many unanswered questions, and there is so much waiting for the next step. Those have been recurring themes in my work lately.


What motivates you?
Well, bills! Really, I have always had this little rumble inside telling me to do something. If there is one thing that I can never be accused of is being lazy. I always have to be doing something, and I just don't feel right when I haven't gotten anything accomplished. It's not something I can really put my finger on. My fiance likes to call it crazy.


When did you start doing this?
Like I mentioned before, I started my little business this last summer. I have been on Etsy since March of last year, but it wasn't until about October that I started to take it seriously. I posted a couple of small paintings and a print, and they sold! So I just kept it up.


Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
I loved art as a kid! I remember my first art class in the first grade. We made little clay bears and the teacher fired them for us. It was so fun. She also gave me my first art career advice. She said, "Don't expect to make any money as an artist unless you're dead." Ha! I still remember that. I have always loved making things and have been interested in art as far back as I can remember. I remember thinking when I was really young that I either wanted to be an artist, or Wonder Woman.


When and why did you decide to start your own business?
Well, I have always wanted to make art for a living. Well, since I was in my junior year of college. The last few years I had been working for a small locally owned grocery store in Portland. I loved the people I worked with, but it wasn't something that I could see myself doing as a career. I would often dream about being able to quit my job and just make art full time. It's so hard for me to believe sometimes that it actually came true... and I have to stop and just take it in once in awhile... I mean how often is it that people get to do what they are really passionate about?


What do you love most about creating your work?
What don't I like? It's fun. It can be frustrating at times. When things aren't turning out like you'd like them to. But for the most part, I just love painting. It gives me a certain amount of confidence, and I really enjoy what I paint. I use a lot of collage in my work, and the tearing and gluing of paper is really cathartic for me. I tend to get lost in my thoughts.


What's the most fascinating place you've been?
Italy! My boyfriend and I went to Rome, Florence, and Venice a few years ago. It doesn't get more interesting than a different culture, food, and language. Not to mention the art and the museums. It was amazing.

A book you love:
The Time Travelers Wife, and always The Little Prince.


What is the most interesting thing about you?
My dad was in the Navy so I moved a lot growing up. I think I have lived in eight different states. I also moved out of my home when I was 16 and I have been taking care of myself ever since. With the help of my grandmother, and student loans, I was able to finish college. My mother and I didn't have the best relationship, and I decided to leave. Over the last few years we have definitely opened our communication and things between us are much better.

I can also touch my tongue to my nose and after a couple of beers I magically start speaking French fluently.


What achievement are you most proud of?
If you had told me a year ago that I would be making art for a living today I wouldn't have believed you or anyone! It's not every day that people get to wake up and go to a job that they love. I am so lucky. I also think that it's quite an accomplishment that I went to college to study art, and I am still making art today. I think one out of ten fine art graduates continue to make art after school. I am still here painting and creating and I think that says a lot.


What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Go for it! If you can manage it financially I say do it. Even if you aren't making as much money as you would at your day job, just being able to do what you really love to do is worth it.

What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Keeping up! It's hard for me to keep more than 15 items in my shop. Also, working from home can have it's moments. I am a neat freak, but when I am working I make a huge mess. Everywhere. Before moving to Michigan I had a studio and I could make a mess and just leave it, but I can't really do that here. So trying to adjust to having a studio at home as been a challenge.


What do you love to do in your free time?
I love to shop! I also really just like going out for coffee with my fiance and doing the NY Times crossword puzzle.

What are you working on right now?
I am currently working on a show that I have in Portland in April. It's at a little coffee place called The Fresh Pot. I am also painting some little painting for my Etsy shop. I am also working on a second degree in graphic design.


What do you hope to achieve next?
Well, I am hoping that I can get gallery representation in the future, and that I can continue to make art. I'd love to go into graphic design and work for a small company again. Either way, I know I would be just as happy.

She Rides The Lion ... California, USA

Artist: Sonia Romero
Business: sheridesthelion (she rides the lion)
Web sites: soniaromero.com, sheridesthelion.etsy.com, myspace.com/soniaromero
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA

What do you create?
I create many things, including mixed media linocut prints and paintings. My subject matter currently includes animals, trees, children, food, life in Los Angeles, my strange humor and hopefully a little magic.


Where and when do you do your creative work?
My studio is located at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains in northeast Los Angeles. It’s the best of both worlds, city and country. My house is a live/work converted garage. I work all days at any times.


Do you have another "day job"?
I am a fine artist full time and always have been. Occasionally I teach or do guest workshops. I teach children, teens and adults, in general art and printmaking.


Where and what did you study?
I studied at the Los Angeles County Highschool for the Arts, in visual arts, and the Rhode Island School of Design, in printmaking. My education continued in the Los Angeles art scene, where another set of skills is needed, such as press savvy and relationships with artists and galleries.


Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration from Google images, antique paper goods, museums, news, people I meet, social situations, fairy tales, illustrations, special moments in my day to day life.

What motivates you?
I have always been motivated. I think its because the alternative is utter boredom and sloth, and that doesn’t make me happy. You have to be self-motivated to make it as an artist.


When did you start doing this?
When I was conceived.

Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
I grew up in a family of artists, including both of my parents. I have been creating artwork from the beginning, and showing and selling artwork since I was around seven.


When and why did you decide to start your own business?
Well, if we are talking about selling art, I have been doing that for many years. However, I just opened up my online Etsy store in May of 2007. My Etsy store showcases my smallest and most shippable work. I thought it would be a great way to increase exposure. Web presence is becoming increasingly important to artists in today’s society. New customers can link to my regular site (www.soniaromero.com), and my regular customers can conveniently make purchases with credit cards and shipping.


How did you choose the name for your business?
She Rides the Lion is a continuing motif in my work. I am very attracted to the sweet and innocent/strong and ferocious duality. Yes, I am a Leo.

What do you love most about creating your work?
It gives me a sense of satisfaction and allows me to interact with the world in positive ways.


What's the most fascinating place you've been?
I spent a year in Rome, Italy, which was very inspiring and exciting.

A book you love:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Read it!

What is the most interesting thing about you?
I’m an artist, I’m talented, and I do something with that talent.


What achievement are you most proud of?
My artwork has brought me many great achievements throughout the years. I met President Clinton and had a show at the National Gallery when I was 17, I had my debut solo show last year, and I am working on my first permanent public art piece as we speak. I guess what I am most proud of is that feeling inside of me that this is what I should be doing.


What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Create a wonderful product that you love, make an excellent presentation of it, and learn how to promote it full time.

What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Myself.

What do you love to do in your free time?
I love to squeeze babies and frequent farmer’s markets.


What are you working on right now?
I am creating 13 linocut designs that will be blown up into 13, 4 x4 foot tile mosaic murals for the Macarthur Park metro station in Los Angeles. Public art, baby!

What do you hope to achieve next?
I am applying to grad schools this year. Onwards and upwards!

yellow monday ... Sydney, Australia

Artist: Linda Kruger
Business: yellow monday
Web sites: yellowmonday.etsy.com, yellowmonday.blogspot.com, trunkt.org/lindakruger
Location: Sydney, Australia

What do you create?
I make images on paper, and textiles.


Where and when do you do your creative work?
Aahh! The question at the heart of most art practice, especially for those of us who live in the city. We have to be prepared to fit into whatever spare space and time there is.

For many years when I was doing lots of etching, I used a community access studio here in Sydney. Lately I’ve become more interested in other ways of making images which can be done in smaller areas and require less equipment, like screen-printing, drawing and painting, and I also love using the computer.
I do the computer work in my little studio (ie spare room) at home.


Painting, drawing and thinking and planning can be done almost anywhere – in the garden, in a café, in the lounge room. Printing textiles (or paper) is a bit trickier, but I have worked out a system for doing that on the dining room table – unfortunately not three-metre lengths of textile like I was able to do in college, but smaller dining table size pieces.

I also love to go away for weekends or holidays and take lots of stuff for painting, printing and drawing, because it’s so nice to be away from other distractions.


Do you have another "day job"?
Yes, I am a video producer.

Where and what did you study?
I studied film theory and practice, and printmaking (etching), and textile printing and design.


Where do you find inspiration?
Being around people who are passionate about what they do, people who like to have fun, people with a generous spirit. Eccentric animals. Beautifully made and designed domestic objects – particularly mid-20th century furniture and kitchenware. Pattern and colour in nature. Amazing shapes in nature. Handmade objects. Walking in alpine areas. Tokyo.

Inspiration can come from anywhere really. Actually it often seems to arrive at the most unexpected time and in the most unexpected places, and I think the surprise of never knowing where it will come from is part of what makes it inspiring.


What motivates you?
I think I am mainly motivated by the fact that I really enjoy doing this. It’s lovely to sell work and to know that someone has appreciated what you do, but really I’d be doing it anyway, just for the sheer pleasure of it.


When did you start doing this?
I started printmaking about 12 years ago and did a course in textile design in 2005. And drawing and painting always.

Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
Yes, anything and everything! I’ve always loved it.


When and why did you decide to start your own business?
For many years I did occasional exhibitions and group shows, but it wasn’t until very recently that I was told about Etsy, this great online venue where people sell all kinds of handmade objects. I had an enormous backlog of images and sketches and ideas for images that had never been exhibited. And so it seemed like a really nice project to prepare a group of works to put on the site. I decided to rework or develop a lot of the images and once I’d started, I found I was really getting into it, and really enjoying myself. I finally opened up shop a few weeks ago under the name yellow monday which is the name of a particular cicada found only in Australia.


How did you choose the name for your business?
Just sitting around with a friend talking about how her nephews were collecting the discarded shells of cicadas, and my partner said he used to collect them too, and that the most prized ones were called yellow mondays. It tickled my fancy. Especially since it’s an Australian cicada.


What do you love most about creating your work?
I love it when things come together as I imagine, but I also like to be flexible and change direction as the piece develops. I also love it when the materials or process or a clumsy brush intervene to give an unexpected outcome that after all is pretty good – maybe even better than I imagined.


What's the most fascinating place you've been?
Toss up between Tokyo and the Warrumbungles (an incredibly beautiful eruption of ancient rounded hills in northwest New South Wales).

A book you love:
There are lots but most recentlyAudrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife.


What is the most interesting thing about you?
My partner thinks I know what dogs are thinking. He always asks, “What’s that dog thinking?” But that’s really something interesting about him. I don’t know. I’m pretty boring really. Although I am capable of drinking twice my own body weight in tea over a 24-hour period.


What achievement are you most proud of?
I think it’s great that I still love making images. I don’t know that it’s an achievement exactly, but it’s something that gives me happiness.

What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Do something that you love, and then you will be happy to work hard at it.



What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Finding enough time and space.

What do you love to do in your free time?
I live near the beach and I love to walk along the coast. I love to swim there in summer too. Travelling as often as I can. Hanging out with friends and family. Drinking tea. Reading, films, music. Yoga. Beer.



What are you working on right now?
I have lots of things on the go at once. I have a huge backlog of ideas and sketches for paintings and prints. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few weeks setting up the Etsy store, and also the Trunkt site and blog. It’s all been a very steep learning curve, and quite exciting too, but I think I need to get a bit of a routine and make sure I actually leave enough time to produce more work.



What do you hope to achieve next?
I’d like to develop the Etsy shop more. I plan to do more painting. And I’ve been working on a range of textiles and pattern-based artwork.

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.