The Noisy Plume ... Arizona, USA

Artist: Jillian Susan Lukiwski
Business: The Noisy Plume
Web sites: thenoisyplume.etsy.com and thenoisyplume.blogspot.com
Location: Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation, Arizona

What do you create?
I create jewelry from sterling silver, copper, brass, and precious/semi-precious stones. Lots of it.


Where and when do you do your creative work?
I work here at the Achii Hanyo Native Fish Facility (USFW) which is run by my husband (the head fish biologist). We live by ourselves on-station and I have a workshop outside in our gigantic Quonset. I have also claimed a room in our house for workspace. I am a night owl by nature, but Robert isn't so I usually work during normal 9-5 office hours so that we get to see each other at the end of the day.


Do you have another "day job"?
I quit my librarian position at the elementary school in town about 2 months ago to go full time with silver smithing. I miss reading books to the wee kiddies but can now see very clearly that I was living a high stress life when I was splitting my time between jewelry and the art of librarianship. I am much happier now. Perhaps healthier too?


Where and what did you study?
I attended the University of Saskatchewan in my hometown of Saskatoon, Canada but not long enough to finish an English degree since I decided to marry my man and moved to The States. That old scrap of paper documenting my intelligence haunts me constantly and I'm yenning to finish it up! I also attended a community college in Lake Havasu City, Arizona for 4 semesters to learn a few silver smithing basics as well as lapidary techniques. In terms of my craft, I am largely self-taught.


Where do you find inspiration?
I find plenty of inspiration in the stones I use in my pieces. I consider myself rather lucky to have studied silver smithing in the Southwest where more often than not, a piece is designed around stone, silver is allowed to be brightly polished to a blinding sheen, and color is paramount. Southwest style is right up my alley. When I find a big free form cut cabochon in an amazing color, or struck with a fantastic matrix... I can't help but be flooded with inspiration. I'm also inspired by shapes I see in nature, the work of other jewelry designers, and other times the inspiration simply finds me. Sometimes I sit down with a few pieces of metal and a stone and the piece just builds itself slowly and steadily as though the design is being breathed into me as I work. It's a really great workday if such a thing happens.


What motivates you?
Selling 20 pieces on a weekend and having to make them all lickety-split so I can ship by Monday afternoon is quite motivating! Also, when I have a new design idea, it's difficult for me to tear myself away from my workbench, I want to stay there until the moon is high and all the desert critters are sleeping. I really like to finish what I have started in one go. The thought of seeing a finished piece of jewelry brightly polished and ready to photograph really elevates my pulse! When a piece is nearing completion I am bouncing off the walls with excitement, practically breathless...my voice turns into a high-pitched squeak. I'm sure it's frightening and ghastly to watch, but it sure feels great!


When did you start doing this?
I started silver smithing in 2005 when I was taking classes in Lake Havasu. It took a while to actually get set up at home with the right tools and start working independently of the workshop at school.

Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
I was a funny blend of jock and art-geek when I was younger. My father fostered the athlete in me and I must thank my mother for cultivating my creativity when I was a youngling. She enrolled me in piano lessons as soon as I was out of the womb, as well as playing violin and trumpet for a few years; she also popped me into drawing classes with a local Saskatoon artist. She taught me to sew (she's a master seamstress). I was really into photography and graphic arts in high school and took a few semesters of painting as well. I used to stay up until 3am on school nights making beaded jewelry in my bedroom. I was continually crafting.


When and why did you decide to start your own business?
Last summer I took a trip to Europe with a girlfriend of mine and whenever we met someone new in a hostel she would introduce me as her friend who was “a maker of fantastic jewelry.” I thought about that title a lot while on that trip and realized I didn't want to make a liar out of my friend and I had best get serious about making jewelry. Looking back, I think it was really a sort of quarter-life crisis in that I didn't really love being a librarian, and was in desperate need for a creative outlet. At any rate, I came home and told my husband I wanted to open an Etsy shop and make and sell jewelry. We drove to town to buy a digital camera, photographed some of the pieces I had already made, and opened my Etsy shop that very same afternoon on July 18, 2007.


How did you choose the name for your business?
I actually picked three words and said them over and over to myself to see if the sound of them falling off the tip of my tongue was pleasing to the ear. It was.
Also, no one on the planet earth has ever been able to correctly pronounce my last name on the first go, so I thought I would spare you all fumbling your way through "JillianLukiwskiDesigns". Blah. That last name of mine is a Ukrainian mess. I confess.


What do you love most about creating your work?
I love that all of it is mine. From the start, each component that builds a piece of jewelry is designed by me, sawed, cut, dapped, formed, forged, sized, set, buffed, and polished by me. This work is MY work, no one else tells me what to do. It comes from my heart and my soul, and is crafted beneath my furrowed brow with joy and obsessive attention to detail. I really make exactly what I want to make. I don't worry about whether or not the item will sell. I just make the things that are in my mind and trust that someone, somewhere shares my taste in jewelry. If I wouldn’t wear it, I don’t make it. My art is really the epitome of selfishness but I have to feel like a design is true to my ideas and my style. I have turned down a few commissions in the past because I wasn’t willing to be untrue to my style. For example, I don’t “do” Celtic jewelry… I do what I want to do. I love feeling like I have appeased my need to create at the end of the day. Anything that jeopardizes that feeling is not allowed in my workshop.


What's the most fascinating place you've been?
I need to give you five:
1. A glow worm cave in New Zealand (Rob and I collected a nalgene bottle full of the little guys to make a romantic sort of flashlight).
2. Every inch of the 230 miles of the John Muir Trail.
3. The Havasupai Falls below the remote Supai Indian Village on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
4. Alone.
5. The chain lakes, and river systems of Northern Saskatchewan… in a canoe.


A book you love:
Good grief! I really adore books. Books have always been such good friends to me...here are some of my favorite authors/poets instead: Gene Stratton Porter, Diane Ackerman, Annie Dillard (swoon), Willa Cather, Roald Dahl, Chaim Potok, Zane Gray, Leonard Cohen, CS Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Madeline L'Engle, Rilke – each one of them continues to change my life and widen my eyes.


What is the most interesting thing about you?
My lifestyle. I grew up in the National Parks of Canada doing backcountry patrols by horseback with my dad on the weekends (sometimes on school days too). I know how to chop wood, fly fish, paddle a canoe, start a fire with wet wood, and clean a horse's hooves among other things. I am most at home in the natural world and prefer the freedom and simplicity of the country life.

What achievement are you most proud of?
Knowing at the young age of 25 exactly what I want to do with my life, and doing exactly that. Every day.


What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Just start. If you try to get everything organized perfectly from the very beginning you probably won't ever begin. Don't be afraid, just go for it. It's ok to start small and build your way up into a bigger and better business. It takes a lot of courage to put oneself and one's art out into the world for all to see, don't ever doubt the courage that lies inherently within you. It's there. Draw on it.


What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
My dial-up internet is my greatest challenge. It's positively medieval. I can't get a faster connection because of where we are situated on the reservation. We are lucky to even have a telephone! My internet speed makes me crazy and drinks up a lot of my spare time and workshop time. I used to have to do all of my uploading for my Etsy shop from the library in town a couple of times a week, but I bought a new computer and am able to do all of my work from home now. What a nightmare it was.


What do you love to do in your free time?
I love to bake. I bake my own bread once a week. It's a happy thrill every time I see it rise up.
I also sew, rock climb, walk my dogs, do a heap of yoga in the living room, garden, run, explore the desert, collect honey from the wild bee hive in the bulldozer, play my piano, make zines, write poetry, and read. I am also a member of "The Letter Writers Alliance" and write many, many, many letters to friends and family.


What are you working on right now?
As soon as I finish this interview, I've got to polish up a few pieces of jewelry which were ordered over the weekend and ready them for shipping. This afternoon I am working on a few pieces featuring Alunite cabochons. In the larger scheme of things, I just completed my wholesale catalogue for 2008 and am going to be posting those out to a few different boutiques in Alberta, Canada and Oregon.
Interestingly enough, I'm just working hard at being me.


What do you hope to achieve next?
I'd love to live someplace where I could apprentice a goldsmith. How I would love to get my little fingertips on some gold and dip my small hands into buckets of faceted gems. I'd also like to write something worth publishing someday. I'm much more into short term goals as it's difficult for me to see past lunchtime.

Shannon Tudyk ... Oregon, USA

Artist: Shannon (Sam) Tudyk
Business: TudykDotCom (or tudyk.com)
Web sites: tudyk.com, tudykdotcom.etsy.com
Location: Portland, Oregon

What do you create?
Big messes – and artwork in between. My work is usually a combination of materials, oftentimes including acrylic, pencil, tea and rice paper, machined top-stitching thread, sand paper – all ending up mounted on wood as a wall hanging in the end.


Where and when do you do your creative work?
In my one-bedroom apartment, I've taken over the living room and dining nook. The big chair recently got pushed into the tiny kitchen to make more room. I also use a friend's garage for wood cutting and framing up work. When? The creative idea work happens all of the time. I could have an idea for a project in the middle of a conversation about top soil. And the actual doing happens sometimes at night when I get home, every once and a while right when I wake up before I trek to my day job, but mostly on the weekends, when I have a long stretches of time to work fresh and undisturbed. I can easily work for 15 hours straight, three days in a row when given the chance.


Do you have another "day job"?
I haven't yet left the steady paycheck life; I get too stressed out not knowing when and where the money to pay the bills is coming from. I worked part-time at a letterpress greeting card studio (Egg Press) for the past three and a half years, doing an assortment of jobs – the most interesting being web project manager and product photographer. However, this month I will be leaving that job and moving to my next chapter in life, as a full time studio artist at a hugely respected advertising agency (Wieden + Kennedy). Very exciting!


Where and what did you study?
I had two majors at Savannah College of Art and Design – Illustration and Graphic Design.

Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! Magazines, books, the internet, found objects, patterns in a building's shadow... I think I have been loving art for so long, my brain sees everything as inspiration now. I also have a love for paper and a healthy addiction to office supplies, especially vintage. Old accounting ledgers, receipts, labels... I've been working to translate those inspirations into my artwork for the past few years. I am also currently obsessed with the golden ratio and fibonachi series, Egyptian art, sigils and symbols, and typography.


What motivates you?
Deadlines! I must have deadlines. And reminders of deadlines. Seeing another artist's exhibition can motivate me too. Or having an inspiring dream or vision.

When did you start doing this?
I think I have always been interested in making art; it continuously grew as I grew. I remember having good ideas before having good execution back in middle school. My brain has always been ahead of my hands with art. As far as creating art for people to view in a public space, I have been doing that since 2002.


Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
I do remember getting into trouble over art in kindergarten on a field day (art outdoors!) ...there were long rolls of paper stretched out on the sidewalk for the whole class to all draw on. I was punished for painting on myself rather than the paper. Silly teachers.

When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I guess I don't consider it a business really. I do feel responsible for getting artwork made for people and shipping it safely to them... but that's more just the finishing result of a passion that I do for myself. Although it does feel like a business when it's time to do taxes...


How did you choose the name for your business?
I think I put more thought into naming my teapot, Tiwi, than naming my shop tudykdotcom. I was anxious to get to posting and see what it looked like and really only had in mind the desire for people to link back to my main website, tudyk.com... And tudyk.com came about with the hope of memory for my name. We all want to be remembered, don't we?


What do you love most about creating your work?
Feeling an idea "click." Sometimes it bings – that's really great. I love coming up with an idea that I feel no one has had or no one has done quite the same. And I love hearing the different responses from viewers; it feels very powerful to create a sensation in another person through something that came from inside of me.


What's the most fascinating place you've been?
I have been to a lot of amazing places... A Masai tribal village in Africa; inside an Orthodox Church in Serbia; an archery bar in Spain! (Yes, alcohol was served and bows were handed out!) ...I hope to keep collecting more.

A book you love:
The Power of Limits: Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art & Architecture by Gyorgy Doczi


What is the most interesting thing about you?
Maybe that I changed my name (unofficially). For the past seven or so years I have gone by the name Sam rather than my given name, Shannon. It seemed to be a stronger name and more memorable. Introducing myself as Shannon (which I do in some circles) feels awkward now. It's fun to confuse people too. I respond to both, but I only like to say the name "Sam."

What achievement are you most proud of?
In 2004, five pieces of my artwork were published in Communication Arts Illustration Annual. It was a very exciting month for me.


What advice would you give women starting their own business?
I don't know that I'm qualified to give advice on that... but I believe that if you work hard enough at what you love, something good will come out of it. You have to be willing to make sacrifices for it. Positive thinking goes a long way too.


What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
How can I obtain an 8' x 13' piece of artwork when they don't sell appropriate sheet sizes...? and how will I transport it? Also, what to do with the ideas that seem to only be fit for installations? (I guess have an installation is the answer, but how does one get into the installation business?) Mostly, the biggest challenge I face is gaining financial security to push everything else aside to make it happen 100 percent.


What do you love to do in your free time?
Free time... hmm... that sounds familiar... I like to go and see art out in the world, follow art and design links online, take hot baths, and eat cookies. And travel as often as possible.

What are you working on right now?
A 6' x 3' commission piece, a show deadline, and three other small commission pieces. And very soon I'll be working on finding a balance between a new full time creative job and my own artwork.


What do you hope to achieve next?
I've always wanted to fall into some sweet deal with Chronicle Books and become a household name. I would love for my passion for making things to work into a consistently paying, dependable job somehow.

Tammy Antoinette ... Florida, USA

Artist: Tammy Antoinette
Business: Jewelry by Tammy Antoinette
Web site: girlinworld.etsy.com
Location: Orlando, Florida

What do you create?
Handmade jewelry, fabricated with sterling, brass, and other materials such as vintage glass and gemstones.


Where and when do you do your creative work?
I do my work from home. I have a workbench and all my tools set up inside a screened-in patio. I love all the natural light and the sounds of nature I have while working out there. I do my metal work out on my bench, and my beaded work inside the home.

Do you have another "day job"?
Yes, I work as a graphic artist during the day.


Where and what did you study?
I received a Bachelor's in Graphic Design, and am mainly self-taught in jewelry and metal. I have taken a few basic classes in beaded jewelry and metalsmithing, but most of what I've learned comes from reading a lot and experimenting on my own.


Where do you find inspiration?
It is difficult to get specific with this one, because I find inspiration in everything – sometimes in people, in music, in architecture, in food, in nature. Inspiration from any of these things can lead me to a new idea in my jewelry designs. I try to leave myself open to everything, and I am constantly aware of the beauty and inspiration in even the smallest things that surround me.


What motivates you?
I love to figure things out. I am in awe of the idea of something coming from nothing. What motivates me is the entire creative process. I love starting with nothing but raw materials and pieces of glass or stone, and using tools along with my imagination, to create something that only a while ago did not exist.


When did you start doing this?
I remember making necklaces from seashells and flowers as a little girl. I grew up in western New York, and my father used to take us to Florida to visit my grandparents every summer. For those of you who have not experienced western New York, it is cold and gray for the better part of the year, and there is no ocean... pretty dismal if you ask me. When we reached Florida, I was like a caged animal ready to be released into this sunny paradise that was unlike anything I had ever known. I can remember it like it was yesterday, running down the shore by the surf with my sister, without a care in the world, collecting seashells. I remember stringing together a necklace with my shells and tying on flowers by their stems. I am not sure that was really jewelry making, I think it was more just play, but in any case that was the first piece of jewelry I remember making. I've been making jewelry for about seven or eight years now, but decided to turn it into a business about two years ago.


Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
My mom was an exceptional artist, when she wasn't busy working her day job and taking care of us. She was into oil painting and watercolor, and then later woodworking. We always had tools of the trade laying around the house, so yes I was very much into art as a kid. I think most kids get into creating art in some fashion or another, whether it be with crayons, finger paints, or mustard and ketchup.


When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I started making jewelry as a hobby, just because I enjoyed doing it. But I started getting many compliments and requests for custom designs from friends and family. I was at the point in my life when I was still trying to figure out what I was best at. I think sometimes when we can't figure it out for ourselves, we should listen to what other people tell us we are good at. I realized that throughout my life, I always received compliments on the things I would create. Growing up, I used to make my own clothes, belts, greeting cards, jewelry. It didn't matter what it was, I was always creating something. Once I realized that this is something that is not going to go away, that I am always going to feel the need to create, and that people actually like the things I create, that is when I realized that I wanted to start my own business selling my creations. That was about two years ago. I started off selling my jewelry by word of mouth and then I found Etsy and opened up a storefront in June of 2007.


How did you choose the name for your business?
Well, the name used to be Girl In World and that is because I never want to lose my sense of wonder – no matter how old I become, no matter that I am now a grown woman, I always want to look at the world through the eyes of a girl, a girl who still believes in magic and mystery, because believing in these things keeps me inspired. I changed the name of my store to Tammy Antoinette a while ago because I want my name to be linked to my jewelry.


What do you love most about creating your work?
I love the entire process, but most of all I feel very honored and extremely happy when others buy or compliment my work. It feels great to know that people like what I create!

What's the most fascinating place you've been?
Ummmmm, can I get back to you on that? I still have some traveling to do. Any place that I have not been is the most fascinating place to me. I haven't traveled outside of the country, except to the Bahamas when I was very young. I am so very eager to explore other countries.


A book you love:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry

What is the most interesting thing about you?
I can run really fast, and I used to leave even the boys in the dust.


What achievement are you most proud of?
I am proud that I am doing what I love and making a living at it, both my jewelry and graphic design.

What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Have faith in your capabilities, and don't be afraid to take chances.


What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
TIME... having enough time to get it all done and still have time to come up with new ideas.

What do you love to do in your free time?
Spend time enjoying life with the people I love.


What are you working on right now?
I am working on my first collection (complete set) of exclusive designs for a jewelry boutique that contacted me about my work!

What do you hope to achieve next?
I hope to drop my daytime graphic design job like a hot potato, in order to concentrate first on my jewelry and possibly offer my services in freelance graphic design work as well.

Betsy Walton ... Oregon, USA

Artist: Betsy Walton
Business: Gridplane, Inc
Web sites: morningcraft.com, betsywalton.etsy.com, flickr.com/betsywalton
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

What do you create?
Paintings, drawings and illustrations.


Where and when do you do your creative work?
I work in my home studio. I work at different times depending on my schedule, but I try to get some drawing or painting in every day when possible.


Do you have another "day job"?
Not right now. I left my last job to work on my art and illustration business full time.

Where and what did you study?
I studied printmaking at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Graduated in 2000 with a BFA.


Where do you find inspiration?
I had a teacher once who said that inspiration comes from work. I really try to develop my inspirational momentum by working as often as I can, even when I feel totally flat. If things aren’t flowing, I usually try to get a change of scenery. A walk outside or through Powells books here in Portland usually snaps me out of it.

I’ve been doing my own sort of religious/cultural/philosophical studies course by cobbling together books, podcasts and conversations with friends. I think this has really informed my work over the last several months also.

Nature is always amazing to me. Traveling to a new place is also great for inspiration. I also look to aesthetic traditions in different cultures and lots of art for inspiration. I like to keep my eye on design too. I love to look at other artists work also, both old and new. Ultimately though, I get most inspired by the chase – trying to find that new image and story that can show me something I wouldn’t see otherwise.


What motivates you?
A combination of curiosity, fear and joy.

When did you start doing this?
I started to focus solely on my art and illustration business in 2006, but I have been making art since I was a little kid.


Do you remember getting into art as a kid?
Yep. Seems like I was always taking some type of class, and I did lots of coloring and drawing at home and at friends' houses. I went to ceramics class and made weird little sculptures. I was into carving soap for a while.


When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I made the leap to art-making full time in 2006. I really love the freedom of being self-employed. It's full of surprises.

How did you choose the name for your business?
I use my own name mostly, since name recognition is so important in this field. Technically, though, my business is part of Gridplane Inc, which I co-own with my husband. He has been using that name for several years.


What do you love most about creating your work?
I love that it is engaging on lots of levels. It can be so much fun and so challenging, often at the same time. I like to get immersed and lost in the process. I like that I can work on my own terms, and I can do lots of different types of things.

What's the most fascinating place you've been?
The ocean.


A book you love:
There are lots. At the moment, I’m getting reacquainted with a book I got in college called Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art. It’s a collection of artists' writings about their work, and it’s really great for getting a sense of perspective.

What is the most interesting thing about you?
Hmm, I have a freckle in my right eye.


What achievement are you most proud of?
I’m just thrilled to be at this point in my career, I get paid to draw and paint and make stuff!

What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Give yourself the benefit of the doubt.


What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Decisions, decisions. Both on the creative side and the business side.

What do you love to do in your free time?
Catch up with friends. Wander through junk shops and bookstores, maybe get a coffee and take a walk in the forest. The best is to get a beach house or a cabin or a campsite and get out of town for a couple days.


What are you working on right now?
I’m working on my May show at Rare Device San Francisco. I also just started a new project called Today's Painting Progress. My goal is to document my work at the end of each painting session and post it on my Flickr page.


What do you hope to achieve next?
I have some ideas for little 3-D versions of my characters that I want to explore. And I want to grow some vegetables.