Q+A with Puur Anders

Today's Q+A takes us to the Netherlands to interview Miranda van Dijk of Puur Anders. I've admired Puur Anders for a few years now, with her beautiful fabric flowers and leaves that she applies photographs to, readymade or custom ordered. Such a precious gift to give for Mother's Day, a bride, a grad, even yourself. Here's her bio and answers to some of our questions.

Bio:
I was born in 1976 in a small village near Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Nowadays I live in a larger village nearby my hometown with my husband and our son of 3. In 2008 I started Puur Anders, a styling and design studio. Puur Anders means pure and different in Dutch.

Tell us a little bit about you. Where did you train or study and what led you to the path you currently are on?
I’ve studied Tourism and economics after high school and worked as a pr-advisor for a bank for several years. I quit my day job when I started studying Interior Styling. It was great, the creativity and conceptual working! Finally I found what I was looking for all these years. I thought. But what I loved most was the creating process. And doing something of my own and not working for a company. Now I think I’m more an independent artist than a stylist, but then I didn’t realized that. Between the school assignments I’d already created the story concept ‘Abandoned by Nature’ about the last woman on Earth who is abandoned by Mother Nature. For this concept I crocheted dark rubber flower jewelry. I started selling these items on markets and galleries and Puur Anders was coming to live.

What's your main focus currently and/or how would you describe your current design aesthetic?
Today I’m working on my collection Hidden Memories. A collection of leaves and flowers printed with vintage photographs. It is inspired by the connection between nature and humankind. Somehow it has always been an issue in my work.
Although I make leaves and flowers with my own pictures found on Etsy and fleamarkets, my main focus is custom work. I like that a lot, working on an order with a customer’s photo. Photographs are important memories and making a leaf or flower of it is very worthwhile.

Love your work - can you explain that design process?
Ideas always pop up when it is quiet in my head. So I always carry a notebook with me. It is full of ideas sometimes with a simple drawing or a clipping from a magazine. Some ideas will stay there until I’ve found time for it or an idea how to produce it. Most of the time I have to start with the material right away. So I can found out whether it works or not. Last year I’ve noticed I have to post my experiments on social media (facebook and blog) to get some comments on it. Positive reactions are such a boost for my work process.

What designers/makers/architects, etc do you look up to, are influenced by or inspire you?

I get inspired by so many wonderful designers, photographers, makers and bloggers. I like dreamy and poetic work a lot. On my blog I share my inspiration. Here are some sites.

Barbara Munsel http://barbaramunsel.com/
Lyndie Dourth http://lyndiedourtheworks.blogspot.fr/
Frieda Mellema http://www.lab71.nl/
Humanoid http://www.humanoid.nl/
Kirstie van Noort http://www.kirstievannoort.nl/
Mady Dooijes http://anabundanceof.blogspot.nl/

Where else do you pull inspiration from?
Everywhere! Nature, citylife and just around the corner. I’ve found a beautiful leaf lately. It was just on my doorstep. Pinterest, blogs and facebook are also very inspiring!

Any sneak peeks or plans you can share of new or future things on the go?

Well, I’m working on a lot of new flowers for framing or to put in a vase. My dream is to make a whole bouquet with memory flowers and branches. Or decorating a wedding with my work.
And on my own site (in Dutch) I opened my Mooie Momenten Tuin, which means ‘Garden of Beautiful Moments’. It is a digital garden where I share the stories behind the flowers and leaves I’ve made for my customers and myself. I want it to be a garden of inspiration and full of memories where you can wander around. It is a place for celebrating and cherishing the beautiful moments in life, like marriage, birth and holidays, but also a place for goodbyes and memories of people who aren’t here anymore. Cherishing them.

It is a start and I let it grow wild and peaceful at the same time. I don’t know where it will take me, but I like the idea of being inspired or moved by the stories I hear of my customers.
The garden on my site is in Dutch, but I’ve opened an English version too: http://gardenofbeautifulmoments.blogspot.nl/

Thanks Miranda.  Visit Puur Anders online:

Website: www.puuranders.nl
Shop : www.puuranders.etsy.com
and at Poppytalk at marketplace.poppytalk.com/author/puur-anders/

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Q+A with Bears Eat Berries

Today's Q+A is with Laura Wentzel from Bears Eat Berries, an independent letterpress design studio newly relocated to the East Valley of Phoenix, Arizona. A graphic designer by trade, Laura’s work is recognized by its clean typography, graphic illustrations, nature-inspired patterns, and folk motifs. Her passion for real, touchable and beautifully designed paper products inspired her to buy a half-ton printing press from 1911… breathing new life into a trade that has remained unchanged for over five centuries.  Recently we sent her a few questions and she was kind enough to also send a few pictures to share here.  Here's what she said.

Tell us a little bit about you. Where did you train or study and what led you to the path you currently are on?

Even at a young age, I was drawing and creating. Mostly animals. In college, I waffled back and forth between wanting to be in wildlife management and wanting to design. Eventually, I graduated with a degree in Art History and followed my passion towards graphic design (and I was no good in Biology anyway).

Prior to launching my business, I was a graphic designer for a major agency and then a national nonprofit. My eyes grew tired of computer screens and my hands grew itchy to create. When my sister wanted letterpress wedding invitations, I jumped at the opportunity to create for her. I drove up to NY from PA and bought a small antique printing press, ignoring the fact that I never operated one before. I spent the next few months experimenting, Googling, crying, swearing in front of my mother, bleeding, and ultimately jumping in triumph.

What's your main focus currently and/or how would you describe your current design aesthetic?

I've been focusing on designing specifically for letterpress (getting bored of white backgrounds!) but I'm also interested in going back to the basics and start designing/illustrating for other products beyond letterpress or using the letterpress process in a non-traditional way.

My design atheistic often articulates quirky animals, simple graphics and patterns, and nature-inspired imagery. It's listening to these creations and following them as I grow my business.

Love your work - can you explain that design process?
Through my work, I became obsessed with the tangible product–from the idea in my head to a packaged product ready to send all over the world.

Once I have a design in mind, I'll send away my digital designs and receive a plate of the design that adheres to the press. Each piece of paper is fed into the press and each color is printed one at a time. All powered by my foot, a pedal, and a half-ton of metal. Every time I pull a piece of paper from the press and run my fingers over the impressed design, I fall in love all over again.

What designers/makers/architects, etc do you look up to, are influenced by or inspire you?

Edward Gorey (surrealist & cheeky illustrator)
Nikki McClure (paper-cut artist who shares her world in small moments)
Anna Bond of Rifle Paper (every illustration melts my heart)
Studio Ghibli (creators of Totoro and other Japanese anime films founded by Hayao Miyazaki)

Where else do you pull inspiration from?
Children's picture books, Japanese design, traditional folk motifs from around the world, and any great use of white/negative space.

Any sneak peeks or plans you can share of new or future things on the go?
I’m growing my greeting card line and I’m also expanding my product offerings to reach customers beyond letterpress so that more people can experience my designs and illustrations. I’m always open to new creative outlets for my work, and I hope to continue expanding my brand into multiple design mediums, from wrapping paper to textiles.

Bears eat Berries if offering 15% discount this week at her Etsy shop (until Friday May 3) with coupon code POPPYTALK.

Website url: http://www.bearseatberries.com
Shop url: http://www.bearseatberries.etsy.com
Blog url: http://www.bearseatberries.com/happycamper
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bearseatberries
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/beareatberries
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/bearseatberries

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Q+A with Jill Bent

Today we're interviewing Jill Bent, a designer and seamstress located in Cambridge, MA, where she works from her home studio. Jill's been making beautiful quality handmade goods for the home for quite a few years and so we're thrilled she agreed to answer a few questions about her work.


Tell us a little bit about you. Where did you train or study and what led you to the path you currently are on?
Growing up, both my parents were craftspeople, so it feels natural for me to create handmade things.  I've always been drawn to vintage fabrics and a simple aesthetic, that's were my inspiration comes from.  I learned to sew as a child from the women in my small town, and as an adult, I renewed my skills taking lessons from a friend who is a master seamstress.  I left a career in library science when I had my second child and started my own business sewing and designing because it was something I truly loved, with the added benefit that I could work from home while my children were growing up.

CONTINUE READING...

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Q & A with Tastes Orangey

Our Q&A today takes us to Jenner, California with artist Clare Elsaesser of Tastes Orangey.  From the moment I saw Clare's work a few years back I've always been pulled in.  Her work, which features mostly women (sometimes couples) always takes me to a moment or thought about the subject's life or my own.  It's rather intriguing how her art does that. You'll see a girl in the water (for example), doing something very simple, like looking off into the distance, fixing her hair or wiping her brow, yet it feels so personal because we've all made those motions, been in those moments ourselves, and she paints them.

We asked her a few questions, here's what she had to say.  But first her bio: "I was born in 1982 in Pasadena, California. After attending public art high school in Los Angeles, I went to Boston for college, at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. I have been a full time artist for a little over two years now, supporting myself through international painting and print sales from my shop on Etsy, and commission work. My paintings are inspired by daydreams, retreat and the formidable nature outside my window. I live and work in the tiny hillside town of Jenner, California, where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean, about an hour and a half north of San Francisco with my artist husband Kai Samuels-Davis." ~Clare Elsaesser.


Tell us a little bit about you. Where did you train or study and what led you to the path you currently are on?
I am almost thirty one, and live on the coast about an hour and a half (hopefully soon to be just an hour) north of San Francisco with my artist husband Kai Samuels-Davis. I have been painting for a while now. I went to art high school in Los Angeles, and art college in Boston, but it wasn't until a few years ago, after putting my work on Etsy, I figured out I really wanted to be an artist.

What's your main focus currently and/or how would you describe your current design aesthetic?
I think my aesthetic is still coming into its own...which hopefully it does, sooner or later. I like to work in series; creating groups of paintings that tie together with colors and theme

Love your work - can you explain that design process?
Sometimes my paintings start with an idea, and sometimes they start with a photo, or collage of photos. When things go smoothly, I block in the painting, and then figure out colors to incorporate and a general direction to take it, and when things don't go so smoothly I get stuck early on in the process, and often give up. I have been trying not to give up as easily, but I still have a lot of abandoned paintings stacked in the corner of my studio.

What designers/makers/architects, etc do you look up to, are influenced by or inspire you?

There are so many, but here are a few of the artists I've been admiring recently:  Michaël Borremans, Cecily Brown , Laylah Ali , Eric Fischl and of course Kai Samuels-Davis, my husband and biggest inspiration.

Where else do you pull inspiration from? Nature, fashion and all over the internet.
Any sneak peeks or plans you can share of new or future things on the go? In my most recent painting, The Retreat, I incorporated more of an environment/vs. a flat background. I'm always torn between these two, but I think I might be moving in more of an environment direction now...maybe.

Where else do you pull inspiration from?
Nature, fashion and all over the internet.

Any sneak peeks or plans you can share of new or future things on the go? In my most recent painting, The Retreat, I incorporated more of an environment/vs. a flat background. I'm always torn between these two, but I think I might be moving in more of an environment direction now...maybe.

Thanks Clare! Follow Tastes Orangey online:

Website url: clareelsaesser.com/
Shop url: etsy.com/shop/tastesorangey
Blog url: tastesorangey.blogspot.com/
Pinterest: pinterest.com/clareelsaesser/
Facebook: facebook.com/clareelsaesser
as well as at Poppytalk Handmade

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Interview: Sycamore Street Press

Continuing with our interview series, I'm excited to feature the very talented Eva and Kirk Jorgensen of Sycamore Street Press whom I've been a fan of for years. Eva has amazing taste (you see it reflected in their work) and just check out who inspires them.  Here's our interview, but first a little info: Sycamore Street Press' studio and presses are located in the beautiful Heber Valley, tucked in the mountains of Utah, near family, and wildlife. They create unique products with a commitment to green and sustainable materials.

Tell us a little bit about you. Where did you train or study and what led you to the path you currently are on?
I grew up watching my mom paint and my grandmothers sew and do needlework. I always loved watching and learning from them, and I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be an artist, illustrator, or designer of some kind. I ended up getting my BFA in visual art from Brigham Young University and my MFA in Printmaking from the University of Utah. Upon graduation (in 2007), I found a letterpress, set it up next to my kitchen table, and started Sycamore Street Press right away while also working in a local stationery shop. 6 months later, I was doing SSP full-time, and a year after that, my husband Kirk joined me full-time as well.

What's your main focus currently and/or how would you describe your current design aesthetic?
Right now I'm really into traditional, small repeating patterns like calico that became popular again in the 70's and early 80's. Overall, my aesthetic is a bit eclectic, but always drawn towards things that show evidence of the hand. Folk, bohemian, earthy, simple, rustic, colorful, and cozy are all words that come to mind.

Love your work - can you explain that design process?
My drawing style is very linear and influenced by antique printmaking techniques such as engravings and wood carvings, but then I try and give it a simplified, colorful, contemporary edge as well. I draw everything by hand with pencil and/or pen, and then my team and I bring it into the computer to add color and sometimes adjust layout. I always run everything by Kirk. He has a good eye and isn't afraid to tell me when something isn't working.

What designers/makers/architects, etc do you look up to, are influenced by or inspire you?
Just a few...
Jockum Nordstrom (drawing style that is both naive & elegant)
Matt & Julie Walker (the natural, lovely way in which they see the world)
Kevin Russ (his vision of the American West)
Carl & Karin Larsson (the way their home & family life became their most important work of art)
Kiki Smith ( just like Poppytalk's tagline: beautiful, decayed, handmade)
David Shrigley (hand lettering, drawings, & sense of humor)
Josef Frank (fantastic color & pattern)
Emily Henderson (love for vintage, fun, & color)
Andy Warhol (early illustrations & ideas about art & business)
Nikole & Lance Herriott  (attention to detail & wonderful collaboration)
& most of all, anonymous folk artists across the years and globe

Where else do you pull inspiration from?
I'm inspired by so many things -- travel, good food, film, fashion, the online creative community, my family, the beautiful mountain valley where we live...

Any sneak peeks or plans you can share of new or future things on the go?
Here's a peek at some of our new gift wrap & gift tags for spring. It will be up in the Sycamore Street Press shop soon! (Sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know.)

Website url: http://sycamorestreetpress.com/
Shop url: http://sycamorestreetpress.com/shop/all.html
Blog url: http://sycamorestreetpress.com/blog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sycamorestpress
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SycamoreStreetPress
Instagram: http://instagram.com/sycamorestreetpress
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sycamorestpress/ 

(Note: The Bee's Knees card as well as the valentine cards on the bulletin board image were designed by Sycamore Street Press team member, Stephanie Ford). Also visit Sycamore Street Press at our market this month here!

Thank you Eva and Kirk!

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Interview with Jonathan Sabine

We fell in love with his less than 3 side table and pendant lights at IDS13 in January, so we just had to ask Toronto-based designer Jonathan Sabine a few questions about his background, current work and what he's inspired by.  Here's what he had to say.  But first his bio:

Jonathan Sabine is a Toronto based product and furniture designer. He established his studio after working as lead designer at Castor Design. He is the co-founder of Chromoly, a creative studio run with Adam Pickard and collaborates closely with MSDS studio. His design the Bourgeois Brass Knuckle is in SFMOMA's permanent collection. Every object produced by the studio represents an exploration of material and manufacturing process undertaken with the help of relationships with local fabricators and craftspeople.

Tell us a little bit about you. Where did you train or study and what led you to the path you currently are on?

I studied furniture design and construction at Sheridan College. After school I did some furniture and cabinet making but found that I had no interest in producing the kind of laboriously made and relatively conservative work that the market here demands. At that point I started transitioning my practice into the hybrid thing that it is now by piecing together a skillset: computer stuff, designing for new processes, finding suppliers, interior design, etc.


You used to work as a leading designer at Castor Design, can you tell us a little bit about that experience leading you here.

Working at Castor was rad. I got to see how a successful design project had structured its approach. The biggest takeaway from my experience there is the importance of a clearly communicated vision - obviously one of their proficiencies. Vision is one of those things that can't be put on though, and its development is iterative, so the sooner you start, the better. That's basically why I went out on my own.

Photo by Janis Nicolay

You mention in your bio that every object produced by the studio represents an exploration of material, could you expand on that concept?

Well, I guess it's that I'm looking for a transformative element in the things I design. That point at which stuff becomes a convincing thing. It doesn't always have to be a super technological approach, but in order to get to that transformative point I think you have to have a grasp on how materials behave and the techniques that we use to work on them.


What's your main focus currently and/or how would you describe your current design aesthetic?

I'm focusing on working with what I have on hand. When you start creating things you're kind of overwhelmed by the nearly unbounded possibility (I call it the anxiety of the arbitrary.) You have to choose the things that will constrain you (the luxury of being a creative type isn't that you're without constraints, it's that you have the privilege of choosing them.) So, I'm trying to stay away from working within an aesthetic but instead to try to make convincing objects using what's available to me. For instance, I designed the 60 pendant because I had a sheet metal guy who I knew would be up for a challenge. I then tried to make something beautiful using his capabilities.

Loving the <3 Side Table - especially the copper plating - can you explain that design process (and is that a marble top option)?

Thanks! That table was the result of meditating on the “tripod” table, a furniture type that I really love. I wanted to remove one of its already few elements, and I realized that a single bent leg could do the work of two. Metal is a pretty obvious choice for this function, so I highlighted its role with copper plating. The copper looks pretty fantastic with the ash, too. I did a marble top prototype, but there are still some issues to work out. I like it though, and the way it really separates the function of each component by material.

What Canadian designers/makers/architects, etc do you look up to, are influenced by or inspire you?

I'm a fan of Castor's designs. Omer Arbel and Samare always do exceptional work. Gord Peteran's thinking had a big influence on me, and when I was a student I learned a lot about how to make good decisions from Peter Fleming.


Where else do you pull inspiration from?

I read quite a bit of history, fiction, periodicals – middlebrow stuff. Mostly subjects completely unrelated to design. I take in a fair amount of news and politics, too. Also enjoy stand-up comedy, UFC. We bike a fair amount. Pretty disparate things that I'm sure impact my thinking in ways that are impossible to measure.


If you could design anything - what would it be?

A half-decent suit for Don Cherry and/or Karim Rashid.


Check out Jonathan Sabine online:
jonathansabine.com
msds-studio.ca
chromoly.ca
@jonathansabine

All photo's by Jessica Nakanishi  except for the marble top table by Shanghoon and pendant lighting by Janis Nicolay

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