Artist Interview: Philippa Reid

I'm very pleased to be able to post this interview with quilling artist Philippa Reid!  She has provided a wealth of information about her quilling life, as well as the Quilling Guild (UK) and their magazine, Quiller's Today!

1. How old were you when you started quilling, and how did you get involved?
I first got into papercrafts in 2007, when I was about to retire from full-time work at the age of 52. In those days I was a burned-out freelance writer, desperate to free myself from the relentless pressures of a career in marketing/PR, and ready to divert my creative energies into something visual rather than verbal! I received a catalogue through the mail containing intriguing details of a kit for making paper roses ... I sent for it, and received some interesting papers, punches, a needle tool and a packet of card blanks. I hadn't ever thought of making cards before, so I bought a book on the subject which included individual chapters on different card-making techniques, one of which was quilling! It gave details of some very simple projects based on closed loose coils which fascinated me at once. I had never seen quilling before, but I immediately fell in love with the look and the idea of paper filigree work. I bought a pack of multi-coloured quilling strips, a cheap and nasty plastic slotted tool (quickly discarded in favour of the needle tool that had come with the rose kit) and set about teaching myself to quill from specialist books and information that I was able to obtain on the internet, especially through people's blogs.

As soon as I got to grips with quilling, I wanted to do it 'differently' and to do it for a purpose. It's very much part of my nature to think creatively about unusual applications for things and push the conventional boundaries of my chosen art. So I experimented, beginning by combining quilling with photographs and digital graphics to create unusual greetings cards which I sold at my local village market. I designed and created quilled earrings and other types of jewellery which also proved to be popular. I learned to cast moulded acrylic shapes, creating paperweights with quilled motifs (and other things!) embedded in them. I started a blog, too, in which I shared my experimental endeavours with quilling - it quickly gained a significant following. Latterly, I've got more into creating framed pictures, moving away from cards and jewellery to concentrate on larger projects. All this brought me a level of creative satisfaction which I had not experienced in the world of work for a very long time.

2. What is your favorite project(s) that you have quilled? Was it a gift or a special occasion?
I think my favourite project so far has been a piece which won three awards in The Quilling Guild competitions for 2014. It's called 'Bordering on Antiquity', and was made partly for the Guild's competitions and also as an Accreditation project. My aim was to explore the artistic potential of intersecting circles using various border techniques that are evident in antique quilling, creating a piece which uses traditional quilling methods to produce a design which is unashamedly modern!


3. What is your current quilling work-in-progress?
I'm in desperate need of one!! My last project - the quilled fantasy octopus - occupied me for about six months, and was made as a competition entry for two events in 2015. Having just returned from The Quilling Guild's annual meeting at which it was most recently exhibited, I'm ready to start a new project but haven't yet decided what it's going to be. I feel lost without a current work-in-progress!

4. Where do you get your ideas for new projects?
From nature, architecture and other art forms. I tend to get a basic outline for an idea, start it, and then make it up/refine the detail as I go along! I am not a conventional quiller: I don't use patterns, and I'm not really into floral arrangements, cute characters or 'twee' images. My tendency is towards the abstract, and for that reason my work tends to be very different from 'mainstream' quilling art.

5. Do you have any special or long term goals for your quilling? (maybe win a prize at a craft fair, sell quilling online, create a particularly impressive piece, etc.)
I'm delighted to say that I have won several prizes over the years, not just with The Quilling Guild, but also at a major regional country show and a national Women's Institute competition. I don't sell at the market any more, as I wanted to free up my time for my growing involvement with the Guild and to tackle larger quilling projects. I love receiving commissions to create quilled pictures, and I have also had work on show in a local gallery which brought me a great deal of satisfaction. I enjoy doing workshops and demonstrations, and hope to do more of this, delivering activity sessions at outdoor events, in elderly care homes and at children's parties. I think, most of all, I would love to provide a student with one-on-one tuition, perhaps helping a promising youngster to develop creatively using quilling skills taught to Quilling Guild Accreditation standards.

6. How do you find and communicate with other quillers in the community?
The internet has always been my window on the quilling world, where my online persona is 'Quilliance'. In addition, of course, it is always wonderful to meet with fellow quillers face to face through Quilling Guild events. In the village where I live (in southern England), I became quite well known locally for my market activities, and people still come to me privately to commission work or book the occasional demonstration.

7. How long have you been a member of the Quilling Guild? What got you involved with the Guild?
I joined The Quilling Guild in 2010, having read about it first on the internet. At the time, the current Membership Secretary lived just a few miles from me, and invited me to participate in her local quilling group, which I still do to this day. Learning of my background in marketing and recognising my enthusiasm, she nominated me to join the Guild Committee, which I did in 2012. As a Committee member, I was keen to use my professional experience to help promote the Guild in order to try and attract new members in the internet age. I launched a private blog for Quilling Guild members, called 'Quilling Now!', which has proved to be very successful, and also re-vamped the Guild's website at www.quilling-guild.co.uk. In 2013, when the previous Editor moved on, I volunteered to take on the Editorship of the Guild's magazine, 'Quillers Today'. That same year, I succeeded in gaining Accreditation from the Guild in respect of my technical quilling skills.

8. Tell us more about editing "Quillers Today" - what interests you as an editor, and how can members best use and contribute to the magazine?
After a long break from writing, it has become an absolute joy for me to commission, edit and originate articles about a subject that I truly love. I can honestly say that being the Editor of 'Quillers Today' - a 32-page, full colour seasonal magazine - is "the best job that I never had"!! I keep my eyes open online to watch what is going on in the world of quilling, and never hesitate to approach Guild members and ask them if they would be willing to share information about what they are doing in the magazine. Mostly, they are delighted to oblige! Of course, I'm always happy to receive unsolicited material, too! My aim is to make it easy for people to contribute. Not everyone has the time or confidence to write articles themselves, so I just ask them to send me the basic facts about a project or activity in note form, together with some relevant photos, which I can then pull together into a magazine feature on their behalf. When people tell me that they like the combination of patterns, projects, news and features that I put together in the magazine, it really is music to my ears!



9. How do you stay current with new techniques and trends in quilling?
The Quilling Guild's annual 'Quill, Chat and Chill Days' provide a great forum for sharing and learning new techniques. I also keep a close eye on developments in the online quilling community via social media and people's blogs.

10. What one aspect of or technique in quilling do you really want to learn (or learn to do better)?
The quest for perfection is ongoing, especially in terms of achieving perfectly round and regular closed loose coils!

11. Do you have a blog/website/online gallery?
Yes, I have several links I can share with you:
My current blog: http://quilliance.wordpress.com
My original blog: http://quilliance.blogspot.com
Photos of my work on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/philippa_reid/
Quilliance on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Quilliance-151266724899022
My quilling workshops and demonstrations: http://learntoquill.weebly.com

Image Credit:  All images belong to

Artist Interview: EverAfter Artisanry

Today's interview is with the talented force behind EverAfter Artisanry.  These lovely wire and bead flowers are her work, and she has agreed to share her projects, ideas, history, and more! 

When did you get interested in wire/beading art, and how did you learn? (books, youtube, other artists, etc.)

I was first interested in the aesthetic of wire-wrapped jewelry a very long time ago, probably over a decade ago, but it wasn't until the last few years that I actually thought I could attempt to do it myself. Probably I started first working with wire in a hobby way about three years ago. I would wrap large crystals with wire to turn them into Christmas ornaments and give them to friends as gifts. Around a similar time I was separately learning some beading techniques, just using plastic beads and elastic cords, as there was a stretch of time when I was going to raves and making what they call 'kandi', which is the word for the large colourful bracelets that a lot of kids wear at those parties. I learned some basic beading techniques from my friends at what we called 'kandi sessions', where we would go to someones house, sit around, and make those bracelets. At some point along the way I became interested in beaded embroidery, to embellish fabrics. Two years ago was the first time online that I saw a picture of a 3d beaded flower. I was looking for 2d flower patterns/techniques to bead flat onto fabric, but seeing these 3d ones fascinated me. I did a lot of learning through looking around for free articles on the web, and from watching youtube videos. When I am developing my own patterns for beaded flowers I will hunt around on the internet for articles regarding how to make those kins of flowers out of paper, and then adapt it to make the same shapes from my wire. Sitting down and just practicing has been essential to learning. Finding wire that is thin enough to get the seed beads onto, and strong enough to hold shape, using different gauges for different purposes, has been a trick of experimentation. I made my first bouquet at the end of last year/beginning of this year. I have made eight bouquets in total now, and I learn more each time.

What is your favorite project that you have made?

I would say that this piece is my favourite one, as it stands:  everafterdesigns.deviantart.co…  I am one of those artists that tends to dislike their older work as mistakes become more apparent or I prefer my newer techniques, and, I think in many ways some of my newer pieces are better than this one, but, this is my favourite. I spent a good bit of time designing it through sketches after looking at calla lilly bouquets on pinterest, I was throughtful about my choice of colours as well. In this one, I also taught myself how to make calla lillies without a pattern, and I just have not done anything else on this scale. Its so large!

What do you like best about wire and beading art?

I think its a very expressive medium, though to be honest most forms of art have a wide range of expressive capacity. Honestly, the thing that I like best about it might just be that I seem to have some talent and that I authentically think I am producing good and creative work. I've messed around with other mediums, but, I think the stuff I'm doing at the moment is really bringing my skills together. I like a sense of accomplishing something.

Where do you get your ideas for new projects?

Well, I'll take inspiration at the moment by looking at bouquets using real flowers. There are a number of classic bouquet types, such as circle bouquets, cascading bouquets, even sheath bouquets. I have not made a sheath bouquet yet! I want to be able to create varied arrangements of flowers, arrangements in different sizes and different shapes, conveying different moods - so I'll find inspiration by trying to widen my portfolio, essentially. I also look into wedding trends, what flowers, colours, styles and shapes are popular. There is a website called Style Me Pretty that always posts the most beautiful floral designs, so, I find that very inspiring to look at.
www.stylemepretty.com/

What makes your projects different from other people's?

Well, in the scheme of things, there aren't actually all that many people who seem to make whole bouquets out of seed beads and wire, so, being in an area with so few artists working in the medium makes it easier to stand out, I think. I'm relatively new to this area, as I said earlier, I have only made eight bouquets - but I think my research into floral design helps me to create unique designs. Also I don't work from other peoples patterns, I develop my own. I don't do that by looking at other beaded versions of the flowers I am trying to produce, I'll do it by looking at the actual flowers themselves, and my looking into construction techniques for flowers in other mediums such as paper - to help me get realistic shapes. I think that kind of innovation might help me to stand out as well. At the moment I am really focusing on providing a wide range of colours/sizes and shapes, but into the future I think one thing that will help me stand out is I pay attention to fashion trends. I'm the sort of person who keeps up with couture runway designers, so, I think taking influence from couture catwalk trends will also help my work have a little something different.

How do you stay current with new techniques and trends in wire and beading?

To be completely honest, while I do produce good work (I feel) - in many ways I feel that I have a lot of 'mastering the basics' to go, when it comes to techniques. I'm not on the cutting edge of wire-work or beading techniques, not at all! I'm starting to get better and have subscribed to some mailing lists for beading websites, but this is an area I don't feel on top of, to be honest!

Do you have any special or long term goals for your art? A contest, or major project, or producing a certain number of type of pieces, or some such?

Well, I am an aspiring professional. The proper long term goal would be to sustain myself doing this, as my full time job. Shorter goals to get me to that point are going to include coming up with reproducible jewelry lines for sale. Also I've got some special projects lined up in the form of some planned styled photoshoots. I want to make matching jewelry and accessories for some of my bouquets, and have some photoshoots with models. One of these major projects involves making an embellished black veil, jewelry and bouquet for a gothic photoshoot. I'm going to incorporate swarovski crystal skulls into the bouquet, I think thats going to be something special.

Is there one aspect or technique about your art that you really want to learn?

I want to get much better at basic beadweaving techiques. In the future I also want to get into glass blowing and glass work, so that I can make my own beads, and so that I can incorporate my own glass flowers into my bouquets. I think that could be really special.

Where can people go to view/buy your art, and do you take commissions/do custom work?

I'm really only in the setup phase of turning this into a professional gig, and, I have not opened a shop yet or started selling my work yet. I want to come up with a jewelry collection before opening up some sort of shop. That said, I would absolutely love to work on custom bouquet projects, so if anyone is interested, then contacting me through facebook to arrange talking more would be fantastic.

My art can be viewed in the following spaces:

https://www.facebook.com/EverAfterArtisanry
http://everafterartisanry.tumblr.com/
http://www.everafterdesigns.deviantart.com

Many thanks to EverAfter Artisanry for agreeing to be interviewed!  If you'd like to be interviewed, leave a comment on this or another post!

Image Credit:  All images credit EverAfter Artisanry.

Artist Interview: Serenity Wire Designs

Beautiful copper and peridot
pendant!

I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to post this interview with wire jewelry artisan SerenityWireDesigns!  Filled with wonderful swirls and curls, not to mention gemstones, each of these "tree of life" pendants is unique.  Keep reading to learn more about this artisan, their unique pieces, and where you can find them!

When did you get interested in wire art, and how did you learn?

"Well, I always admired wire art, but I never thought I'd be able to do it until a friend of mine started doing wire art. Sometimes I would give her a few suggestions here and there. She didn't take all of my suggestions. Some I really wanted her to do so I finally decided I should do my own. That way I don't need to wait for her to possibly do them or pressure her to make them. So I started doing my own! Once I decided I wanted to make my own pendants, I began doing my research. I'm more of a visual learner so I was looking up video tutorials on how to make them. I also observed my friend's pendants and many others on etsy. That was the most effective way I learned to make them, just by looking at the image of a wire item and figured out how they did it in my head."

What is your favorite project that you have made?

"It's kind of hard to say which one is one is my favorite. As I progress, I start liking my newer pendants more than the older ones. Not only that, but I like many for different reasons. But I guess if I had to choose, it would be my current one called "I'm not crazy." It's a tree of life pendant inspired by one of my favorite Disney movies, Alice in Wonderland, featuring the Cheshire cat."

What do you like best about wire art?

"I like that there's many ways to go about wire art. You can always do something detailed and complicated or nice and simple and still look great. You don't need to make something complex to make it stand out."

Where do you get your ideas for new projects?

"My ideas come from anything and everything.  Like many artists, I feel inspired from what I encounter. I'm a nature/animal and anime/manga lover so I try to incorporate that into my wire art a lot. I'm pretty obsessed with birds, though. I always have since I was little so I tend to make more bird-themed projects or at least try to."

A sampling of gorgeous wire and gemstone pendants in a variety of metals and styles.
The first is "I'm not crazy," mentioned in the text.  Note the wonderful spirals
used to make designs both serious and playful.

Do you have any special or long term goals for your wire art?

"A contest, or major project, or producing a certain number of type of pieces, or some such? I hope to continue doing wire art for the rest of my life. I definitely plan on doing contests and giveaways in the future but it is not set in stone yet as far as dates go. Most of my work is a 'one of a kind' and rarely reproduced. Therefore, I have been trying to start producing a few "made-to-order" items. I also hope to go to fairs and events to showcase or sell my work but that's farther into the future."

Is there one aspect or technique about wire art that you really want to learn?

"Not exactly. If I want to learn a specific technique I usually do my research right away and practice. Though quite frankly I try to not use other's techniques. I try to do my own unique techniques."

Where can people go to view/buy your art, and do you take commissions/do custom work?

"I have an etsy store where I have all of my wire jewelry and other wire artworks. You can go here if you're interested!: Serenity Wire Designs etsy shop.  I do take commissions/custom orders! I've had a couple of them in the past. If anyone wants something specific you can send me a message on my etsy or click the button that says 'Request Custom Order' You can also contact me in any of my other social platforms (dA, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest)"

Many thanks to SerenityWireDesigns!

Image Credit: All images are of art belonging to SerenityWireDesigns - Pieces are Earth Kingdom, I'm Not Crazy, The Air Nomads, Little Peri, and The Darnassus Tabard

Looking for Artists to Interview!

Real flowers - always inspiring!

Are you an artisan who makes:  quilled items, origami, paper or gemstone jewelry, or the like?  Do you have a penchant for spirals and enjoy wrapping/coiling/folding?  Then I'd like to chat with you about a possible email interview!

Interviews are one feature I really want to have here on the blog.  I am looking for the opportunity to learn more about these arts and crafts as well as the people who do them.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be fascinated by the stories of quillers and other crafters, so what could be better than a bit of an interview, along with a few featured photos of completed work?

You don't need to be an 'expert' or have been doing your art for a long time.  I'd like to get email interviews from a range of people at different stages in their artistic careers, various ages, and in different places on the planet.

If you think you might be interested in being interviewed via email and having some of your work featured here on the blog, let me know by commenting on this post.  Make sure to give me some idea how I might email/contact/message you.  (If you are on DeviantArt you can always send a note to my profile there, SpiralArtisan.)  It would be helpful to send a link to a website/gallery/facebook page/whatever that has some of your art on it, so I know you are 'for real.'  After that, I'll email a list of questions, and request that you let me post about three pieces of your art, along with the answers to the questions.  And that's all there is to it!  I'll try to get posts up within a week of getting answers back, as long as life does not interfere.

And in the mean time, if you have a blog, website, or other resource you think I should be checking out, make sure to mention it!

Image Credit - My flowers, my photo.  A good one for a change :)