Come See... What Art-Is-In {Artisan} Chat

Welcome to our Artisan Chat with Izile! I was lucky enough to run across Izile and her wonderful collection of oddities through my entrecard drops. We are regular visitors of each other's blogs and I find her unique work and constant exploration and evolution as an artist intriguing. So...on with the chat!

Where can we find your work?

http://izile.etsy.com is the online shop, I keep a gallery of all work at http://izile.deviantart.com and a shop blog at http://izile.blogspot.com

How did you get started?


Well, I'd always been interested in herbs and crystals and the symbolism and metaphysical aspects even when I was a kid. I think it was about 5 years ago or so that I thought of combining them together in a kind of bottled amulet.



What type of environment do you create in?



A chaotic one. I have two roommates and the best light is in the living room. Tada! Chaos!

It’s clear you are always exploring and willing to share your new work. What drives you to try something new?

I have no idea. Honestly, it's been with me since I was a twee-thing. When asked on places like DeviantArt "what are your media of choice?" my honest answer is normally, "anything that's not nailed down."

Your work is so eclectic… What inspires you?

Mostly nature inspires me. Especially when it comes to the Magic Vial Pendants, the seasons of the year have a lot to do with what I create. Gemstones can be gotten regardless of the whether, but certain flowers and plants are only there briefly. Two of my most popular vials can only be made in the spring, because they require cherry blossoms or lilac flowers.


Can you tell us a little bit about the process? What is your favorite part?

Well, probably my absolute favorite part is the gathering and research stage. That's the fun part. Getting to go out on long walks, trekking through the city and it's parks to look for different trees, plants, flowers, etc. Going to my gem shops to see if there's anything new or particularly eye-catching can also be a lot of fun. The gemstones come labeled, so it's just a matter of grabbing the right books to check their meanings. The flora material, however, can sometimes give me fits as I try and identify it and then uncover it's symbolism. That's mostly a spring problem though. Now that fall is fully here and winter is not long off, I mostly use herbs from my own garden, and some woods (like cedar) for the flora part of the mixtures.




Do you have a creative hero? Who is it?

Ow, I have lots of them, though oddly, none of them jewelers or crafters. I like some of the biggies, like Van Gogh, Debussy, Tolkien; and I like some of the more recent or obscure, like Edward Gorey, and Beth from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (who I had to give a nod too, because I have a crack-like obsession with her creations).

Do you use social networking? How has it worked for you?

I do, a bit. I have a shop blog on blogspot, the DeviantArt gallery. I am personally on Facebook, though Izile's Oddities does not have their own FB page. I cannot say I've seen much benefit from any of them except DeviantArt. I would estimate a MINIMUM of half of my sales come from DeviantArt subscribers who found me there then followed me back to etsy.

What do you look forward to?

Right now? Food. More long term? I have too many ideas of too many things I want to do. I want to take an aerialist class, I want to buy some PMC to play with, and a blow torch, and when's my next beer night?

If you weren’t an artist what would you be doing instead?

I consider myself much more than an artist. In fact, I often feel embarrassed to even list "artist" amongst my list, largely because I know many people consider jewelry making, especially such as mine, more a craft than an art, and while I do draw and paint, I have not kept up with it as I should. Other things that I do, currently, that I might invest even more time into if I had no artistic inclination, would probably be my music. I am first, and foremost, in my mind, a musician. My bachelors is in classical piano, and I'd probably be giving it even more of my time.




What have you always wanted to try?

PMC! Precious Metal Clay. I have some brilliant ideas (I think), but it's expensive and daunting to just dive into and play with, which is my favorite way of learning a new media. I've also wanted to play the erhu, and recently, the hang (meanwhile my accordion collects dust).

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I'm afraid I'm a bit scattered. It's not a lack of an ability to focus. I can focus on one thing for hours, even days at a time. It's just that I have never understood why people must choose between creative outlets, and so, I don't choose. Etsy buyers, unfortunately, only catch a very narrow window of my makings because it has to do with what will sell. In the past, I've listed herbs from my garden, homemade chocolate truffles (a specialty of mine), bath products (still have some in the shop, I believe), paintings, ACEOs, and sculptures as well as jewelry. It's why I originally named my shop "Izile's Oddities" because of the eclectic nature of my creating. And while we must be pragmatic, and what sells best gets the most time and effort, I do hope to keep listing my oddities as I have time for them.

Thank you Izile so much for chatting with us! As a special treat to you readers, Izile is offering 25% off anything in her shop that is not already on sale. This discount runs until 11:59 pm on Friday November 27th. Just make sure to mention her Artisan Chat in the message to seller at checkout to receive this awesome discount!

My mother's jewelry

Is there a piece of jewelry that always makes you think of your mother? Is it something she wore often? My mom had some fun, fabulous jewelry when I was growing up. The one I remember most is the ladybug necklace. I thought it was sooo cool that if you pushed the button, the wings opened and revealed...a watch! I remember the giddiness I felt when I knew she would let me push the button. It was like waiting for the coo-coo to come out of the clock.

I've included an image to give you the idea...but it's not the giveaway! :)

Leave me a few lines about your mother's jewelry that you remember and it will enter you to win these sterling silver and shell flower earrings. Enter a second time by tweeting about this giveaway and leave the link of your tweet. If you want to enter a third time, just visit my Etsy shop and leave a comment telling me your favorite piece. Make sure to leave me a way to contact you if you win!

Share your story about your mother's jewelry! Giveaway will run until Friday, May 22 9:00 pm (EST). The winner will be chosen at random and posted on the evening of Sunday, May 25. Earrings dangle 1 and 1/4" from the bottom of the ear wire.

Art Censored!?!?!?!

That's right - it's certainly not a new phenomenon but still astonishing. Especially in this case since this particular instance involves an institution of higher education. An institution like most that strives to stimulate creative inquiry, critical thinking, thoughtful expression and is committed to diversity and inclusion. These are just a few of the goals mentioned in their mission statement.

Unfortunately this diversity, inclusion and critical thinking does not extend to such things as The Century Project exhibit to take place on their campus (for the second time mind you) in early March. Unfortunately this amazing, emotional exhibit has been edited due to one complaint from a gentleman who admits that he has in fact not seen the entire exhibit - just what's on the website. I have two issues with this. One, how can one pass such harsh judgement on an exhibit they have not viewed. Secondly, seeing a piece of art on a website versus in person are two completely different experiences. Never mind the size of the piece or even the quality of the image. Seeing a work of art removed from it's original form changes it and seeing a nude on something as commonplace as a computer screen can affect the viewer in a way that is completely different from the intention. I would compare it to looking at a scanned version of a photocopy of a photograph. Viewing that image would be a shadow of the original photo - unable to convey the true nature of the piece.

This powerful exhibit has been circulating the country since 1992 and according to sources this is the first time in its history a portion of it has been banned. I find it disturbing that one man has had the influence to affect my experience of this exhibit. This exhibit that I have the choice to attend, one that presents these images of women embracing their bodies in every form, in every stage of life. These women are not being objectified they are celebrating their personal existence and sharing it with the world for our benefit. Please don't censor my experience - my experience as patron, an artist, a student of life, a member of the community, a woman.

For additional information please see the links I have provided.

Jung and my art

I'm taking a course about Jung and Active Imagination. The first half of the class we concentrated on dreams, archetypal symbols in dreams and their meanings. Now we are into the Active Imagination portion - which I am very excited about. In a nutshell, this entails taking an emotion or an image from your dream (your unconscious world) and exploring it through action in your conscious world. This can be done through painting, writing, choreography a dance, composing...you get the idea. Doing this allows us to create a bridge between the unconscious world and the conscious world. Many artists such as Jackson Pollock used this approach in some of their work. The important part (in terms of our psyche) is the act of the exploration and not necessarily the product. I'm looking forward to this exploration and any impact it may have on my art making.