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!
Posts
