Featured Artist : Michelle Cox Photography

This striking photo is just one of the dramatic art pieces produced by Michelle Cox of  "Michelle Cox Photography" Chicago Illinois.  As you will see in her interview, Michelle's view of life in America today is nothing but " up front ", combining what is happening in our world and economy today with dramatic still shots of our history.  Her work is purely surreal.  Please visit her sites, it will remind you of who you are and where you came from. ( It seems that Michelle has a playful side as well, take note of her very interesting hobbies.)

Name of Business: Michelle Cox Photograhy

* Link to my shop: www.etsy.com/people/michellecoxphoto

* About me: I am fun-loving happy blond little miss that, if seen in the wrong light, can take some of the most depressing pictures in the world. :) I do enjoy a subject matter that is not too often understood, however my passion is to show people things about the world that they might never see.
I grew up and still reside in Midwest America, specifically the Chicago-land area. So much of this area is dead now, outgrown by the world's technological age. My goal is to shed some light that. I want to make the "walls" of a place talk, one last time before they are gone for gone.

* My craft or talent: I am a photographer. I guess i would call a lot of my work... journalist artwork. All of the images are left untouched, meaning that I find the natural composition when I arrive at an abandoned area. I never feel that it is my place to disturb anything when I am there. I merely look for the proper lighting and adjust my position to that. Then the fun begins...

* How I do my craft: I primarily work with digital imagery but I work with film and digital. Capturing an image, I feel, is one of the most amazing things to do, so whatever medium i have to accomplish that, i will use.

* What lead me to my craft: I have always been interested in art however when I was one class shy of graduating college I pulled up an easy "A" that happened to be intro to photography, and I fell in love. Since then I have made it my goal to create, in my photography, the way that I see the world, the way that life looks in my mind.

* My other interests or hobbies: I enjoy any kind of art or design. I love to go on adventures, I love to travel. I adore classic holiday. Not just an acknowledgment of the time but an "I am obsessed with the time period and know everything about it" adoration. My heart truly belongs in the 1940s. I enjoy to sing and tap dance... I love cooking and baking. AND I love coffee, and couldn't do the girl I am without it. :)

* My other links, blogs, websites:
michellecoxphotography.zenfolio.com/
www.flickr.com/people/lonelydove36
www.flickr.com/people/michellecoxphotography

Etsy Artist: Beaded Art Jewelry

Susan from Beaded Art Jewelry, goes beyond conventional jewelry crafting with her stunningly detailed beaded art pieces. Her rich choice of color and intricate design remind me of a royal Egyptian or Indian headdress. I would love to have one of her bangles!



Name of business: Beaded Art Jewelry by Susan A. Pierle
Links to my shop: www.beadedartjewelry.etsy.com
About You: I have been beading for over 15 years and have loved every minute of it.
I am mostly self taught from wonderful books and magazines for learning technique and inspiration.
I have taken classes in drawing, watercolor painting, silkscreen, etching, photography,
basket weaving, and glass fusing.
I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida and spent all my time on the beaches there painting sunsets and collecting shells to make jewelry and wind chimes.
I moved to Tennesse where I met my husband of 31 years and lived in the Smokey Mountains.
That was an inspiring place to be, I met some amazing young artist selling thier work and I knew I had to do the same someday.
We moved to Wyoming, another inspiring place, the mountains and landscape, I had to draw and paint it.
We came to Colorado Springs in 1984 and have been here ever since. This is where I started beading and selling my work. Every thing I had learned along the way came together and I found what I wanted to do.
My craft or talent: Creating wearable art jewelry with seed beads, fused glass, crystals and natural stones.
How I do my craft: When I make a one of a kind piece it starts with a focal piece of glass, one I might of made or a vintage button, a crystal, or a stone.
It is glued down and I start searching my seed beads for all the colors coming out of it. Then I just start beading and we'll see what happens.
I do have a sketchbook and draw my designs too.
I love to do bead embroidery the most, but there are so many wonderful bead weaves to learn and create with, so I am always being pulled in different directions. It's never boring.
What lead me to my craft: The desire to sell what I love to do.
My other interst or hobbies: Photographing flowers, camping and hiking, music festivals and having fun with good friends.

Other links or sites: www.myheartglass.etsy.com

Etsy Artist: JLWoodturning

This is Jerry from J & L Woodturning. After reading his interview, I can just imagine his journey from the beginning and relate to it in my own life and my journey into handcrafting. His work is spectacular!




Name of Business: J & L Woodturning
Link to my shop: http://jlwoodturning.etsy.com
About you: I am a carpenter, by trade. I have worked in the field of construction since graduating from high school. There is not much that I haven’t done or attempted to do in this line of work. I have lived in the beautiful hills of West Virginia all my life. I am married and have two children that are in college.
My craft or talent: I turn wooden bowls and cowboy hats on a lathe.
How I do my craft: The art of woodturning is using a lathe to mount a piece of wood and with the use of gouges, removing anything that you don’t want there. I work in the corner of my garage, but I have hopes of somday building a shop to work in. I like to work with green wood – wood that has recently been cut and not dried out. Most of the wood I use is local wood from trees that have fallen from a storm or someone has cut down. I look for unusual pieces – diseased wood, spalted (almost rotting) wood, burls (abnormal growths on trees) or crotches where two limbs meet. These have the most character and will produce the prettiest bowls. I sand the bowls while they are on the lathe and finish the drying process in the microwave. The cowboy hats are also turned from green wood and using rubber bands are bent into their shape.
What led me to my craft: I started woodturning when my brother, also a wood turner, gave me his old lathe and said, “See what you can do.” With his help in showing me how to sharpen my tools and the basics, it wasn’t long until I was hooked. I spent every spare moment at the lathe, just trying to see what I could do. After turning for three months, I juried for and was accepted at Tamarack, WV – an arts and craft showcase of the best of West Virginia. With the help of my wife, I started selling on my etsy site last year and I love it.
My other interests or hobbies: Other things I like are hunting and fishing, riding a 4-wheeler and watching sports on tv.
My other links, blogs:
http://etsylounge.blogspot.com
http://hintjewelry.blogspot.com

FEATURED ARTIST: DraconianRain

This amazingly detailed drawing is from Laura at DraconianRain. She is new to Etsy, but this is my very favorite of her drawings.




* Name of Business : Draconian Rain
* Link to my shop:
http://draconianrain.etsy.com
http://stores.lulu.com/draconianrain (will be a short while till I add some items, this is where I will sell my graphic novels)
* About you:
I am an Australian artist with a great interest in Japanese manga and pop art. I spend what ever spare time I have on my art and working on my graphic novels. I am now teaching others to draw manga. In some countries this may not be much but for Australia it is for those wanting to learn. There aren’t as many resources here and it is hard to learn much about it, which is why I offer lessons. I have taught people of all kinds of ages and some are better than me now which makes me really happy to know that I helped them to get where they are today.
* My craft or talent:
Drawing or just about anything art related.
* How I do my craft:
I make my art in various ways. So far I am working on my digital art and airbrushing skills. I am best at pencil/graphite drawings and giving them soft textures which is particularly effective when drawing children and babies. I love working in charcoal and making detailed work with them and when I use it I tend to use hard charcoal to get the most detail possible. I always listen to music when I draw or have a specific song playing over and over that relates to my art. I prefer to work in large areas. Usually on the floor or under a tree.
* What lead me to my craft:
I have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil so I guess you could say that I was born with it. I am only 20 now and still haven’t stopped drawing and I doubt I ever will.
* My other interests or hobbies:
Manga, Anime, Ice skating, giving gift art and doing art trades, teaching others to draw and writing
* My other links, blogs, websites:
http://draconianrain.livejournal.com/
http://draconianrain.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/draconian_rain
http://www.mangabullet.com/visit/Saphira
http://saphira.paperdemon.com/
http://www.ratemydrawings.com/user/Saph/ (on this site you can watch how I made my work as a flash)

FEATURED ARTIST: Baboom

Olga is so charming and her work is impeccable!


Name of business - My etsy name is baboom, it was a first word my son said, it must be something good on baby language.

Link to my shop - www.baboom.etsy.com

About me - my name is Olga, I am from Far East Russia ( where I was a building engineer) but live in Australia for the last 5 years and really love this beautiful country. I have two little boys, husband and dog and they keeping me busy every day and night. I still miss cold Russian winters and maybe this is a reason why I making warm knits.

My craft and ( I hope) talent - I knit and crochet. A lot. I can not just sit and watching TV, I always keep my hands busy with my knitting needles or crochet hook. I have strong yarn addiction and my stashes are growing and growing, I love to work with Australian wool, it is so warm and soft, especially hand spun wool. I always positive while knit, I believe you actually knit your energy in every piece you making, and person who will wear it will 100% feel this positive energy.

How I do it - My inspiration is usually coming from yarn itself, nature of course, I love to stare on people wearing knits and watching fashion channel sometimes. And I just taking my needles and create, most of my knits are one of a kind, it's a bit boring to "mass produce", it's more like an art for me.

What lead me to my craft - I was born at Soviet Union and we had our "labor and craft" lessons at school every week, this is why every Russian woman knows how to knit, crochet, sew and cook delicatesses from nothing, ha ha. Seriously, it was a pretty tough time back to my childhood, I had "perestroyka" childhood, everything was limited - food, clothes. Also my grandma is a great knitter, and I still using some old knitting books from her house. And I started to knit again for my older son, who is almost 4 years old , now etsy is a big part of my everyday life, I love to have opportunity to show and sell my creations here!

My other hobbies - I also enjoying to spend time doing embroidery, felt and sewing. At the moment I don't have enough time with my kids, lil one is only 14 months old. I also dreaming about weaving...

My website is http://olgaasonova.weebly.com/

FEATURED ARTIST: BBusbyarts

A short interview with BBusbyarts................................

I can't say enough about this talented artist!!! You MUST visit her Etsy shop.





* Name of Business : BBusbyarts

* Link to your business:
http://home.comcast.net/~bbusbyarts/site/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8322956@N04/show/

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5204998

* About me:
I believe that art is a vital part of what it is to be a human being.
Extensive teaching experience has shown me how important learning basic drawing skills and art appreciation is even to the youngest children.
My entire life has been spent making things, I received my fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and was lucky enough to make it my career during my 18 years running my ceramic tile manufacturing company.
To me, each piece is about communication. I want to express an idea, emotion, or tell a story. I judge the success of each by the effectiveness with which they communicate their message.
Much of my work is technique driven, I enjoy discovering new abilities to construct an image in different ways. I never set out to make something "pretty", the appearance of each project is determined by the idea behind it. Creating my own raw materials is also important, I have been dyeing my own fabric since I began quilting over 30 years ago, and I am familiar with fabric construction form the raw fiber on up.
*My craft or talent:
I have been making quilts since the 1970's.
I lived in Venice, California, and began dyeing old curtains and picking clothes out of trash cans to sew.
* How I do my craft:
I like to work in every aspect of my art. I begin with dyeing or painting material to suit the original designs I have in mind.
Many construction techniques are used, and a wide variety of materials, from the usual cottons to silk, metallic, and non wovens.

* What lead me to my craft:
I have sewn since I was a child. While majoring in ceramics in college, I also took fiber design classes. It was a great alternative to ceramics- light, colorful, and non dusty!

* My other interests or hobbies:
We have dogs, chickens and fish......
I love to take the dogs for walks in the mountains to enjoy the high desert scenery we have here.

*Favorite links or sites:
The APOD website is one I check every day, it is a NASA site that posts a new picture of the skies every day.
I have also become addicted to the Nikon and Olymput microphotography sites, there are amazing things we can't see with the naked eye!

*Betty Busby
Albuquerque New Mexico
Fbusby3@comcast.net

FEATURED ARTIST : Dirtvictim

A short interview with Dirtvictim.................................

This artist's personality is quite as interesting as his creations.

* Name of Business : Dirtvictim Enterprises

* My craft or talent: Entrepreneur, Life long. Handcrafted knives, swords, Pool cues, T shirts and Biking gear.

*Link to your business: http://dirtvictim.com/

* About me : Self made quadrillionaire! and comedian.

* Name: David L. Schreiber

* Location: Las Vegas, NV

* Profession: Business Owner, Dirtvictim

* Family: Single, just siblings.

* Give us a description of how you do your craft: Well right now I am designing my website , working on a couple of new projects I am patenting and creating new t shirts.

* What lead you to your specific craft: Mainly my interest in mountain biking and web design.

* What are your other interests or hobbies: Martial arts, knife making computer tech.

* My favorites: Books: Tom Robbins , Movies: ActionWeb sites, Other: Biking sites, Music: Rock, Modern, Hard core metal, it is the best for serious trail riding.