Hollie: The fact that I love creating more than anything, am confident in my craft, hate the 9-5 thing and am very driven when it comes to promoting. Etsy just works out perfectly for my personality. It's a venue that was introduced to me through my good friend ohvotrecoeur :)
Sally: Who or what inspires your creations?
Hollie: -Dark fairy tales and history. Little Red Riding Hood and The Little Mermaid are my favs.
-Fashion: street, couture, futuristic, spaceage, medieval, victorian. I love period clothing. The weirder the better. I adore Alexander McQueen.
-Music: Gaga, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush, The Smiths, Tori Amos, etc)
-Girly Nostalgia: Barbie, old dusty dolls, frill and lace you'd find in grandma's trunk in the attic, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, etc. I love glitter, pink and kittens.
-John William Waterhouse, Alphonse Mucha and Edmund Dulac. They introduced me to pond nymphs, half clad curvy women with long hair and sad eyes.
(see the pics I attatched)
-Life experience, especially the sad parts. I would not create the pieces I do without that bit of longing and sadness. Call me dramatic, but it's true. This is especially applicable for my illustrations. They have a depth about them, and it just wouldn't be there if I had a perfect life. Thank god for hard times, I'm a fan of the maturity it's brought into my life.
Sally: What time of day do you work best and why?
Hollie: Definitely at night! I rarely create a thing in the morning/midday. I like being in the dark. Alot of nights I'll go to bed with my hubby, but jump right back out once he's asleep cause I have an idea I just have to get out. This happens way more than I'd like to admit, lol.
Sally: Who do you market to? Who do you see buying your work?
Hollie: I market to indie types, fashionistas and those who care for the earth and recycling. Sometimes my drawings go to the most random people. Usually people who feel deeply and have that longing I talked about. The bows go to girls and women who love high fashion, Gaga and Japanese street style. So pretty much all people I love! A good amount of young girls love the bows too, which is AWEsome. I'm a huge fan of little girls. They're little princesses I can play dress-up and make believe with :)
Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Hollie: Definitely the bows. They're tangible, and can be worn as many times as you want. They're like the gift that keeps giving. I absolutely adore hand sewing, bunching the fabric and seeing each piece turn into a cute lil' piece of their own. I love thinking of what outfits they would match and where my customers would wear them. A recent bow went to a girl who was going to wear it to a Gaga concert, and that totally made my day! The illustrations are very emotional to create. I literally have to block everything out around me. No one can be around. I blast my music and get into the zone. It takes me about an hour to do an entire piece and it flies right by. I can't really draw well when the mood hasn't hit. It has to hit me hard and then I know I'll churn out a few pieces that I'm happy with. Music is really important to creating great pieces.
Sally: What are your 3 favorite books?
Hollie: I have so many. But I really love Catcher in the Rye (of course), Handmaid's Tale and Day of the Triffids. I like autobiographical novels with a bitterness and sarcasm about them, medieval or period ficion and then science fiction.
Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Hollie: Omg I can't draw hands. If you notice my illustrations, all of the hands are hidden. For some reason I have never enjoyed doing hands and thus they're stuck in the 5 yr old drawing style phase. I've never practiced them and so they suck, big time. But I have gotten such great feedback on the pieces WITH hands, that now I know I have to work on them and really include them in more pieces. I have a hard time with arms as well. And I'm pretty bad at drawing men. They look like manly women. It's pretty sad. But I do want to get better at these, cause I'd love to do some really deep maiden and knight pieces!
Sally: If you could interview your main influence who would it be and what would you ask?
Hollie: This is tough. It would be a tie between Morrissey, Lady Gaga, Tori Amos and John William Waterhouse. All I care about is what moves people. I would ask a million questions based on what they love, long for, went through and are moved by.
Sally: What do you listen to while you work? While you don’t work?
Hollie: I have an itunes list called "Crafty" and I play it everyday. It's filled with songs I never tire of and that continually move me. For sewing I've got alot of old school Madonna, Gaga, Heart, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Wham!, Smiths, Billie Holiday, YYY, etc. When drawing I listen to stuff like Arcade Fire, Dead Mans Bones, Sunset Rubdown, Gaga.
Sally: Do you have any deals or promos to share?
Hollie: For readers of this interview, buy either a bow or an illustration and recieve a second one half price :) Just type in "Blog Interview" in the notes to seller :)
Hollie: -Dark fairy tales and history. Little Red Riding Hood and The Little Mermaid are my favs.
-Fashion: street, couture, futuristic, spaceage, medieval, victorian. I love period clothing. The weirder the better. I adore Alexander McQueen.
-Music: Gaga, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush, The Smiths, Tori Amos, etc)
-Girly Nostalgia: Barbie, old dusty dolls, frill and lace you'd find in grandma's trunk in the attic, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, etc. I love glitter, pink and kittens.
-John William Waterhouse, Alphonse Mucha and Edmund Dulac. They introduced me to pond nymphs, half clad curvy women with long hair and sad eyes.
(see the pics I attatched)
-Life experience, especially the sad parts. I would not create the pieces I do without that bit of longing and sadness. Call me dramatic, but it's true. This is especially applicable for my illustrations. They have a depth about them, and it just wouldn't be there if I had a perfect life. Thank god for hard times, I'm a fan of the maturity it's brought into my life.
Hollie: Definitely at night! I rarely create a thing in the morning/midday. I like being in the dark. Alot of nights I'll go to bed with my hubby, but jump right back out once he's asleep cause I have an idea I just have to get out. This happens way more than I'd like to admit, lol.
Sally: Who do you market to? Who do you see buying your work?
Hollie: I market to indie types, fashionistas and those who care for the earth and recycling. Sometimes my drawings go to the most random people. Usually people who feel deeply and have that longing I talked about. The bows go to girls and women who love high fashion, Gaga and Japanese street style. So pretty much all people I love! A good amount of young girls love the bows too, which is AWEsome. I'm a huge fan of little girls. They're little princesses I can play dress-up and make believe with :)
Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Hollie: Definitely the bows. They're tangible, and can be worn as many times as you want. They're like the gift that keeps giving. I absolutely adore hand sewing, bunching the fabric and seeing each piece turn into a cute lil' piece of their own. I love thinking of what outfits they would match and where my customers would wear them. A recent bow went to a girl who was going to wear it to a Gaga concert, and that totally made my day! The illustrations are very emotional to create. I literally have to block everything out around me. No one can be around. I blast my music and get into the zone. It takes me about an hour to do an entire piece and it flies right by. I can't really draw well when the mood hasn't hit. It has to hit me hard and then I know I'll churn out a few pieces that I'm happy with. Music is really important to creating great pieces.
Sally: What are your 3 favorite books?
Hollie: I have so many. But I really love Catcher in the Rye (of course), Handmaid's Tale and Day of the Triffids. I like autobiographical novels with a bitterness and sarcasm about them, medieval or period ficion and then science fiction.
Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Hollie: Omg I can't draw hands. If you notice my illustrations, all of the hands are hidden. For some reason I have never enjoyed doing hands and thus they're stuck in the 5 yr old drawing style phase. I've never practiced them and so they suck, big time. But I have gotten such great feedback on the pieces WITH hands, that now I know I have to work on them and really include them in more pieces. I have a hard time with arms as well. And I'm pretty bad at drawing men. They look like manly women. It's pretty sad. But I do want to get better at these, cause I'd love to do some really deep maiden and knight pieces!
Sally: If you could interview your main influence who would it be and what would you ask?
Hollie: This is tough. It would be a tie between Morrissey, Lady Gaga, Tori Amos and John William Waterhouse. All I care about is what moves people. I would ask a million questions based on what they love, long for, went through and are moved by.
Hollie: I have an itunes list called "Crafty" and I play it everyday. It's filled with songs I never tire of and that continually move me. For sewing I've got alot of old school Madonna, Gaga, Heart, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Wham!, Smiths, Billie Holiday, YYY, etc. When drawing I listen to stuff like Arcade Fire, Dead Mans Bones, Sunset Rubdown, Gaga.
Sally: Do you have any deals or promos to share?
Hollie: For readers of this interview, buy either a bow or an illustration and recieve a second one half price :) Just type in "Blog Interview" in the notes to seller :)
