Fishstikks

Whenever I have a little free time, I love to check out other blogs. Food blogs are one of my favorites, like Jen Yu's or the Pioneer Woman's blog, both of which are part of my morning ritual. I'm also a little addicted to Cynthia Guajardo's ceramic blog, and this completely ridulous/disgusting site.

But since I sell my work on Etsy, I like to peruse some of the artists on that site. I've collaborated with a few of them, and gotten to be friends with some, even though we're miles apart.

Recently, I was checking out some local artists, when one woman's work snagged my attention. There was something entirely hypnotic about her work, and I found myself looking at page after page of her pieces. Honestly, I can barely tear my eyes away from her work.

Of course, I had to "meet" her, and as I was checking out her profile, I noticed we share the same birth date. Well, that sealed it, I had to write to her and introduce myself.

Let me back up a minute here and say that whenever I read someone's blog and they do a profile on a "guest", I automatically think - "oh, you ran out of things to say today, right?" But that's not the case here. I think Debi's work is simply fantastic, and I hope you will, too. Debi goes by the user name of Fishstikk's on Etsy, and you can check out her shop here.

So here's a little "introduction" to Debi, I asked her to answer a few questions.



Anything about your design process that you feel like sharing? Where you get your inspiration? Where do you work? How you start the process? Do you have some sort of ritual before starting?

My ritual always consists of going into my art room and then remembering say, my glasses, getting up to go fetch them and returning 20 minutes later after doing several things I saw along the way, sitting down and remembering that I still need my glasses...rinse and repeat.
Inspiration comes in many forms, from something my Ralphie cat does to the mean mockingbirds outside my front door (with babies) to the rescue birds my friend brings over that she finds on the golf course.
My design process was slow at first but in thinking how can I take the to the next step brought about some really great things, especially in the big eyed birds. I love taking things that would normally have been thrown away and create new things with them.
I also got to convert my spare bedroom into my art room and at the moment have it stuffed to the gills with future projects and things I find 'seemingly' useful.




Name three people you'd like to have dinner with (living or dead is OK).

Hmmm, I think Angelina Jolie must be fascinating to talk to, the things she's done and the places she's seen.
I would love to pick Tim Burton's head with all the weird things floating around in there.
Stephen King as I adore most everything he's ever written. He's been the host of many a nightmare and I find him one of the most creative souls I've ever heard of.

If we'd open your fridge, would we find any surprises?

Most definitely. I've kept almost all of my "science" experiments with the exception of the ones that have got up and walked out.

Anything on your nightstand that you care to share with us?

My dogs ball, the current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors that I hope to be published in "one day", Stephen Kings' most recent book and my volleyball league schedule.



When people ask what you do - how do you describe yourself?

I generally speak about my day job first but then I like to tell them what I really enjoy doing - I make art! Then I like to bore them with projects I'm currently working on, hehe.

Can you name five different things about yourself that most people (even those close to you) might not know?

This might be pretty hard to answer. Those close to me know me pretty well. I'm insecure. I'm shy...no really! I was the prom queen in High School. Wow! I struggled to get those three out, who would have thought I would be so...transparent. Hehe.

When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

At first I thought I wanted to be a vet because I liked animals so well. We weren't really allowed to have any pets growing up except for the occassional wild cat who wasn't even allowed in the house. When I realized that being a vet was much more complicated than just simply "having" a bunch of animals around I decided I wanted to be an artist. Go figure.



What's your studio/workspace like?

Disorganized, messy, cluttered, full of everything imagineable, happy and bright all at the same time. I love turning trash into treasure with altered art so needless to say I keep the most bizarre things around for the day I may find a use for it kind of things.

What do you listen to while doing your work?

Movies. I love to watch movies while I work. I'm sure that if I had music on in the background I would more than likely accomplish a lot more when I work but movies it is.



What's the most interesting (or most challenging?) (or most frustrating?) project you've worked on?

I did a swap with some wonderfully talented artists where we decided to alter our ancestors. There were 5 of us in this group and we each picked out three of our own ancestors for the others to choose from. I had no problem choosing which ancestors I wanted to use but when it came time to alter them I was completely stuck. I agonized over my decisions on what to do. I mean come on, these were someone's Grandparents and Mothers. It took me weeks to come to grips with it (everyone else too). Finally one day it just clicked and I was ever so pleased with how mine came out. Would most definitely like to wander down that path again!

What are you working on right now?

A surprise project that may come to fruition in November but I had better get it done by July 1st! That and lots more of my Big Eyed Birds and chubby little houses!

Describe your perfect meal.

That's easy, Salmon cooked in extra virgin olive oil, garlic mashed potatoes, spinach with some vinegar and strawberry cheesecake for dessert...yummy!

(Thanks, Debi!)