Tell us a bit about yourself name, location,
affiliations, personal stuff.
Hi there! My name is Sue - Lulu Bug is one of my sweet Shar Peis (the other is Lily Belle). I live in Santa Rosa, California and make all my jewelry in the living room of the small house I live in with my very understanding family. I've pretty much taken over with my mess - oops, um, I mean studio.
Apart from creating things, what do you do?
At the moment, that's about all I do. I tend to be very focused and single minded, and I drink a lot of coffee. Prior to starting Lulu Bug last year, I put all that energy into racing motorcycles, which is a somewhat unusual and all-encompassing hobby. I raced road bikes (not motocross/dirt) and competed against men on twisty paved racetracks. It's very exciting, ridiculously expensive and yes, it is dangerous. At the end of the race season last year I realized I couldn't put the time I wanted into my jewelry and race, so I decided to forgo racing for now. It was the right choice. I know my mom is happy about this too - I'm sure she never imagined having her daughter take up motorcycle racing in her late 30's.
What first made you want to become an artist?
I come from a long line of crafty women, so making stuff is in my genes. In the 70's my mom did all sorts of crafts, and funded a trip to Kenya in 1975 from the sales of dolls she made out of champagne bottles, styrofoam balls and socks (it was the 70's - you had to be there). How amazing is that? That trip influenced my 9-year-old self in ways that continue to this day.
I discovered my love of art in high school, after my third year metal shop class was canceled and I had to take drawing instead. I didn't get around to taking jewelry classes until after art school, but once I did I knew I had finally found my medium. It's been my profession for the last 17 years, always working for someone else though.
Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.
My background is in traditional metalsmithing, casting and fabricating both silver and gold. After a very long hiatus from creating my own jewelry, I took a precious metal clay (PMC) workshop about a year and a half ago. PMC was developed in Japan and is composed of very fine particles of silver (much of it reclaimed) in an organic, clay like binder. After the piece is formed, it's fired in kiln at 1650 degrees for 2 hours. The binder burns of and the particles fuse, forming a pure (.999) silver object. It's quite magical!
Discovering PMC reignited my desire to make things. After that short workshop, I began buying tools and setting up my workspace in the living room, and Lulu Bug Jewelry was hatched. It feels like all my years of experience are finally coming together. I'm able to express what's been lurking inside me in a way that I like with materials I enjoy working with. The hamster on the wheel in my head churns out ideas faster than I can make them, so I always have a list of new ideas to try next. I can't wait to get to my bench every day - it doesn't feel like work at all!
What handmade possession do you most cherish?
Though not really a possession, the handmade thing I most cherish is the Christmas cookies my grandma makes and sends overnight to us every year. She is 98, lives by herself and still cooks and does crafts! She is truly amazing and inspiring.
Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.
Books:
Geek Love - Katherine Dunn
Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs (actually anything by him)
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Naked - David Sedaris
Movies:
Life Of Brian
Best in Show
The Sound of Music
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (the original)
Hairspray (the original)
Music:
Egyptian superstar Amr Diab
Dean Martin
Pink Martini
Martin Denny (what is with all the Martins on this list?)
The early Buddha Bar compilations
Web Sites:
jezebel
dlisted
boingboing
craftcult
salon
What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
Experiment! Try those seemingly questionable ideas - you have a worldwide audience for your art/craft on Etsy.
What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see?
Teams on Etsy are a great resource! I'm on Etsy Metal Clay (emc team) and Etsy Vegetarians (etsyveg). Teams offer a great way to network with like minded Etsy sellers and support each other.
As for new features, I would like be able to offer discounts, free shipping etc. right at the time of purchase, instead of having to do refund or send a revised invoice.
How do you promote your work?
Right now I don't do a whole lot of promotion. I have a blog which is in dire need of more attention, and I'm on cosaverde.com. There are lots of bloggers out there who have featured me on their blogs - a big thank you to all of them!
In ten years I'd like to be...
getting more than 6 hours of sleep every night, but aside from that, doing pretty much what I'm doing right now. Minus the day job. |
