Tell us a bit about yourself name, location,
affiliations, personal stuff.
Hello everyone. I’m thrilled by this opportunity to tell you something else about myself and I’m also very grateful to all of you out there reading this interview.
My name is Cecilia Bere, I live in Argentina, its main city, Buenos Aires, a place full of alternatives and activities. For this and many other reasons, we call Buenos Aires, “The city that never sleeps.” I live with my young, and only daughter in a very quiet neighbourhood far from the noise of the city, a place full of trees and plazas where my daughter and I usually go for nice walks. I consider myself to be a solitary person, in the good sense of the word. I love silence, as much as to stay at home, and I have discovered that I am no doubt, a night owl, I enjoy being awake when the lights and sounds of the city disappear. I’m a music fan, I love jazz and folkloric music from many different countries.
Beyond what you know regarding my work, I also studied Cinema and participated in various shorts before fully dedicating myself to the fascinating world of jewelry. I used to love editing and sound post-production a lot, maybe because these were the activities I could do alone in my house, with my own time, my music and my glass of wine. Back in those days, I spent entire nights editing until the day arose and the city’s rhythm started. Then, I would realize it was like, 9 in the morning… and probably time to rest… maybe I was going in a little bit of a different direction than most of the people around me... I still do, but not as much, because my daughter wakes up at same time with an incredible amount of energy and ready to share it with me !
Thus, after having my daughter I took some steps to the side from the cinema activity and decided to investigate more about jewelry’s world, something I always felt an attraction to. I studied the necessary concepts and techniques and then decided to go on my own, investigating different metals and their possibilities, how to modify them with various processes that I found after uncountable trials and errors. To this day this is the way I work, thinking, “What would it happen if I do this to this?” I have a million things that I would still like to try and learn.
Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I dedicate most of my time to my daughter and her growth and my work. When I want to relax I enjoy taking care of my plants, listening to music, watching movies, seeing friends, going to concerts and dancing Tango. I used to be a really good tango dancer in my teens and then I quit. Now in my 32s, I have decided to come back to the dance floor. It’s definitely one of the few times where I feel that my body and my mind are flowing with no control from me, without that driven consciousness that is always present in the things that we usually do. I love to dance and to listen to music quite loud, and I usually do it when I’m alone at home... maybe my neighbours don’t like it as much as me...(!)
What first made you want to become an artist?
I really don’t consider myself an artist. I feel a little uneasy about that word. I think there’s art in the majority of things where man does not intervene. When men intervene with our intuition, sensitivity and personal view, I think we are talking about creative people, in the ways we express and transform things, maybe something beautiful for some of us, and not for others. I believe there are people that do and did wonderful things, but when do we start calling someone an artist ? Why are the drawings of my little daughter not considered works of art? I have many questions and contradictions about that word, and hope not to bore you with them!
However I know that in my case, I did feel the need to be in contact with different materials and do things with them since I was a child. This need grew and materialized in drawings, objects, music, photography, cinema, and then jewelry. When I was a child I would walk down the street and take mental pictures of spaces that I thought looked like perfect photographs. I would go to a park with a notebook to draw. Architecture also fascinated me. I would have loved to go into every house to see how they looked inside, how they were designed and decorated, and think how I would have done it. I still wonder about some of the doors that I usually pass by.
Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.
I usually work a minimum of 8 hours per day, starting after leaving my daughter at school. I like to use different materials and transform them, rusting them for example, or applying patinas, but those are still not in my shop. So first I start by deciding on what I would like to do with the metal and then the design. Maybe that’s why my designs are simple and basic. I love big accessories and bare forms.
However my schedule is far from being fixed. When I am not working but doing some other activity I cannot stop thinking about different designs, so if some idea is hitting very strong in my mind, I stop everything and get working on it. It is bad if this happens when I’m sleeping, being sometimes worth the try and sometimes not… wasting lots of time, only to have something that at the end that I really do not like.
What handmade possession do you most cherish?
At the moment what I cherish the most are things created by my daughter. My house is full of them. I see in them all the innocence, spontenaeity, and absence of pre-judments about perfection that most of us grown people have. But I also adore and have things that are special to me because they belong to different times in my life so they have a special energy, a really nice loving energy. There’s nothing more special than making something, thinking about someone, or receiving something the same way. My mom and grandmother used to make lots of clothing for me that my daughter is now wearing and that is also very special for me.
Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.
Wow, how difficult, so many! This is almost impossible. Some would be Steps by Jerzy Kosinski and I cannot not mention Marguerite Duras. They both have an unique style.
Some movie directors: David Lynch, Michelangelo Antonioni, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Many movies and directors from the 60s, cannot name just a few, it would be unfair.
Same with music! But I can mention Thelonious Monk, Keith Jarrett, Brasielan music, Bossanova, Michel Petrucciani, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (!!!), Goran Bregovic, Charles Mingus, Tango, Percussion, so difficult to summarize on this subject…
What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
I would tell them that it’s very important to have good communication with your clients. I wish I spoke English much better. I’m working hard on it because I feel limited in this aspect, so in order to do it as I like, I have to work extra , because I do believe it is important to be fast with all answers and doubts that clients usually have.
Another important thing is the presentation of the products, pictures for example. Also clear descriptions of all of them. Participating in treasures helps so it’s great to be in contact with other sellers also, to know other peoples’ works and creations.
What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see?
There are many, fortunately! Organization is incredible, communication, and support. The possibility to help so many talented people with wonderful things to show. Treasuries: I love to do them and see other peoples’ too. I’m really happy about all that Etsy offers and how they help us with promotion. I feel valued the way it all works and that is a blessing, working in this type of environment.
How do you promote your work?
For the moment I am working with the possibilities that I find at Etsy. I would like to have more time to create a blog and participate in the groups that Etsy creates, though I do participate in Etsy in Spanish Team where I found amazing people with fascinating shops that have supported me tons from my beginnings on Etsy until today. I would be always grateful to them and so many other people on Etsy that have given me the opportunity to meet them.
In ten years I'd like to be...
Doing what I love doing, surrounded by people I love. Hopefully still part of this great team that lets me be in any part of the world without losing my job. I would surely love that, traveling around the world and never losing my internet connection! |
