I found a new shop, Roadside which opened in Apr 17, 2008, while browsing the Art category on Etsy to see what would catch my eye. I thought these paper creations were so whimsical and lovely; they really jumped out at me.   I had to look for a long time at the print to figure out whether it was three dimensional or two dimensional. After carefully reading the description, I realized that Roadside's Jayme McGowan makes such excellent quality prints of her shadow-box paper cutouts, that the prints include shadows! You can buy both the originals and the prints in her Etsy Shop.  To read more about her process, please see the interview below. 

Can you tell us a little about the people behind Roadside?
My name is Jayme McGowan and I’m an artist living and working in Sacramento, California. I’m a recent college graduate, and I opened Roadside last April as an experiment, with the hope of exploring project ideas I couldn’t really pursue in school. I studied painting in college but have been making 3-D works with paper for several years in my free time. I thought that would be a good place to begin Project 001.

My boyfriend, John, contributes elbow grease in various ways. On the current project, he helped out with the construction of the wood frames that house my paper sculptures. We’re currently working together on some more utilitarian art for the shop.

What inspires you as a creative person?
Paper, music, and people. I’m moved by polka dots. I hoard patterned paper and shuffle through it randomly, hoping for something to pop out. I listen to music when I’m working and I watch people out my studio window. I work out of a second story apartment overlooking a busy street. There’s a post office right across the way (that’s really coming in handy lately!) and a bus stop below my windows. So I watch people go by, imagine their stories to music, and look at paper. That’s usually enough. I have an overactive imagination.

And of course having access to the work of so many amazing artists through Etsy is a huge inspiration, just seeing what kind of creative things other folks dream up.

How do you like Etsy so far? What are your favorite features of the site?
I absolutely love it. There’s such a strong sense of community here. People have been very helpful and encouraging; I feel like I’ve found a very receptive audience for my work as well. Etsy makes it so easy to reach people from all over the world that I would have never been able to meet otherwise. I’m a big fan of the “Favorites” feature. I think it’s a fantastic way to navigate the site — hopping from one shop to another by browsing a person’s favorite items and sellers.

Anything else you'd like to add is also welcome! (Your blog, etc.)
You can check out images of past and present projects at: Flickr.com/photos/roadside, or peek behind the scenes at projects currently in the works at my blog: Roadsideprojects.blogspot.com.

See more Fresh Shops and say hey to a new seller!