BasicDetails

New York, NY

80

2 Following 80 Followers

Personally speaking, both Art & Design keep my mind ticking. Whether I’m making and selling my own sculpture, sourcing for BasicDetails, writing as lead blogger for StudioPotterArchive, or even promoting our Hard Knock Rock animation short films, I can’t help but immerse myself into the world of art and design. I fortified my artistic path with a BA degree in Finance and in 2013, launched BasicDetails on Etsy. BasicDetails is my direct response to working with so many collectors over the years; top-notch items at very reasonable prices are what keep us selling strong!

1. Why vintage?

Vintage modern design has simply always captured my imagination. My childhood friend Susan (of AdeleBeeAnnPatterns on Etsy) and I opened an antiques store when we were just 20 years old, and then progressed onward to affectionately becoming regarded by other dealers as “the kids who brought modern to the market” (mid 1990’s) at NYC’s 26th Street Flea Market. Vintage modern was simply irresistible to me, not to mention in great quantity along Long Island’s North Shore during that time; households migrating to the Carolinas for retirement meant 1950's high-style on the dime. The icing on the cake was learning about all of what we were finding. Vintage design items filled our studio – we were the “right age in the right decade” -- and an insatiable need for information kept me wanting to learn even more about the people responsible for the designs themselves.

2. Who has influenced you the most and why?

Inspirational people I've worked with closely include potter/sculptors Mikhail Zakin, Louis Mendez & Lillian Dodson, Animator / Producer David Scheve, and iconic designer, Irving Harper, but it must be Abstract Expressionist painter, Stanley Twardowicz, who I’d say has influenced me the most. And it is not so much the countless hours we spent in his studio discussing art while listening to Coltrane, or even the amazing stories Stanley told about his once good friends Pollock, Kline, Rothko or Kerouac, but rather, it was the man himself: Stanley possessed the unique ability to identify and quietly guide one’s potential. I became an ardent collector of his work, took invaluable critiques as a fellow artist, but mostly, Stanley awoke in me a passion to collect information, and an “archivist” was soon born. In appreciation, I took great pride in paying homage to Twardowicz (and wife, Lillian Dodson), as guest-curator at Hofstra University Museum; career retrospectives were prepared for each in a joint show titled “Artists in Parallel.” Even here I must mention that the brightly colored background I’m standing in front of is a Twardowicz “biomorphic" painting from 1957!

3. How did you come up with your shop’s image / what inspired you?

BasicDetails’ image is an assemblage of many parts which come together to make up the whole. Good design is a must, and a discerning eye matched by my personal editorial style is certainly important, and even a customer's positive experience is very much a part of the mix. Market research, customer opinion and a penchant to keep things simple keeps our store running at a very efficient pace -- the BasicDetails name is very autobiographical. I also don't compromise quality; BasicDetails items speak for themselves; sell themselves!

4. If you could live in any century which would you choose and why?

From a historical point of view, I’d like to hit fast forward and land somewhere in the 22nd or 23rd century. I’m always curious to know what roads will be taken within the art and design fields after I’m gone, so to be able to witness the artistic heights reached as decade upon decade passed on by would be right up my alley. If George Washington had a window that allowed him to look into the future; back in 1776, what would his reaction be to seeing others crossing the Delaware on jet skis, today? Ah, if we could only, truly, travel through time; what fun it would be!

5. What is it about etsy?

At the core, it’s all about Etsy’s corporate discourse; this belief that its community members should all reach their fullest potential. There’s that word again; potential, and at Etsy, it is followed up by action – Seller “featured” profiles, open communication among members, external blog links within a seller’s shop, even down to the basic fact that Etsy wants a seller to fiercely develop his or her own brand. Let’s put it this way – and for many who know this first-hand -- Etsy’s corporate culture clearly does NOT take root in what is best described as a “consequence-driven penal system” – the thinking that does exist at that “other” e-commerce website. When I put my key in the door to my Etsy shop each morning, I simply look forward to the security of knowing that I can get right to work, with no shenanigans, no jumping through hoops, and no convoluted statistical thresholds to navigate. I’m treated by Etsy Corporate as a person, not a “statistic” – that simply matters the most.