21/05/2008

thirteen from red otter

i've been corresponding with miss julia aka red otter for over a year now - and it's hard to believe! she's one of the sweetest people i've ever met. or didnt meet. online. either way. she's awesome, and so are the journals that she creates.

she's been selling her wares on etsy since february 2007, and has been featured on various other blogs, but it's high time that she underwent my grueling interview process. kudos to her for surviving it!

without further adieu...




01. tell us a bit about yourself; name, location, affiliations, personal stuff. y'know.
I'm Julia, aka Jewels, Red Otter, Jay, JB, Z, Sugar Bump... I live in Madison WI with my cute, cute, cute husband Andrew, our six plants, a massive collection of books, movies, and music, one red Bug, and a fuzzy bathrobe.

02. if you could describe yourself with any three words, what would they be?
Youthful, intuitive, creative



03. what first made you want to become an artist?
Norman Rockwell, Vermeer, Georgia O'Keefe, Rembrandt.

04. how did you make that transition into selling your creations?
Someone handed me a business card of an artist selling on Etsy. That was the moment of transition, when I realized that there was a forum that I could sell my journals. Now, it took me months to get my journals in my shop!



05. where do you get your inspiration?
Cozy Up, Wunderbug, The Peach Tree, Blaze Danielle, Design Spounge, Perfect Bound, Yvestown, Design for Mankind, The Paper Pony, Belle and Boo, in leaf, and so many other blogs that seem to supply our world with endless inspiring photos, artist, quotes, and other yummies!

06. apart from creating things, what do you do?
I'm a hiker, swimmer, lover, dancer, graphic designer, mischief maker :)



07. what are your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and blogs?

Books:
A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L'Engle
A Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier
Siddartha, by Herman Hesse

Movies:
Happily Ever After (French)
Love Actually
Sabrina

Music:
Frou Frou
Feist
Marc Cohn

Blogs:
Cozy Up
The Peach Tree
Wunderbug

08. if you could learn to work with any medium that you don't currently work with, which would it be?
I desperately want to learn how to do letterpress! Type gets me excited, paper even more so, and antiquated machines that allow you to combine the two? Whoot, whoot!

09. what is your favorite handmade item that you have purchased?
The two I love the most right now weren't purchased, per se, one was won and the other was a gift, but they're both from Etsy and I lub dem! Miss Clarrisa scarf from Cozy Up and pink and green pouch from the Dainty Squid.



10. what is your favorite item that you have created?
My Raspberry Lemonade Notebook! I love how it folded together and the pink paper combo!

11. what undiscovered artists would you recommend to the world?
Uber Art
Nuthatch Notes
Be Happy Now

12. in ten years I'd like to be...
One of those women who figures out how to balance family life and her creativity and passion for caring for people. I want to be a nurse, with four dark haired, curly-topped children, with a huge studio out back for all of her paper and bits and bobs, next to her husbands massive library!

13. what is the best advice you have ever received?
Breathe. Take a deep breath. And another one. Things will start to clear.

6 comments:

Julia said...

You are the greatest and the best :) This is such a beautiful interview, I LOVE how you did the captions on the images themselves, you clever girl you! I consider this such an honor, my wunderbug! Thank you!

Unknown said...

you are so totally welcome - my pleasure!

Anonymous said...

Great Interview! I've had the pleasure of knowing Julia for many, many years...but I am still tickled to read her blog and interviews. She does beautiful work!

Unknown said...

A lovely interview with an even lovelier lady! And so glad to have found your blog. Thank you for sharing more of Miss Julia with us :)

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful blog, I love it! And I wholeheartedly agree that this is a great interview (and a great interviewee of course).

It's amazing how creative women across the world have embraced the internet and reshaped their futures in ways we would never of dreamt of in the past. I can't imagine my life without it!

Unknown said...

I'm really glad you all enjoyed Julia's interview!

Angie - I couldn't agree more! (how would i get through a workday without the internet?)

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