what with the holidays and all, this one has been a long time coming! without further ado, i'd like to introduce you to rachel of fog and thistle, a cut paper art and lighting studio...
01. tell us a little about yourself...
My name is Rachel Weber and I am the sole proprietor of Fog and Thistle. My main focus these days is blending the traditional art of papercutting with lighting.
02. where does 'fog' and 'thistle' come from?
'Fog' and 'thistle' came out of a brainstorming session with my husband. We liked the mysteriousness of fog and the sharpness of thistle seemed reminiscent of papercuts.
03. how did you get started? when? obstacles?
I was a blocked artist for many, many years. Halfway through my second pregnancy, I wanted to create some original art for the nursery and my daughter's big kid room. I was inspired by some cut paper illustrations in a children's book, This Little Pirate, and picked up my knife and gave it a go. My own style quickly emerged and my inhibitions dropped as I was forced to make decisions and stop second guessing myself. There isn't a whole lot of room for revisions or edits when papercutting.
04. where do you seek inspiration?
I get a lot of inspiration from the many blogs I like to cruise as well as seeing what my kids like. My work tends to work best in kids rooms and nurseries so that has guided a lot of my direction.
05. what's a typical day like at fog and thistle?
It's hectic. I only have small windows of opportunity to work and I have to make the most of my time when both kids are out of the house. Because of this, I have to check in through out the day and get a heads up on what to expect as far as outgoing orders. On a productive day, I have my orders printed out and I try to gang them up according to color so I can print out a few templates at a time on a single sheet. Finding shortcuts helps tremendously. When I can make mail pickup by noon, I give myself a big pat on the back on my way out the door to get the kids.
06. what does the future hold for fog and thistle?
Ah, this is a question I ask myself ALL the time. I've been working my head around doing full lampshades, both child and adult oriented. I keep hitting road blocks as far as streamlining the process and supply issues. But at least I have a couple prototypes under my belt!
07. can you offer advice for other first time shop owners?
Persevere! Make attainable goals but keep pushing forward new ones. Find people you admire as role models and dissect what they are doing to be successful. I find a great support system is imperative and I'm lucky to have that both at home and online through social networking like blogging and Twitter.
It's also important to be open to new opportunities. Even though I was highly focused on working on night lights, I jumped when I was offered the opportunity to illustrate a corporate calendar. It gave me a huge creative jolt.
08. if you could pick one place to be right now where would it be and why?
My ongoing fantasy is the Tuscan villa in the movie Stealing Beauty. Complete with daily siestas. The Italians do know how to live! An afternoon nap followed by an amazing late dinner with plenty of vino. Yes, that would do!
e: rachel@rachelweber.com
b: http://www.fogandthistle.com
s: http://fogandthistle.etsy.com
t: http://twitter.com/fogandthistle
thanks for the interview, rachel! it's great to 'meet' you! i admire the patience you have developed for your craft. waaaaay back in art school one of my assignments was to complete an 18x24 paper cut olmec head in varying shades of gray - i ran out of patience quickly!
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if you'd like to submit a shop for the Nice To Meet You collection, send an email on over to sweetbeaker@gmail.com
images submitted by Fog and Thistle
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