Etsy Featured Seller Interview with Scarlettcat.etsy.com

Today is my birthday, [*yay! :0) *] and to celebrate I want to feature a wonderful artist known on etsy as Scarlettcatt.etsy.com. She draws gorgeous, big-eyed flirty maidens on recycled cardboard. And I fell in love with her work after seeing it on Etsy.

Her style is singular; with her insightful choices to adorn these beautiful women in good looks and stylish garb, yet allowing an unexpected sorrow to permeate their gazes, which makes these intriguing works of art so unforgettable. 

Here’s my interview with Scarlettcatt:

 

cloud9designstudio: Tell us a little bit about yourself (name, location, affiliations, personal stuff).

scarlettcat: I’m Scarlett, a self-taught artist from Australia. I’ve drawn and painted all my life, but only been selling my work for the last couple of years. I’ve been on Etsy for almost a year now. I live in Melbourne with my boyfriend Bill, two cats and a siamese fighting fish called Jet Li. My illustrations are all big-eyed flirty, quirky girls – light hearted, playful and fun.

cloud9designstudio: Do you have a job other than creating things?

scarlettcat: I was about to say ‘yes’, but then it dawned on me that my day job is all about creating things, too. I work full time as an advertising copywriter – basically I come up with ideas for clients, write their ads and go to lots of meetings. It’s a great place to work because I’m surrounded by other creative people all day, and i share an office with an art director who always takes the time to enthusiastically critique my work.

cloud9designstudio: What first made you want to become an artist?

scarlettcat: I’ve always drawn and always wanted to be an artist or cartoonist. (I remember using my watercolour pencils as makeup when I was about 11!) But I pretty much gave up on that as a career when I left school. I ended up doing a Commerce Degree (which I loathed) and then an Advertising Diploma (which I loved). And I’ve been a writer ever since. It was only when I started sticking my illustrations on the wall at work and getting comments about them that I reconsidered being an ‘artist’!

cloud9designstudio: Please describe your creative process (how, when, materials, etc).

scarlettcat: I usually use brown cardboard and pencils. I flick through magazines and check out sites like jedroot.com for inspiration and once I’ve found a pose or outfit or hairstyle I love I make a couple of rough sketches using element of what I’ve seen but in my big-eyed style. Then i colour it in – layer on layer on layer of pencil. It takes ages to get the contrast between the light and dark bits right. Once the image really pops out of the page, i know it’s right.

cloud9designstudio: What handmade possession do you cherish the most?

scarlettcat: Years ago, I was on sick leave and got really bored. I ended up spending the entire day making a gothic doll (Lilly). She’s a complete mess with the most terrible stitching you’ve ever seen, but she has so much character. Long black and purple hair, big eyes (like my illustrations) and a safety pin eyebrow piercing! I just adore her. She also wears half a fishnet stocking that I never got around to finishing. She now takes pride of place on the couch with a giraffe I bought from Etsy seller, Odkins.

cloud9designstudio: Where do you find your inspiration to be creative?

scarlettcat: In advertising, you’re only as good as your last ad, so keeping my job is pretty powerful inspiration!! I’m inspired by just about everything – fashion models, children’s books, bright floral blooms, toys, movies, pop culture, nature.

cloud9designstudio: Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and websites.

scarlettcat: Books: I was going to list a heap of novels, but I realise that the books I really treasure are all art related, so here are my top five:
• Pop Surrealism: The Rise of Underground Art (this was my first introduction into the wonderful world of ‘lowbrow’ art)
• Fushigi/Mysterious Circus by Mark Ryden
• When She Was Camera by Joe Sorren
• Love and Fafiness by Fafi (tres sexy French Graffiti artist)
• The Art of Finding Nemo

Movies:
• Aliens
• Finding Nemo
• The Crow
• Jurassic Park
• Zoolander

Websites:
• http://scarlettcat.blogspot.com (c’mon, what did you think I’d say?!!)
• http://www.lifelounge.com (it’s hard to explain – just visit)
• http://www.jedroot.com (New York fashion photographers’ portfolios)
• http://www.watim.com (‘We Are The Image Makers’)
• http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com (amazing figurative painter)

Music:
I’m not particularly fussy about music and I’l listen to just about anything. But I really love cringeworthy 80s one hit wonders and anything sung in French!

cloud9designstudio: What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

scarlettcat:  Don’t expect too much too soon. It takes a while for people to find you and notice your work, so you won’t sell things immediately. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is because your work isn’t right – it’s simply because people don’t know about you yet! So promote your work every chance you get. Oh, and make sure your customer service is superb – the key to success in any field is repeat business.

cloud9designstudio: How do you promote your work?

scarlettcat: I use the marketing strategy that I’d recommend to most clients – surround your target audience with your message. The more places people see your work, the more familiar they become with it. In practical terms, this means I try to get my art seen anywhere I can. I’ve signed up to just about every online portfolio site I can find, I have a flickr account, I make an effort to be active in forums. My aim is simply to be seen, so look for opportunities to show my work. I also took the plunge and approached a gallery (696 in Melbourne) late last year. So now I have my work in a gallery, too.

cloud9designstudio: Do you have a favorite quote?

scarlettcat: Yes! This one from painter, Audrey Kawasaki about her ethereal girls:

“sometimes
i like her best
in the first few minutes of painting her.
when she’s just barely there.
like a ghost, slowly creeping up to surface.”

I think it’s beautifully written and it’s the same way I feel about my own work as the image starts to surface and take shape.

cloud9designstudio: Where do you see yourself in 10 years…

scarlettcat: I’ll be selling my work internationally and having solo shows in 10 years time. Chances are I’ll still be working in advertising, but my art will be playing a far greater role than it currently is. And perhaps, in 10 years time I will have finally cleaned up my studio and stopped painting on the dining room table…or perhaps not