This week I interviewed Terri from The Purl Minx on etsy.
1. Tell us a little about yourself and the art you create.
My name is Terri. I'm a nurse, and I like to paint quirky iconography and illustrations. I think I do this as a way to somehow depict everyday people and moments in my life as iconographic and worthy of praise in their own way. Something as simple as my husband wearing sunglasses or me holding my sleeping child are moments of ecstasy that I feel I need to portray in an ornate way . . .
2. Are you a self taught artist or have you had training?
I've had very little training, and I find myself "breaking rules" all the time. I was enrolled in an art program for about a year in college and picked up some of the basics, but changed majors about halfway through to pursue other programs.
3. How long have you been selling your art?
I started painting again after an 11 year hiatus this past August when my husband was deployed overseas in Iraq. He had been gone for almost a year at that point, and I really took that time to do a lot of self-exploration and to reconnect with diversions that interested me long ago. I was on a writing kick for a while, but found it somewhat emotionally draining. I have a toddler at home, and I found myself spending a lot of time drawing with her- and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed painting and drawing . . . After my parents watched me with her, they presented me with a small set of acrylics to dabble with, and it just struck a chord in me . . . I've been painting almost every day since that hot August afternoon, and shortly started selling thereafter.
4. What is your favorite piece in your shop right now?
I would have to say the "South Philly Madonna" is my favorite. It is a self portrait of me and my baby . . . and I was absolutely driven to paint the moment in an iconographic way because it truly was a moment of ecstasy- a beautiful second in time.
5. Where can we find you online? Do you use Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or have a blog? Please share links, if you do.
I have a blog and another quirky etsy shop
baaadartist – blog
food horror show – etsy
6. What or who inspires you?
Actually, where I live right now inspires me. South Philadelphia. If you walk down the streets and glimpse into the windows, you will find the strangest juxtapositions of ceramic pietas, Virgin Mary statues and various saints with dusty, sun-bleached silk flowers. Newspaper clippings featuring the Phillies winning the World Series two years ago are still scotch taped to the window panes, yellowing next to the religious parephernalia and some of the other mismatched and random chatchkis like sequined Mummers dolls, vases, and peculiar Americana. The culture here is not only unapologetically sentimental about their windows, but also about their background and their beliefs. I used to find some of it all very tacky . . . but then it grew on me, and I find myself embracing it and internalizing it.
7. What are 3 of your favorite websites? (links, please)
I spend most of my time on etsy if I'm on the computer. I think I have a bit of an etsy addiction. I also like Rosalie Gale's art trading experiment . And there is another blog that supports all that's odd on etsy.
8. What's the name of the last book you read or movie you watched?
I actually just finished two because I (finally!) went on a vacation about 10 days ago to Mexico:
The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
9. What do you like to do when you’re not working?
When I'm not working, I like to have friends or family over for a nice Italian dinner or go to the nearby Mexican bar around the corner and slug back a few beers and crunch on a few nachos . . .
10. One last one, just for fun..what did you have for dinner last night?
Last night . . . Hmm. Well, the hubby is out of town, so I cranked open a can of albacore and ate some leftover roasted asparagus . . . then I went over to my neighbors' house and ate some of the best homemade Jewish Apple Cake ever made.
