{the interview series} tastes orangey

Hoje estou à conversa com Clare Elsaesser, a artista plástica que dá vida às mulheres que habitam os misteriosos ambientes de tastes orangey... este quase podia ser um mundo à parte, feito de mulheres entre água e almofadas, pleno de silêncios e beleza!

Tive em tempos a sorte incrível de vencer duas impressões de Clare, num giveaway promovido no blog paper n stitch. Se já gostava do seu trabalho, agora sinto-me honrada por poder admirá-lo todos os dias! Leiam para conhecer melhor esta artista de que tanto gosto!

Não se esqueçam de seguir {the interview series} no facebook e de reler todas as entrevistas aqui.
(Por motivos óbvios de extensão e compreensão do texto, tanto pelos entrevistados como pelos potenciais leitores do resto do mundo, a entrevista segue em inglês.)


Today I'm talking with Clare Elsaesser, the artist who brings to life the women who inhabit the mysterious environments of tastes orangey... This could almost be a world apart, made ​​up of women between water and pillows, full of silence and beauty!
I was once lucky enough to win two prints by Clare, in a giveaway sponsored by the blog paper n stitch. I already loved her work, but now I'm honored to be able to admire it every day! Read to learn more about this artist that I like so much!

Don't forget to follow {the interview series} on facebook and to read all the previous interviews here.

Clare Elsaesser | tastes orangey
Bodega Bay, California, USA
blog | shop

1. Let’s pretend we don’t know each other and I’ve never heard about Clare Elsaesser. Tell us a bit about yourself.
I live in northern California, in a little fishing village called Bodega Bay, (where the Alfred Hitchock movie The Birds was filmed) with my future husband Kai. We are both painters and lovers of good food and booze!

2. You’re a full time artist and you sell beautiful paintings and prints at your shop. Could you tell us how this all started? How was this creative passion born?
I have been painting for a long time, but it wasn’t until last year I became a full time artist. Etsy has been the main factor in my success. Being able to share my artwork on Etsy with the world is both inspiring and so helpful for getting feedback and growing as an artist.

3. Your shop is called tastes orangey. When was this brand born and why is it called like that?
I have used tastes orangey as an email address for some years. Pee Wee Herman said it in an episode of Pee Wee’s Playhouse about making popsicles, and it stuck because I used to paint a lot of oranges in college in Boston when I was homesick for California (one of the biggest orange growing states in the US).

4. I really love the mysterious characters you paint! They’re mainly women and I can see that you have an attraction for pillows and water… What inspires you to create these compositions? Would you share your creative process with us?
I am inspired by calm and quiet and the places I find them: sleeping, and daydreaming of tropical vacations! I suppose my creative process is mostly daydreaming, and then sketching out ideas and filling them in with paint.

5. What mediums do you use to create your original paintings?
I use acrylic paint and pencil on either watercolor paper or wood panel.

6. You created a very original way to present your prints: the sewn prints, which are beautifully sewn on paper. Tell us about them.
I like the idea of combing arts and crafts, and though I am terrible at sewing and knitting, I can sew a straight line, which works just fine as a border around the print, and is a way for me to combine two papers- the print paper, and the watercolor paper- to give a little more of a unique feel to the reproduction.

7. You’re a successful artist and etsy seller, your creations travel all around the world! What means do you use to promote your work?
I have advertised on and off on blogs and sites which promote Etsy artists, and have finally started a blog of my own...though this seems to be more fun than it is advertising. I think I am still in the process of figuring out what to do next for promotion!

8. What is creating for you: a profession, a passion, a necessity, a life style or a hobby? What else are you passionate about doing?
I think it is a combination of everything. I am learning the professional aspect of creating is just as important as the passion. I still have to figure out a balance so I can afford to be passionate and have fun! Besides painting I enjoy relaxing, eating, drinking, watching movies and going for walks. In general I am fairly lazy when I’m not working.

9. Would you share with us a regular day at work?
I start working around 8, sewing and packing up orders and responding to customers or doing other business related things. I take a lunch break from around 1 to 2, and then after this I begin painting, either for my Etsy shop or commissions.

10. Would you give us a glimpse of your working space? Describe it and tell us what you love most about it.
My work space is a tiny sun room in my very small house. It has a beautiful view of the bay, but large paintings have to be stuck in at an angle so they fit! I have been searching for a larger studio, and hopefully this is in the works for 2011.

11. Your future husband Kai is also a painter: do you influence each other? Do you think that the place and time where you live have great influence in your work?
Yes, yes! I think we are the biggest influences, (and critics) of each other’s work and creativity. It is really great to be able to share the struggles and joys of painting, and it really helps us understand each other and our artwork better. And where we live is so beautiful and inspiring to both of us, although Kai is much better at capturing the inspiration in his art than I am, but I am working on it. I love being surrounded by water!

12. Tell us a bit about your home and the city where you live. Would you like to live anywhere else one day?
As I said before my home is tiny, and old fisherman’s house. It was built in the 1930s and has a ceiling like the bottom of a boat. It is really cute, and our only source of heat comes from a wood burning stove, which makes things a bit chilly, but also nice and cozy in the winter! Bodega Bay is about an hour north of San Francisco. It is a beautiful and very windy town, and a tourist haven in the summer and early fall (which of course all the locals hate). I dream of living in other countries, and hope to one day be bold enough to make a big move. After becoming thoroughly spoiled by seeing the ocean out my window, I can only imagine living other places on the coast. Maybe the meditteranean?!

13. If you could live in any historical era of your choice, what would it be? Why?
I love the Edwardian and Victorian eras, because of all the depressing and romantic novels which came out of them.

14. What advices would you give to someone who would also like to become a full time artist?
Persevere! I really think anyone can do it if they want to. Just keep trying and persevering, and most importantly, join Etsy!

15. What are your plans for the future? And your most unrealistic dreams?
They are one in the same! I want to become successful enough to live on a some what private tropical island during the winter, and return to northern California in the summer and fall, and probably have a place in New York and Italy too, and the list goes on and on. Oh, and have a house with a bath tub...right now I only have a tiny shower and it is very sad!

Now some quick question and answer game so we can find a bit more about you and your tastes! Tell us one:

book: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
music: today I am enjoying painting while listening to Bessie Smith
movie: I am really excited about the new Miranda July movie, we’ll see!
personality/artist: Kai, my sweetheart!
color: gray/grey
object: pillow
animal: dog, but I love them all, especially baby animals!
drink: good wine or tequila
food: vietnamese
season of the year: fall and summer
travel destination: tropical places
piece of clothing: a tattered and paint covered navy blue hoodie
secret: my ideal bedtime would probably be 9:30...I am not a night person!

Thank you so much for giving your lovely contribution to this series, Clare!