EFA Interview - WHSKR Shop

Miss Universe-the Ultimate Alien Beauty Pin- one of my favorites.

Here is another installment of my monthly EFA interviews. This one is with Marjorie of Whskr. Let me start by saying Marjorie is always a pleasure to converse with, she has a lovely spirit and is a real asset to the group. She has a shop on Etsy where she creates unique and whimsical Art Dolls -- after you read this wonderful interview with Marjorie stop by her shop to see her beautiful creations -- they're bound to put a smile on your face.

1) Tell us your name and a little about you.
My name is Marjorie Dawson, and I live just outside the capital of New Zealand (NZ), Wellington, in a suburb that nestles in it's own little enclosed area called Stokes Valley! Paul and I moved over to NZ two years ago and brought the cats with us (The person who asked 'Why' barely escaped with his life...). Sadly we lost our beloved Cuzz-Wuzz to cardiomyopathy on 6th December 2006 but the other three adult cats continue to thrive. They were joined just before Christmas 2006 by two Kiwi kittens. I now work part-time for the University of Victoria at exam time, and spend time making dolls and furthering my craft. It's also my birthday in March GO Pisceans!!

My creative life really took off when we moved to NZ and I finally had time to make things and contribute to animal welfare. Now that I was no longer a frazzled ruin at the end of every London day I could focus on doing more than live moment to moment permanently tired. I found Etsy via a link on a podcast for knitters called Sticks and String by Australian guy David Reidy http://www.sticksandstring.com.au I was intrigued by his mention of an online e-tail site called 'Etsy' where someone was selling stitch markers. I looked and decided in 5 seconds this was a place I could be comfortable selling.

2) Where can we find your Etsy shop?
This is me here Whskr comes from my motorbike number plate (no seriously it does...) This is my blog Fantail. I keep readers up to date with my craft and bits and pieces about life in NZ. I predict it will be featuring a new (hopefully functioning), iMac. You will hear the shriek of relief when it crosses the threshold and I go from struggling Macbook G4 to sonic speed iMac. ☺)) I will not mention that Apple initially rejected my credit card payment as it came from Ireland and we live in New Zealand and I have an empty credit card!! (I bet Steve Jobs doesn't read this....)

3) What do you create (if multiple things, what is your favorite)?
I make one-off art doll brooches/(pins). I can't make two the same, similar yes, the same - no and I make fabric bags that are popular with members of the Sock Knitting community. As I can't knit socks, the least I can do is make the bags they carry their yarn and circulars in! I aim to get some seriously larger Art Dolls up over the next couple of months. Much more expensive that pins though! I just love making them both. Sometimes I go off the rails and make a journal or a collage or something.....

4) Who or what inspires you?
This needed a bit of a think and I thought about what I see that excites me and fires my imagination. I went insane with creativity after looking around a Paul Klee exhibition as the Edinburgh Festival several years ago. He works in oils, collage, whatever. You name it, he metaphorically grabs it and flings it and his at the canvas (in a much tidier way than I ever could). How anyone could be unmoved by the man and his work is beyond me.

Fashion and Couture, and Hats!! There is an element of fashion (sadly lacking in a lot of New Zealand designers) that inspires and excites. It often comes from the houses of haute couture and the more radical extremes of modern art and fashion people like Philip Treacy the milliner - visual and intellectual ideas that are absorbed, adapted, transmuted and just grabbed and shaken by those who make the clothes for all of us to wear. It's not always a visual element though - it might be a concept, an idea, but whatever it is the impact can be tremendous. Let's take an example of the physical idea filtering down from "on high". Several years ago Alexander McQueen was working for a Paris couture house (I think %-) and he had his models stride down the catwalk in 'bumsters' and yes they were exactly that, waaaay below hipsters. Suddenly ordinary girls were demanding increasingly low rise jeans....

5) How many pets do you have and what are their names (any interesting stories about how they came to be your pet)?
Don't get me started on the subject of my cats - I am definitely a kitten bore through and through - are you comfortable... They are all the worlds most beautiful, talented, absolutely wonderful cats. The three adults are stray cats that fetched up with us in the U.K. Peanut (tabby and white), Sooty (guess what colour) and Little 'Un (tabby and white). Sooty decamped from the family across the back. They had two kids under five who LOVED to pick up the cat and Sooty is NOT a pick-up-able cat OK!?!?!?!?! Hisssssss. Our menu was also superior to theirs. Our two Kiwi Kittens now just over one year old Dot Kitten (tabby with a tine white patch on her toe) and Dash Kitten who is the most beautiful and adorable cameo boy cat in the whole world, who has micro-opthalmia - a small eye on one side - the other's fine. As a result he should, of course, be careful and not stray too far from home - yeah right. who's the last one in 11.15 p.m? Who is always hungry? Who tramples all over us in the middle of the night for the warmest spot? You guessed it - Dash.
ME
PEANUT
SOOTY
LITTLE 'UN
DASH
DOT

6) How do you give back to our animal friends? What charities do you hold near and dear to your heart?
I started with the usual 10% to the EFA charity of the month. I was worried that my fairly small amount would not make a difference but I realized that most sellers contribute small amounts and also give items to the EFA store, and these small amounts all grow together to make a donation of several hundred dollars each month - an international effort that can be focused on a small charity anywhere in the world. People can touch the other side of the world without leaving home - it's an astonishing thought and a powerful motivator.

A charity I am helping is Cedarhill Sanctuary http://www.freewebs.com/cederhill/index.htm . Some time ago I read a post on the EFA Yahoo group from SharonFosterArts telling of the loss of almost their entire senior cat community in a sudden horrific fire. Sharon gives constantly to help animal charities with her lovely ACEO's so I took notice. I was stunned by what I read - losing one pet is for many of us a devastating blow, losing a whole family who you know by name, and have loved deeply, is an unimaginable tragedy. I determined to have at least one item in my store to help Cedarhill for the whole of 2008. Cedarhill's site site has some lovely youtube videos of the kittens and the big cats they look after as well as a cool roaring from one of the big cats that plays when you visit the site. They also take Paypal donations which is a mega big plus for someone outside the US. So far I have raised $61 and it's only February as I write. More will be put in my store in March. I know that whenever I feel a bit low I can hold up my head and say I am helping Cedarhill when it is needed - I'm proud of that.