Hello, I recently got to interview a member of our team and one of my favorite artists, Greenfingers! Join us as I learn how all of that awesomeness comes to Etsy.  
 

Frogget: What is your artistic Process? 
Do you sit down and know exactly what you’re going to make that day?   Do you work a project from beginning to end in one sitting or do you work it bit by bit as you have time?   Do you work on one project at a time or multiple projects?   Who/What inspires you to create your Art or write? 

Greenfingers: When you ask about my artistic process, there really are three different kinds--one for knitting, one for creating the nature spirits and amulets, and one for writing. 

Creating the sacred items is bizarrely unpredictable and haphazard. It either starts with someone requesting something for a specific purpose, or with a sudden, out of the blue, desperate need to create something with a specific energy.  From there it goes something like this: walk around outside. Find interesting things on the ground that feel right. Bring them in to the studio. Stare at them. Move them around. Stare some more. Put them together with wire or fabric or twine. Stare again. Drink tea. Dig through boxes of beads, fabric, random found items until I find more things that feel right. Move them around. Stare again. Drink MORE tea. Finally get them to where they feel right, and charge the results with reiki. Done. 

Knitted projects are much different. I'm really fussy and meticulous with knitting--which is probably why knitted projects take me so long. It's a perfect outlet for my more uptight qualities--I can indulge to my hearts content in my "it has to be perfect dammit!" tendencies. It's very satisfying, but also requires a lot of focus. Oddly enough, I do the most knitting when I'm under the most stress. I guess it's a way to turn all that anxiety in to something awesome. The downside of this is that I'll often go months at a time without knitting. Where with the nature spirits and charms I tend to just float around until it feels right, with knitting I do a lot of planning, a lot of swatches, a lot of ripping out stitches. And while I don't PLAN the embroidered part of the designs, I do a lot of tearing out and re-stitching there too. It's maybe a little bit crazypants, but I'm usually happy with the results--so that means it's worth it, right? RIGHT? 



KNITTED HEART

Writing is a different beast. Where do stories come from? Everywhere. Nowhere. A lot of my work is inspired by folk and fairy tales, and oddly enough, several of my short stories were inspired by songs. For example, Visitation, which appeared on my blog in February (http://greenwoman.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/first-sunday-short-fiction-visitation/), was inspired by the Iron and Wine song "Boy with a Coin". 

When I write something--whether it's a short story or something longer--I start out by doing a detailed plot outline. Then I sit down and write, following my outline, in a big rush. I don't fix spelling errors or worry about grammar or anything, I just bang the thing out. Then I take a break for a little while and work on something else--usually a couple of weeks, sometimes longer. Then I go back and reread the whole thing, reading only for the flow of the story, cutting out things that don't seem to fit or that aren't necessary, looking for holes in the plot, etc. I spend a lot of time working on getting the plot coherent, and THEN I start the more detailed editing of character motivations, relationships, etc. And then, after everything about the STRUCTURE works, I go through and work on the writing itself. I guess it's like building a house: make sure the foundation and structure is solid first, then add the walls and flooring, the stuff that makes the house complete, and only THEN do I decorate the house. Between each editing pass, I take a break to work on something else and get some distance, so when I start the next editing run I come to the story refreshed.  

The thing about writing is that everyone has a different process. I'm still learning about mine, so who knows? It will probably change over the coming years. 
 
Frogget: How long have you been knitting and why did you start? 

Greenfingers: I've been knitting for about six years. I started because I love scarves, and I love yarn. I immediately became addicted. 
 
Frogget: What is your craft space like? Do you have a dedicated space? Messy Organized? 

Greenfingers: I have several work spaces. I suppose that means that I leave messes everywhere. I knit and embroider in bed or at my desk, mostly. I write on my laptop wherever seems good at the time--most often at my desk, but sometimes in bed or at the library or a coffee shop. And I have a little trailer that I've turned in to a (messy) studio where I make all of my sacred items. I find that it's best to have a dedicated site for all the things that use twigs and herbs--otherwise my carpet is always littered with plant matter. And goddess only knows what bits of herbs would do to my laptop. I really don't want to find out. 

Solar Goddess

Frogget: Can you tell me a bit about your garden/land?    You mention a Curly Willow Tree and a multitude of herbs in your listing, as well as a Rose Bush. Sounds beautiful! 

Greenfingers: My husband and I own about an acre. I have a large herb/flower garden, and we also have several big raised beds that we grow vegetables in. We also keep egg and meat chickens. You can see all kinds of pictures of the place on my blog. Here's a link to an entry that shows the "farm"--photos taken from the roof of my studio.  http://greenwoman.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/a-view-of-the-farm/ 

And there's a photo of wreaths in progress under the curly willow in this post, along with more pictures of the garden:

http://greenwoman.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/august-on-the-farm/ 

I love my herb garden especially! It pretty much takes up the whole front yard, and almost everything in my shop comes from it, except for the knitted items. At this point I'd have to bore you to death to list everything growing there. 

 
Frogget: Can you tell me a bit about your spiritual path? Who do you most identify with? Do you practice with your family? a local group? Just us Etsyians?

 
Greenfingers: My spiritual path is very free-form and eclectic. I use the term "pagan" because it's handy--my spiritual path is very earthy. I don't do a lot of formal ceremony or magic, and I don't take part in a lot of ritual . . . instead, I feel that life is an ongoing conversation with spirit, the divine, whatever you want to call it. Every action is part of this path--cooking a meal, vacuuming my floor, making my bed is no less sacred than healing or art or music. The only difference is in my own awareness--so I strive to become more perfectly aware of the presence of spirit in each moment. Of course I don't always succeed, hence using the term "spiritual PRACTICE".  

I am mostly solitary, though my husband and I occasionally do ceremony together, and I do healing work with most of my friends and my family. I do attend a crystal journey circle every 6 weeks, where a group of us meditate with specific stones and share our experiences. And occasionally I meet with a group of women to observe one of the seasonal festivals, especially Imbolc and Samhain. 

The deities I identify strongly with are Brighid, Mary Magdalene, and the Green Man. But I also have a strong relationship with the spirits of the land I live on--I don't know what you'd call them, faeries or devas or what, I just know that they are very abundant and have no problem making themselves known to us. 

Craft Your Own Smudge Stick

Frogget: Do you have any advice for people who are new to the team?  

Greenfingers: My advice would be to build relationships with other Etsians and especially team members--that's where most of your sales and your word of mouth promotion are going to come from, and where you're going to get the most support and advice. Also, why be on a team if you don't want to get to know the other people on it? 
 
Frogget: Do you have any advice for people who are new to Etsy?  

Greenfingers: Yes. Please, for god's sake, read the FAQ section, and the Do's and Don'ts. ALL OF THEM. Preferably BEFORE you open a shop, but at the very least immediately after, and DEFINITELY before you go asking people questions. Etsy is excellent at posting all the information you need to know--make full use of the resources offered to you.