MINTIMINDI: MINDY FISHER

INTERVIEW WITH MINDY FISHER OF MINTIMINDI



Tell us a bit about yourself (name, location, personal stuff).
My name is Mindy Fisher. I grew up in south-western New Hampshire. 10
years ago I moved to Chicago for school. I went to Columbia College for a
BA in Set Design.

Are you a full-time artist/crafter?
No. I work a sometimes part time/ sometimes full time day job as a barista
at a small restaurant.

How long have you been in business?
Well I've had my Etsy shop pretty much since the beginning of Etsy.
However when I started I was making crocheted plush creatures and coin
purses. I was always into drawing and painting more so I switched over to
that.

What percentage of your income is from "online" sales?
I would say about 10 or 20 percent. Honestly, I rarely get online sales.
When people see my work in person they find it much more impressive I
guess. This year I've sold more online so far but through different
venues.

What can your customers look forward to for 2008?
Well I'll be painting a lot more of my Ornaglyphs. This is the series I'm
working on...single panel comics that can be mixed and matched to create
original surreal comic strips. I have 20 paintings that I haven't even
listed on Etsy...they are in a show right now here in Chicago. I'll
probably have more limited edition buttons made up. I *might* do prints
but I don't know about that. Another thing I hope to work on is hand
painted upholstered furniture with my mom and sister but that is on the
back burner for the time being because my mom was bitten by a dog a few
months ago.

What do you utilize most for INSPIRATION?
Everything, things that make me scratch my head, things that make other
people scratch their heads, humor.

How does being CREATIVE effect your life?
It's very therapeutic. I can escape from all the boringness and stress
into this crazy, funny world I'm creating...and it makes me happy that I
can let other people into that world. I'm also a strange person who
doesn't fit into a professional atmosphere and hopefully I'll be able to
use my skills to support myself more without having to rely on working for
other people.

What do you love most about what you make?
I love that my stuff is open to interpretation which makes it interactive
for my audience. They don't have to come up with their own narrative...but
the fun colors and my crazy writing is very inviting. It's very cool when
people tell me their interpretations or what they get out of the
paintings. I try not to think about anything when I make these...so when
somebody tells me that they see some social message or tell me I'm making
stuff about the bible that cracks me up. I really enjoy hearing what
people see in my paintings.

Do you offer any services such as, wholesale, custom orders,
swapping or bartering?
I'm open to trade and barter. I've done consignment but not wholesale. And
custom orders I most definitely do. I've done portraits of peoples kids,
signs for a restaurants bathroom doors, and even a cover for a soundtrap
in a recording studio as well as straight paintings.

What advice can you share with other artists/crafters?
If you get bored with what you are doing try something new. The great
thing about working for yourself is that you are not bound to sticking
with the same thing forever. Also don't feel bad about making a profit off
of what you do. Many times I have struggled with this because I think
about how I can't buy many handmade items because I can't afford them, and
neither can most of my friends. I say start high and see what happens. I
recently had someone ask me to make something for them and it was
something I hadn't made before. I was going to have to buy materials I
wasn't familiar with and it was going to be a challenge to make something
huge in my apartment...so I took all of that into consideration and went
high with the price. My client didn't even blink an eye and I thought that
they might haggle. In fact I probably could have gone higher!

If you had "studio elves" what job would you give them to do?
I would have them add the hardware to the backs of my canvas and frame my
paper paintings. Also they would take photographs and list my stuff on my
website, etsy, and flickr. And last but not least I would have them do
housework and grocery shopping.

Do you have studio tips on staying organized, and working
efficiently?
Well, when I work on stuff I will work on at least 3 paintings at once.
First I sketch all of them out...then I paint each color on all three. My
last steps are "lettering", touching up my mistakes and spraying sealer.
Taking your time can sometimes be the most efficient thing you can do. I
tend to rush then I end up smudging somewhere on my painting and have to
go back and fix it...which ends up pissing me off and not making the whole
process any faster.

If you are someone who can't stay organized (like me) I would say the best
thing to do is to just have a shoebox or a bin of some kind with all of
the materials you are using at that moment. That way it's all in one place
and you can dig through that for whatever you need.

Please share why "buying/selling handmade" is important to you...
It isn't often that I get to buy handmade items but when I do get
something I treat myself to something that I think is going to be well
made and that is something not many other people are going to have. I'm
willing to pay more for something that I know I am going to like for a
long time and is going to be durable. Less is more.
As far as why selling is important to me...my mom is an upholsterer. She
built her business from the ground up because she couldn't stand working
for other people. Although she had to devote her life to her business it
did give her flexibility and independence...and now that I've been working
for smaller companies I never want to work for any kind of corporate
company again if I can help it.

Besides creating & selling handmade goods, in what other areas of your
life do strive to be 'independent, resourceful, & creative"?
Health is a big one since I am uninsured. My partner also struggles with a
life long mental illness and has to rely on the city's program for help.
It takes a lot of work on our half to read up about the medications they
prescribe to him because they usually don't know much.

Household chores and repairs are other areas where I am becoming more
resourceful. If you learn how to fix things on your own you save a LOT of
money. I could stand to learn more about cooking but that's what my
boyfriend is for.

Where would like to be in 10 years?
In my fantasy world I would live closer to my family on the east coast. I
would live in a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment (one would be my painting room,
the other would be my partners music studio). I would be able to afford
health insurance at least for my partner. And I would get to travel at
least once year and maybe we could have some cats or dogs. And it would be
especially nice if this would all be possible through my own means of
course.

An alternate fantasy I have is living in a camper or a van...something
where my life is stripped down to the bare essentials and I would just
sell my art as I traveled or at festivals. I dunno...this might be more of
a where would you like to be 5 years ago.

MUST VISIT MINDY'S OTHER ONLINE DIGS...
HER MAIN WEBSITE http://www.ornaglyphology.com ...
is where you can see most of her work that's been completed in the past year.

Her Flickr Portfolio!
& MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT MINDY FISHER'S MYSPACE
& ADD HER AS A FRIEND!!!