Q&A with The EAB Project
Please check out The EAB Project (a luxury brand development agency) on Instagram. I did a Q&A with Beth Anne, the founder of The EAB Project, where she featured our conversation on her feed and stories over a two week period! I want to thank Beth Anne so much for shining the spotlight on my artwork and of course for years of friendship and support! Those who know her know how cool and gracious she is. And if you don’t know her, please follow her — she has great taste in jewelry, art, wellness, travel and life! She’s incredibly supportive of female artists and I’m honored to be included in her beautifully curated story. Follow The EAB Project!
And for more of my art, please visit Drawn for You and Dream Catch Repeat!
Q: Being in LA, you went into lockdown before many of us ... do you find that the time inside is fueling or oppressing your creativity.
A: It’s definitely not oppressing my creativity, but it’s not exactly fueling it either. I’m most creative at home and I get a lot of ideas or sparks during my meditations. (I’m a devout TM-er, twice a day, every day — and haven’t missed a single mediation in 7.5 years!) I’m fortunate that I love my home and my surroundings, and I feel very happy and peaceful here, which of course is very inspiring.
Q: You work in several mediums - does the inspiration for one ignite creativity in the other? Or does your process have you stay single-minded? For example: is it all Drawn for You and then it's all Paige and Ginger - or do you cross-pollinate?
A: I would like to cross-pollinate more, but I just don’t know how to do that yet. Between my photography and Photoshop work, the line of dreamcatchers, and self-publishing projects — like the children's book, Hybrid Animals I wrote and illustrated — my mediums are all separate at the moment. At times, one gets more focus than the others, depending on which project seems to have the most momentum behind it. On a good day, I can give each of my projects the same amount of attention and that makes me feel complete. But that’s not always the case, since I can’t force creativity.
Q: What is it like working with West Elm and has that lead to other opportunities?
A: I’ve really enjoyed working with West Elm. They are very supportive of local artists and really go out of their way to help make each pop-up a success. The team is very helping in hanging my dreamcatchers and providing furniture/products for my display. It’s been a great experience but unfortunately, sales haven’t been quite as high as I’d hoped. My first two pop-ups took place at the newest West Elm location in Downtown LA, where foot traffic is still pretty light. At my most recent pop-up, at the Beverly Blvd. location, the rain kept lots of shoppers away. But I am hopeful and will continue to have pop-ups as soon as life goes back to normal.
Q: What has been your most exciting event (other than the birth of your amazing nephew, Niko) in the last year?
A: Aside from watching my sweet Niko, the most exciting event is witnessing my beautiful twin sister be a mother. I’m in such awe of her mothering style: so happy, so loving, patient, nurturing and so much fun. I enjoy every moment I get to see her with her son, it makes my heart so full.
Q: Do you have a favorite artistic outlet?
A: My favorite by far is Photoshopping Paige and Ginger. I get such a kick out of creating fun scenarios for them and the possibilities are endless!
Q: With Dream Catch Repeat, how do you source your stones for your pieces and do they hold specific meanings for you?
A: I source them all from the Tucson gem shows, which take place every year at the beginning of February. It’s my absolute favorite trip of the year! I used to pick up any stones that appealed to me but now I specifically look for stones that I can best adhere to a dreamcatcher — usually those that are flat and, if they’re agates, with holes in the center so I can wrap them easily. I love all gemstones but I’m particularly drawn to amethyst, aventurine and citrine - they are very powerful.
Q: Tell us about the origins of Paige and Ginger!
A: Paige (the brunette) and Ginger (the blonde) are my hyper- feminine, powerful, do-anything alter egos. Catty, funny, confident and youthful, they also offer an opportunity for me to feel “safe” speaking in their voices, much like a ventriloquist. I love them (so much) partly because they have absolutely no fear — they walk tightropes, travel into space, perform ballet, big wave surf, and, above all, speak their minds.
The idea for them formed years ago, when I decided I wanted to stage some wild photos, like placing a sweet baby doll in some kind of crazy scene, but then I started to see that had already been done so I abandoned that idea. Then I thought it would be fun to do something with a set of Barbie-like dolls, so I bought five small dolls that looked like they were from the ’60s. I was frustrated because they didn’t bend and I couldn’t get them to pose like I wanted so I ditched them too.
That’s when I found Paige and Ginger at a craft store and fell in love with them immediately. Something about their faces — they were the perfect canvas for my ideas. I started traveling with them and posing them in different scenarios, as if they were little humans. My intention was to feature them as real girls, not dolls, so I was careful to pose them in places where viewers would see them as real beings. For example, I never pose them with people, because I don’t want Paige and Ginger to seem small in comparison.
I take a mixed approach when it comes to imagery of the dolls. Sometimes I photograph them in real-life settings. Other times I Photoshop them into images I find on creative commons. These days, it’s more the latter because they’ve gotten a little banged up over the years — Ginger not so much, but Paige is now almost a double amputee! (If anyone knows of a good doll doctor, please let me know. I’m not joking. ;)
Q: Drawn for You has such a satirical and expressive hand. How did DFY begin?
A: Thank you! Before Drawn for You, there was My Pet Croc (created in 2003), a series of illustrations featuring quirky animals and their strange habits — such as “My pet croc is a vegan,” “My bunny reads Playboy,” “My fish is on Prozac,” and many more. I created a website and t-shirts to showcase the illustrations, but didn’t get much traction so I stepped away from that project for a while. In 2013, I started drawing again — the illustrations expanded to include people, current events, weather, food, Howard Stern Show antics, you name it. That all laid the foundation for a small but steady custom drawing business. People from around the country will send me photos of their loved ones (kids, pets, husbands/wives) and I'll come back to them with custom illustrations that usually end up as birthday or anniversary gifts. I love adding in fun details about the subjects (such as, they're big fans of Disneyland or train cats for a living), as those details make each illustration that much more personal. The drawings have evolved over the years as I’ve honed my style. I hand draw everything on a mouse which is why the drawings are very imperfect, with lines that aren’t closed.
Q: Last question. What are you doing at home, other than art, that is bringing you some sense of peace?
A: As I mentioned, I meditate a lot, which is essential to my peace. I also do workouts on this free app called FitOn — I try to do something daily if I can. I read, I cook, I dress up in different fun earrings or necklaces every day to feel fancy, I FaceTime with friends. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t do something creative. (Oh yeah, I’m also a freelance web designer, so I squeeze in actual work designing websites, logos, look books, ads/banners, etc.)
