Interview with Temno!

Teresa of Temno is in a live journal Etsy group of mine, and she volunteered for an interview!

1.Which part of your work do you most enjoy? Which part do you find hardest?

The part that I definitely love most is the image editing in Photoshop, when I take the photo as came out from the camera and modify it, or paint over it, until I get the exact image I had in mind, or sometimes something different that surprises me too.

The part I find hardest is the promoting one. As I'm a student too, part of my day I have to study and I can't be very active on Etsy forums or chats, and I find it difficult to write a blog on a frequent basis. Plus, I'm Italian (that's why I have some difficulties in writing English) and when it's morning here in Europe it's night in the US, where most of fellow Etsians are from. I'm losing part of the "promoting day" this way.

2.Where do you get your inspiration?

I take photographs of things I see, mostly I love the textures that are hidden in the flowers petals, I always think of how many shades of color I could pull out of a flower when I see one.
Some of my "more personal" work, let's call it so, is a research based on self portraiture. The thing I've always aimed at is to look at myself from the outside, and my camera enables me to do so it's kind of an external eye.

3.What is your favorite item that you have purchased on Etsy?

I haven't purchased a lot 'til now, and I wish I can buy more before the winter holidays, but the thing I've loved most is a set of sample soaps from Soapdoap, especially the Lavender and Black Amber soap.. it's luxurious indeed!!

4.If I could sell one item from my shop today, it would be...

Probably my dyptic, the wild roses one. I think it would just revamp someone's wall.. Imagine the splash of colour on a white wall, in a white frame!






5.If I had enough money to pick one item on my wish list from any shop on Etsy to buy, it would be...

Oh, my God! This is the best question! Maybe these bangles from Kateszabone http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vt_related_1&listing_id=15385387 But I love everything from that shop!

6.What is the best advice you have ever received?

I don't usually like advice :)
But there's a quote I like, by the Greek philosopher Aristotle
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but an habit."
Well, I am always seeking excellence from myself (and I'm disappointed most of the times :) )

7.What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

I'm kinda new too.. soo.. Just try to make this crafting/selling experience the most enjoyable for you! And don't stop exploring your abilities even if your work doesn't get the visibility you are expecting. You should do it for yourself, first of all :)

8.How do you promote your work?

I'm not a great promoter, and the fact that i don't write a blog is quite explicative..
Since now, the best thing I've done to promote has been making good photos that could go on Etsy front page (that's how I got one BIG sale)..
I help on the forums sometimes, or ask questions, or just chat, when I can, and that's it.

9.Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I'm studying to be an architect and I'm working sometimes as a photographer or graphic artist. Just little things to help me with my studies.

10.What led you to start selling on Etsy?

Maybe my passion for bookbinding. I'm part of a group of handbinders on livejournal.com and following some links I found Etsy (that is not very popular here, still). I decided to give it a try, but I wasn't sure of what to sell: I had photography, cards, jewelery and handbound books. Now I'm keeping my jewelery for myself and I'm concentrating much more on photography, which is my number 1 passion. I sometimes bind books that have my images as covers.

11.How would you describe your shop?

My shop reflects some aspects of my personality: I love seeking for beauty in the things I see, looking for hidden shapes in the objects. The colors of my shop are my favourites: there's a lot of black, of shadows, but there are accents of strong vibrant colors too (like strong and acid aqua, dark pink, white). I want to offer my customers things that I would love to receive or buy too.
That's the reason why I also make cards with my photographs on them: if you can't afford the fine art print at that moment, you can still have a nicely printed card, with the subject you like!

12.Are you working on anything new right now or is there a craft you would like to learn?

Ohh.. I would love to learn how to: sew, crochet, gocco print, make metal jewels like the ring I've linked before, needlefelt.. anything else?? If I had more time!!

The thing I'm really working on now is to find other inspiration for my photographs and for my Pulcinotti (i forgot to mention! I've got another shop: pulci.etsy.com , it's filled with cuteness :D ) and just this keeps me busy enough!

Thanks for the interview Teresa!