Craig Schilling

Name: Craig Schilling
Website: Beardedwood.com

What do you do?
 I grab pallets from dumpsters and turn them into centerpieces for your living room

Where can we find your work?
Your neighbors living room or at Beardedwood.com

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
I love the two part question- crappy mass produced ikea coffee tables inspire me/ thinking that I have an opportunity to make people smile each time they walk into their house keeps me MOTIVATED.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process?
Finished product holds my attention / process stirs my mind.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
Roy Johnson at johnsonartstudio.com for his leadership, dedication, & his strength to never give up when the chips are down.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
George  Costanza

When do you get your best ideas?
Driving home Friday night with a hatchback full of skids.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
 Wooden pallets that you've thrown away.

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
100% self taught = no boundaries

What would your creative work taste like?
Pulpy.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
Walk down to the bridge with my 2 year old son.

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
 I'm still not sure.

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
 "The path to success is to take massive determined action" Tony Robbins

Kath Piros

Name: Kath Piros
Website: www.artfulcrab.com

What do you do?
I am artist who is concentrating on fused glass jewelry, housewares and sculptures, but I also love to paint, doodle, and I’m a passionate crafter.

Where can we find your work? 
A lot of my work is on my website, www.artfulcrab.com, though I find Facebook easiest to post my latest work hot out of the kiln.  I am also honored to have my work in the Triton Museum of Art’s store and on a new trunk show website, www.joydejewels.com.   During the summer and Christmas, you’ll find me doing various craft fairs.

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough?
New ideas and experiences inspire me to create.  Having coffee with my artist friends inspires me, the way we kick around techniques and talk about what we’re working on. 

When things get tough or busy, it’s hard to stay motivated. 
I think every artist has had a creative block.  Often, I find learning something new keeps the creative fires burning.

What do you think is more important content/finished product or technique/process? 
When I create a piece of art to sell, then finished product is most important, though great work is best with good technique. When I teach, however, I stress technique & process over finished product for students.  When you are simply creating for pure pleasure, the process is what it’s all about.

Who are some people who influence and/or inspire you?
I am influenced by a variety of people and things.  I love fashion, and will often read a magazine and respond to a piece of designer clothing with a bold necklace or earrings.  I am influenced by my painting muses, Mondrian, and his primary color blocking, as well as Georgia O’Keefe and her up close-up views of things.  I am from Vancouver, and every time I visit my family on the west coast, I am influenced by the towering, scented cedars, dense forest, cold water and sea life.

If you could be any fictional character who would you be?
I would be Princess Elizabeth from Robert Munsch’s “Paperbag Princess.”  I used to read this to my daughter when she was young, and I can identify with her can-do attitude and strong-willed manner.

 When do you get your best ideas?
Hands-down, 3 a.m.   I often wake up in the middle of the night with these great ideas and can barely get the kids off to school before running into my studio and bringing my ideas to life.

What materials/tools do you use most to create your work?
At the moment, I am concentrating on fused glass artwork, so I am cutting big sheets of glass and fusing it in my kiln every other day.  I also love to bead and paint, so it is not unusual to find me with a pair of pliers or a paintbrush or three!

Are you self taught or formally educated? How do you think that has influenced or affected your work?
I am self taught.  I’ve been taking after-school and night classes in art since I was in elementary school, and I’ve never stopped. I went to university with a goal to become a news anchorwoman but soon found that I was more interested in covering stories about artists and art galleries than politics.  It was this epiphany that led me to where I am now, an artist who continues to learn, and give back by teaching others.

What would your creative work taste like?
My work is like a good piece of blue cheese on a warm slice of French bread.  Bold. Strong. Interesting to look at.  Not like the other cheeses on the plate.

When you are not creating what do you like to do?
I love to teach children.  They give me energy and inspiration. I also love to shop….particularly for shoes!

How did you learn to access your creative talents and gain the confidence to put it out there for everyone to experience?
I am part of a family of artists – both my dad’s and my mom’s side of the family are very artistic, so accessing my creative talents was never an issue.  It was normal in my family to design our own prom dresses or create a painting or photograph to adorn the walls.  Gaining confidence to put it out there is another thing.  My whole family knows what I can do, but when I made my own company and website last year and put my art out for everyone to see, I was really scared.  I still have self-doubts, but it’s been a long-time dream of mine to have people either wear my artwork or have it in their homes. The only way to make this happen is to put yourself out there!

What advice would you give others just beginning their creative adventures?
For those just beginning their creative adventures, I would encourage them to find their own voice.  Keep experimenting, keep learning to grow as an artist.  I also find that scheduling time to be creative gives you permission to try new things, work on your craft and get better over time.