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| Satin Corset solid body fragrance by For Strange Women |
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| Jill McKeever
Me (Brehan Todd)-Hello Jill, it’s so nice to meet you. Tell me about your background?
Jill-I am an electronic artist and analogue “craftress” in Kansas City, MO. As an artist my first language was dance, then music, and now perfumery, and although they seem as if they would be very different, these disciplines are truly interconnected. Balance, harmony, acute sensory perception, and creative alchemy will always draw me into their magic.
I have a “professional” background in video, graphic design, screen-printing, and photography. I refuse to work for “the man” anymore though.
No, I am a self-teacher. I experiment a lot and I go with my instincts, always.
The moon and the kitty cats I encounter on my walks around the neighborhood.
How do you know when a scent is complete?
I usually already have the exact scent I am wanting to make in my mind before I begin making it. For this reason, sometimes it takes a really long time to create a perfume. Some have taken as long as a year to get right.
Absinthe seems to be really popular these days in the form of novelty items. We love your absinthe lips at Flutter. Could you describe the taste for those of us who have never tried absinthe?
“Absinthe is a very bright, sharp taste, similar to black licorice but not as harsh or dark. It is often prepared with sugar so when it is sweetened it tastes like a really delicious candy, and almost minty.”
Where do you find inspiration and ideas for new products?
I just make anything that I wish existed (but to my knowledge does not.) I think a lot of people have great original ideas all the time, and the inspiration is not as difficult to harness as the motivation to do it.
My favorite product is always the new one that is next on the list to make. I have tons of ideas lined up and not enough time to make all of them, and when I am working on something new I can hardly stand it because there has been so much thought and anticipation to get to the point where I am developing it!
Yes, I designed it. I have made other websites in the same way, where each page is a “room” in my virtual space. I am a cancer and inviting people to my home is very satisfying to me, as well as working from home. Most of the furnishings are actual photos I took of things around my house and I just arranged them on a lovely vintage wallpaper background. My home does not have lovely vintage wallpaper, though.
What films, music and fine art do you find inspiring these days?
I have been listening to Broken Bells a lot lately… I love music that has texture and organic sounds layered throughout a well developed soundscape. I used to do a lot of audio design and music production so I really have an appreciation for well produced albums, which there are not much of anymore! Everything is done so fast and cheap, and so much has been lost in the digital landscape.
I love documentaries, and am going to True/False fest with my boyfriend next week-ish. We are also working on a documentary that will be out next year. My favorite painters of the moment are Colette Calascione and Swanbones.
Thank you so much to Jill for granting us this interview. Stop in a see, and smell these amazing products at Flutter, or visit our online shop to order. |
We’ve got a new batch of cards in Flutter, beautiful bold silhouette images on soft pastels. The artist behind these designs is Leigh Batnick, aka JEZEBEL. JEZEBEL also produces tees and totes with the same classic feminine imagery. Flutter caught up with JEZEBEL for an interview, and to reorder cards, natch!
FL-what works of art do you find inspiring? music? film? books?
J -Books, books, books, films, films, films, music, music, music. Little,
Big by John Crowley, Virginia Woolf, childhood classics, Jeanne Moreau,
Hitchcock, drawing room comedies, Bergman, Daisies, early Disney, Bob
Dylan, Billie Holiday, Leonard Cohen.
FL -if you could chose a few other professions, any at all, school-be-damned,
what would they be?
J-Writer.
FL-if you could live in the past, in any era, when and where would you live?
J- New York, always and anytime. With plentiful travels to Big Sur,
Laurel Canyon, Paris, Mozambique, the Greek Islands.
FL-the best way to spend a rainy day is..
J -with the record player whirling lazily and near-silent, as KP plays
his guitar, while Teepee & Coral listen intently. The bedroom floor will
be covered with discarded sections from the Times and a round of magazines
and a stack of books and the coffee will flow and the Kobo Grapefruite e
Tabaco will burn.
.leigh batnick.
.jezebel stationery.
.correspondence for the vagabond heart.
.from brooklyn, with love.
www.ilovejezebel.com.
.202-607-5958.
Vagabond Picnic by Jezebel, a fine jewelry line featuring 14k rose gold
ants interlocked in a labour of love, and new t-shirts and tote bags are
available at www.jezebelstationery.etsy.com. Wander through Jezebel’s dark
forest at www.jezebelstationery.blogspot.com.
Flutter has a clutch of new artists showing their hot stuff in the store, and all month we’ve been giving them the spotlight by hosting their trunk shows. This week the big tent of our three ring circus is devoted to Gossamer, a duo of wonderful ladies whose are as bold and beautiful as the jewelry they create. Some of my favorite things in the store are Gossamer designs, like the hairpins and rings made with vintage buttons. I love when Vicki brings in the whole tub of them, and I get to sift my fingers through the glittering rhinestones and bakelites and beads. Everyone has their own personal favorites, of course, but I get to choose before everyone else and so I am VERY LUCKY. The Gossamer ladies also make leather cuffs and necklaces that are tough and sexy. They’re really good at what they do. Come by Flutter on December 16th (that’s this Wednesday!) to see for yourself, and check out the Gossamer Blog for more pictures and updates. The amazing photo above, taken by Lara Blair, gives you just a taste of what Gossamer is capable of.
FLUTTER: What are some things that inspire you?
Vicki Wooten: Everything pretty much inspires me. I’m sure I could even find inspiration in a rock. Some of my favorite artists are Gustav Klimt, Waterhouse, Frida Kahlo, Erte and Georgia O’Keefe. As far as my taste in movies: period pieces and vintage black & white movies because I have always been interested in costume design. I have collected vintage and antique millinery, buttons, textiles, clothing and jewelry most of my life and am especially drawn to the 1920s. Being the book junky that I am, I have never met a design book I didn’t like. I have a pretty extensive library on art, fashion, jewelry design, textiles, interior design and the list just goes on and on. Musically I can appreciate all genres of music. I secretly wish that I would have been a teenager in the 60s so I could hang out in Haight Ashbury and would have been at Woodstock. Yes, I even thought I was Janis Joplin in my teens. But now I listen to old school western. The “Man In Black” Johnny Cash is #1 with me.
FL: If you could choose a few other professions, any at all, school-be-damned, what would they be?
VW: A profession that would give me the flexibility to work from my home that of course would be a farmhouse in the country. Perhaps a textile designer, writer or an artist that makes money!
FL: If you had an astronomical budget for materials, what strange and beautiful things would you work with?
VW: My business partner Beth and I already use amazing vintage embellishments and found objects such as millinery, textiles, buttons, feathers, gems, metal, hardware, etc. Having an endless amount of money would let us purchase expensive materials, more of the same, things that in the past we would have had to pass up. We would go “On the Road Again” driving throughout the USA in my very cute cherry red vintage pickup with an airstream in tow stopping at every thrift store and weird hole in the wall shop in search of unique treasures that we can incorporate in to our jewelry designs. If I had all the money in the world I would still want to search for the material myself because for me there is nothing like the thrill of the hunt. Since I am a true Oregonian I would always maintain a home in Oregon but would love to have a home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
FL: If you could live in the past, in any era, when and where would you live? Why?
VW: Being the rebel that I am I would have loved to live in Paris in the 1920’s. Consuming the free spirited Bohemian Lifestyle of self-expression, creative energy and their nonconformist attitudes… besides all the excitement of the times with Josephine Baker dancing at the Folies-Bergere, the modern art movement, Erte and the birthplace of Art Deco. What else could a girl want? My art and life have always been surrounded by people, places and events that embrace the true bohemian life. By creating art & furnishings from recycled materials/found objects, they really created a world of their own. Free to be who they are, myself included.
FL: The best way to spend a rainy day is…
VW: Eating Popcorn dripping in butter, watching old movies, reading books and magazines, sketching, drinking pots of coffee all while lying in bed…I’M IN HEAVEN!
A few months ago I threw a handful of questions to Sonia Kasparian, of Urchin Design. I’ll reprint and repost her answers for the Winterview series, with some new pictures to keep things updated. Also, I have since discovered that when working with sportswear company Roxy, she designed their lady’s boardshort! The one that revolutionized the surfwear industry and made Roxy the giant it is today! Wow. Lucky for us, Sonia’s penchant for couture pointed her in a glamorous new direction. I love how much you can learn about an artist based on their interviews. For instance, when I asked Sonia which movie she’d like to have done costumes for, her answer was revealing: Brazil, the freaky futuristic masterpiece by Terry Gilliam. Her love of baroque details and metallic greige would have redefined the film’s take on fraught couture. Sonia has a velvet touch with old dresses, gently and deftly handsewing and coaxing them into new creatures. It’s like each dress is an Eliza Doolittle, and she’s Henry Higgins giving them a glamorous new lease on life. Hey, she should design for the remake of My Fair Lady while she’s at it. Below is the complete, in-depth q&a; with the genius herself:
FLUTTER:
Who would I want to collaborate with?
SONIA KASPARIAN: PJ Harvey.
FL:What movie would I want to have worked on the costumes for?
SK (hey we have the same initials!):Brazil definately..
FL:What is my favorite food?
SK:Coffee
FL:What is the biggest risk on a random night out with me?
SK:That I may rescue a stray cat or a large piece of matter…ie wood, metal whatever to make something out of.
FL:If you weren’t sewing, what would you be doing?
SK:A million things. Gardening, making art, working out, seeing friends…….
FL:
Whats your background?
SK:Well, I went to Otis/Parsons school of art & design in L.A., intending to come out a fine artist, but took a summer class at the local college in illustration to try to figure out how I would make a living while being an artist, and the instructor came in drunk the first 2 classes. I took that as a sign to go into fashion as my major, and do fine art, not commercial, for myself.
FL:
What would you do if you were not an artist or fashion designer?
SK:Architecture for sure. I would have chosen that first, but was told at the time that you need to be really good at math, and since math makes me almost break out in hives………..anyway, now I hear there are computers or something that calculate that for you.. Sigh.
Sonia’s lovely Urchin line is always available at Flutter, but on December 10th from 5-8 we will also be hosting her trunk show!
Check out more of Urchin’s Designs on Flutter’s Designer page. Sonia will do custom fitting for all her pieces, and she has been known to create dresses to a client’s specifications as well!
