ART STORIES: Interview with Sabrina of Fox & Clover

An artist after my own heart. A creator who's medium turns recycled
windows into unexpected art. From broken pieces of kiln mishaps a new
line of jewelry is born.  I love the flow and thoughts that come from
certain artists. Today I would like you to meet Sabrina from
Fox & Clover.

Hi Sabrina, welcome to Vintage Indie, can you tell us where you are from?

I'm a native of the lovely
St. Croix River Valley in Minnesota. I've got quite a travel bug,
however, and since age 18 I have lived in Australia, Wisconsin,
Indonesia, Dallas, San Diego, Singapore, Paris, Minnesota again, and
now Seattle. Whew!

Me in my studio & my worktable.

I read on your blog that your studio is in a
1920's building. Can you elaborate on that a little for us? What drew
you to house your studio here?

I was in a brick 1920s office
building in St. Paul, Minnesota up to January 2009, when I moved here
to Seattle. It originally housed all the deeds to land along the
Northern Pacific Railway Route between Chicago and Seattle. My current
studio is in a Chinese noodle factory building. Artist studios are on
the first floor, and a fully functioning noodle factory is in the
basement. In both cases I put my studio there because that's where
cheap artist space was available. Simple as that.

My kiln with my stash of reclaimed windows behind.

What is your preferred medium?

Recycled
glass. All my works are made of scrap windows and scrap picture-frame
glass. I'm also starting to dabble in painting fine art on scrap wood.
Sustainability and re-use is a priority in my work.

How did you get started?

In
2005 I was living in Paris with my boyfriend (now husband), who is
French. I was doing photography, and contemplating returning to
academia. I found myself drawn to photographing artisans of old
forgotten crafts, however – people who carve knife handles, weave lace
doilies and forge iron gates. At some point I realized I didn't want to
observe artisans anymore, I wanted to BE an artisan. I craved the calm
simplicity of working with my hands and with tactile materials. One
thing led to another and I found a school in Paris that taught a full
professional diploma in traditional stained glass. I spent a year at
this school, where I learned to cut glass, enamel it, and solder it in
lead (as well as joke around a lot in French). I got my diploma, then
moved back to the US and opened my studio. The rest is history.

Who or what inspires you?

I'm
captivated by patterns. This began when I lived in Indonesia and I
discovered the rich patterns of traditional batik fabric and the ornate
carving on Hindu and Buddhist temples. Over time I also found Japanese
fabrics, Portuguese tiles, Victorian wallpaper and Islamic geometric
patterns. I always try to incorporate patterns and ornamentation into
my work.

Also, I'm inspired by natural history. What is more
beautiful than nature? I particularly love a rather obscure
19th-century Japanese artist named Shibata Zeshin. He depicted nature
in a way that is realistic yet charming. He cleverly captured the life
of small creatures, like a grasshopper on a squash vine or a turtle
slipping into a stream. It's visual poetry.

The above shows the traditional stained glass painting technique that I
learned in France – all the details in black are handpainted using very
old techniques then fired in a kiln — it's exactly the same technique
as the details on European cathedral windows.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this medium?

Very
few people work in glass enameling or traditional painted stained glass
(especially in the US), so you will need to find some kind of teacher,
which are few and far between. It's hard to begin on your own. There
are a handful of teachers in the US, and more in Europe.

Does vintage play a role in your art or life? If so, how?

All
my raw material is vintage. I have a whole corner of my studio full of
salvaged windows and picture frames. But I transform them into new
items, ready to create a new story.

What is important for your customer to know about your work?

That
it is entirely handmade – every step of the process comes from my two
hands, including cutting the glass, slumping the glass, and most
importantly hand-painting the enamel designs. Some people think it is
machine-made or screen-printed. Most definitely not! I work with a
loving adherence to old artisan traditions, even when my designs are
modern.

All Photos ©Copyright FoxAndClover

A special thank you to Sabrina for sharing her inspirations with us. Visit her Etsy shop Fox & Clover to purchase some of her gorgeous designs.

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Have a great weekend everyone, we'll see you back here on Monday!
xoxo Gabreial