ART STORIES: Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter™

We're
talking with the artist, designer & creator themselves about their
chosen medium. Get to know the artist behind the items featured and
find inspiration in their personal stories of creativity. Today I would
like to welcome Margot Potter to Vintage Indie.

 

Margot in her studio, before she worked her magic!

Mixed Media Collage Bio Photo Copyright 2008 Margot Potter
"The studio shot was turned into a collage using vintage ephemera and a
painted background I made.  I thought it was kind of fun to show the
two juxtaposed, plus you can see the studio behind me!"

Hi Margot, welcome to Vintage Indie. Could you tell us what your preferred medium is?

For lack of a better term I call myself a mixed media artist, which means I work with anything that tickles my creative fancy at any given moment.  My ‘gateway craft’ is jewelry making (I’ve written five books on the topic.)  I’m a restless creative type and easily bored.  You never know what new toys I might have dragged back to my studio at any given moment.  I’m a bit like a crow in that sense!
 
 
Houston Museum Butterfly Project Mixed Media Design

How did you get started?

My mother is a gifted fine artist and graphic artist and my father was also incredibly crafty.  I was introduced to art at a very young age.  There are artists going back for generations on both sides of my family tree.  My great aunt was a painter who spent 30 years in Europe with the salon crowds befriending people like Pablo Picasso and Gertrude Stein.  My great grandfather’s hand tinted photographs are in the private collection of The Philadelphia Museum of Art.  My mother’s mother was a master seamstress and she never met a piece of furniture she didn’t want to paint black.  I come by my creativity honestly!  I’ve been expressing myself creatively for most of my life in a wide variety of ways.  I sing, act, dance, write books, poetry and lyrics, sketch, craft, decorate, cook…
 

Who or what inspires you?

That is a very, very long list.  Some of the ‘who’s in terms of art and design would include Georgia O’Keefe, Vincent Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Miriam Haskell, Elsa Schiaparelli, Tamara de Lempicka, 30s-50s era Pin-up Artists, The Romantic Painters, The Impressionists and Coco Chanel, but that’s the tip of the iceberg for sure!  As far as what inspires me, I’m being absolutely truthful when I say everything.  I find creative inspiration everywhere I go.  My brain is constantly turning and ideas are lining up at every moment waiting to be birthed.  The more you really ‘see’ the world around you, the more inspired you become.  I’m particularly enamored of vintage illustrations and fabrics, because I love the unusual motifs and the surprising use of color.  

Beyond the Bead by Margot Potter for North Light Books 2009

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

If you are a relentlessly focused personality, mixed media isn’t for you.  But if you’re a dabbler who loves the pu pu platter approach to creativity, you will thrive in mixed media.  Basically it means taking something from column a and something else from columns b and c and putting them together to see what you get.  You have to love making glorious messes and spectacular mistakes if you want to enjoy mixed media design.  It’s not for the faint of heart.  There are many, many great books on the topic; might I suggest my latest book Beyond the Bead for the neophyte mixed media jewelry maker or the paper crafter who longs to make jewelry?
 
Does vintage play a role in your art or life? If so, how?

I have been trolling thrift stores, estate sales, flea markets and yard sales for over 25 years.  I love vintage everything!  I’ve moved often, so many of my prize possessions have been sold along the way, but I am always on the prowl for interesting items to add to my collection.  Lately I’ve been hoarding ephemera and old games. I live in a 128-year old former Union Hall and Amish School House, so even my home is antique.  As you can imagine though, storage is a precious commodity.  I find paper fairly easy to stack in bins in my studio.  I use copyright free images in my work regularly, cut up old books and magazines for use in my collages (I realize some might find this blasphemous and I do apologize) as well as glean inspiration from vintage items for my designs.

 
565 Mixed Media Necklace

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

I’m here to inspire you to invite your inner artist out to play.  I don’t currently sell finished pieces, I sell ideas.  Forget thinking outside of the box, I encourage you to tear up the box, turn it into something fabulous and reach for the stars.  I want it to be fun, fast and easy and I want you to feel empowered to use my ideas as jumping off points for your own creative exploration.  You can see my work in my books, in our YouTube videos, on my blog , on my website and in the pieces I design for manufacturers like Beadalon and for the Create Your Style with CRYSTALLIZED™-Swarovski Elements segment of the Swarovski group. 

All Photos ©Copyright Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter™

A special thank you to Margot for sharing her inspirations with us.

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Have a great day everyone, we'll see you back here tomorrow!
xoxo Gabreial