I was contacted a couple of weeks back by the lovely Ambrosia from Lifestyle Asia Magazine to be featured in their upcoming issue, to my surprise yesterday I found out it was a full 4 pages! WOW, and boy am I super excited!
Here is the English version of the Questions I was asked
1. Can you tell us the concept of the label Esbert's Collection?
The concept behind Esbert’s Collection was for me to be able to do something creative, I had fallen out of touch with my art and I desperately wanted to get back into it. I was given a sewing machine on my 21st birthday and decided that it was time to start using it. I worked on small projects and ideas to get me back into the rhythm of making things and from there I kept improving and growing my collection to what it is now.
2. What is your design style like?
I don’t think I have a set design style, I guess I am sort of manic when it comes to making things. Once something becomes a chore I loose interest quickly and move onto new ideas.
3. Your idea appears on many different products, which series do you like most?
At the moment I really love the bearded men collection, I love watching people’s faces light up and comment about how they look like someone they know.
4. What is your workplace like? What is your ideal one?
I am lucky enough to have a spare room in the house for me to spread out in but it’s a total mess! I have no storage for anything so everything ends up in boxes. I am always on the lookout for storage ideas and can spend many hours on the internet looking at other people’s spaces and day dreaming about the perfect studio with lots of windows, plants and old unwanted furniture.
5. How do you name your handmade dolls?
I think about names once I have completed a plush, I try and match them up to their own little personalities, a name that you think WOW that really suits. Sometimes a name will pop up that’s just perfect and other times it takes a little longer to find the right one, for some I think up little stories about who they are and where they have come from.
6. Where do you find the inspiration?
I get inspiration from everywhere, sometimes an idea can strike at the oddest of times so I do a quick little sketch in my note book that I carry with my all the time so I don’t forget. I get inspired by many things, I see other peoples work and it encourages me to keep on improving on my designs.
7. Can you tell us your working process?
I usually start off with a sketch of my idea, and then I will start to break it apart such as head, body, arms and legs and work out how the pieces might look as a pattern, just like a 3D puzzle that needs figuring out. I then begin to draft a pattern, once I have completed this I put together a basic mock up to see what it looks like and if any changes need to be done. When a pattern is finished it makes it easier to work other ideas into it, by changing small components I can make it look completely different.
8. What do you like most about Australia?
And where do you want to live and be a creative there? I love Australia, I am from Queensland where it has a very laid back attitude towards everything. Over the past couple of years there has been a massive boom in the creative arts with more and more markets popping up for young designers and artist to access and sell their works. I also want to travel and experience as many
places as possible, I would love to go back to art school and study abroad, this world is such an amazing place and I don’t want to miss out on seeing it.
9. What advice would you give other designers or illustrators starting out?
I am still only a newbie myself and there is still a lot for me to learn, but it is important that no matter what you are doing you are doing it for yourself, follow your dreams and never let anyone hold you back.
10. What can we expect in 2012?
I have lots of new ideas and I want to keep moving forward with my designs, I also want to get into doing more art based work such as painting and illustrations.
