04.13.08

My Interview with Gail, Owner of Polka Dot and Persian

Posted in Uncategorized, jewelry, hand crafted jewelry, shopping, site promotion, interviews at 11:04 am by KellyM

Please meet Gail Harding, Owner of http://polkadotandpersian.etsy.com.

Where are you located? Edinburgh, UK
What do you design? Jewellery
Where/How did you learn this? Edinburgh College of Art
Favorite Artist who inspires you? There is lots of art that I like, but not all of it directly inspires me. However, I love: Andy Goldsworthy, Charles Rennie Mackintosh watercolours, Gustav Klimt, Cynthia Cousins, Maurice Sendak, Arthur Rackham among many, many others.
Where does your inspiration come from? I always find this a strange question for me…I don’t get inspired to make something in particular, like I don’t look at a tree and go “ooo, I’m gonna make a necklace about that”, it’s more that I get inspired to make and create in general. I get inspired to be creative in my own way by many different things. People who are excited about what they do and are honest and truthful about it inspires me a lot.
Where do you design your creations? I have a room in the flat which is the “studio”.
What does your work space look like right now? I share this tiny room with my boyfriend who is a musician, so my end of it is tidy in a maximalist kind of way, but the rest of the room is a mass of guitars and cables. I have lots of stuff in a small space so there are piles of little boxes containing various things and lots of bottles and tubes and tools. I have just put up a new pin board as a mood board and am slowly filling it. My large jewellery work bench takes up most of the space.
How does your family feel about what you do? I think they think it’s great. I’ve never asked them specifically, but they are all very supportive and enthusiastic.
Best advice you received when starting your business venture? Keep records! Write things down so you don’t forget how you made something and take pictures of all your work - even the things that you think aren’t worth selling.
Favorite part of owning your own business? The feeling that I am not working for ‘the man’.
Least favorite? No money.
How do you relax? Sleep, bed, wine, friends, reading, music, and cleaning. Really, giving a bit of my flat a good tidy is a calming thing for me.
Favorite color? Turquoise.
Does this color show up in a lot of your work? No, well occasionally if I use ribbon, but generally not.
If there were more hours in the day, what would you be doing? I’d make more jewellery. I’d also read more, I have a huge list of books that I want to read but never seem to have enough time for.