Interview with... Meridian Ariel
Apryl is a lovely lady with a taste for everything rustic and primitive Americana. She can lend herself to many different crafts, jewellery, illustration and embroidery, but these themes are prevalent throughout.
Who are you and where do you come from?I’m Apryl Lowe, an anthropology/Art student dropout from California turned illustrator, turned blogging crafter, and geek, with a few stops in between. I was born in New York State and grew up in Northern California. For the past decade I have lived in Derbyshire with my husband and our incredibly industrious and inventive five year old Jedi Knight in training, and two cats.What do you do in your spare time other than craft?I love to cook and bake, experimenting with various recipe combinations. I have apparently developed a following for my brownies and cupcakes at my son’s school. Good to know that there is something to fall back on if this crafting lark doesn’t pan out. I’m also movie and sci-fi/horror novel geek, and have the coke bottle glasses to prove it. And I drink copious amounts of coffee, my vice of choice next to dark chocolate.Please tell us a little bit about what you make.I play about with a lot of different craft mediums, semi-precious beaded jewellery, illustrations on vintage story book pages, I knit simple objects(patterns are beyond my meagre brain comprehension) , and this past few months I have been teaching myself embroidery and sewing.What do you enjoy making most?Right now I’m really enjoying playing about with fabrics and paper, and learning to sew simple objects.What part do you dislike the most?Can I say the self promotion aspect of crafting? I’m terrible at selling myself and my creations, I can only hope that they speak for themselves.What are your main inspirations for making a piece?I draw inspiration from everything around me, the books I read, the movies I watch, my dreams, and my daydreams when doing the housework, Domestic Goddess I am not. I find that I am inspired by my crafty friends and the work of fellow crafters in the blogging and crafting community, sometimes all it takes is to see someone use a colour or bead or piece of fabric and my thoughts spiral in new directions.Do you plan out your designs or do you get stuck in straight away when inspiration strikes?I try to plan out my crafts but when inspiration strikes sometimes you just need to go with the flow and make what feels right with what is inspiring. I always carry a notebook with me wherever I go, so that when inspiration strikes I can scribble down my thoughts and little doodles.What are you currently making?At the moment I have been playing with mixed media art, combining fabric and vintage book paper with ink, paint, and card. I have also found a passion in sewing small lavender and rice filled warm bags, and a slight obsession with owls. Hopefully some of these works with filter through to my etsy shop.Where to buy...http://meridianariel.etsy.comhttp://meridian.folksy.com