Faerie Tale Feet :: An Introduction & A Giveaway!

Listen.  Do you attend craft fairs?  Do you?  You should.  Not only because there is often some breed of fair food there (hellloooo funnel cakes and BBQ sammiches!), and not only because you can find some awesome & unique pieces of art that no one else has and that you didn't know you've been searching for your whole life.  Those are good reasons, sure, but also because you get to meet the artists.  And the artists, well, they're the best part!

Take, for example, Miss Hallie M. Gillett.  I was wandering through a local craft fair, looking at all of the photographs (soooo many photograph booths!) and jewelry (another often-found commodity at these things) and several crocheted items, when I happened upon Hallie's stop.  Okay, fine, I wasn't shopping anymore, I was looking for food that wasn't $15 a plate.  But whatever.  I found Hallie, and now I'm bringing Hallie to you, and that's all that matters.

hallie in her crazy nutshell:
a colour*consumed creative, i paint & doodle, star*gaze and adore caffeine.
She loves books, art, and God.  sweater weather is nice, too.

Isn't she adorable?  I knew I liked her right away when (a) she wasn't peddling photographs, jewelry, or crocheted things like 89% of the people there, (2) she knew what spoonflower was, and (3) she complimented RG's chuck-taylor-knock-off kicks.  Fast friends.  Now that I know her a little better, and know that she adores Rainbow Brite, would voluntarily be my cookie tester once I get around to opening a bakery, and is a fellow creative hermit who does like people, I'm hooked!  Hallie is (among other things) a painter who represents faerie tales (original spelling - the girl does her research!) through slihouettes of their significant elements, and the main character through their significant... feet.  [side note: That may be the WORST description of beautiful art, ever.  I'm going to include a picture now, so that you know what I mean.]

Who wants to guess the story?
Glass slipper, pumpkins, mice these things I know about.
Alligators and Fleur-de-lis,?
Makes me want to know more!

So what I've got for you today is a quick little interview with Hallie, followed by a giveaway for an AH-mazing greeting card set (Retail $36).  Seriously, you're gonna love them.  So lets do this. [side note: the interview is a bit long, so please continue after the break for the giveaway part!]

M:  Let's start with the all consuming question. What do you want to be when you grow up?

H: when i grow up i want to be creative.  picasso is often quoted as saying "every child is an artist.  the problem is how to remain one once he grows up."  i never want to lose the wonder at colour, beauty, nature; i want to remain inspired to make happy, colourful, joyous stuff.  : )  also, i think i'd make a very good cookie tester at a bakery.  will also accept cake & pie.

M: What medium do you use for your art?

H: i create all my paintings in gouache, which is an opaque watercolour.  windsor & newton is my fave brand.  i discovered it in color theory class in college, and while many (many!) find it unbearable to work with, i took to it immediately.  the brite, flat colors are delightful to my aesthetic, and i love the teeny tiny details you can make with a good brush, too.  : )  {yes, i'm aware most people don't spell "brite" like that.  but i grew up with rainbow brite.  she was/is my hero.  so i ode her in my spelling.} 

M: You seem to be quite taken with fairy tales.  Why do you think you like them so much?

H: i can trace my love of fairy tales (or "faerie," as i've spelled this series, because i'm going back to ye olde original source material) back to when i lived on okinawa, japan.  dad was in the navy, and we were assigned to okinawa for three years.  the only tv channel we got in english was either the disney channel, or i guess something that played a lot of the classic disney animated films.  also recorded off of japanese television and worn out were my vhs copies of "faerie tale theatre," a show produced by shelley duvall back in the '80's which were hour-long episodes of the classic fairy tales with celebrities.  they're funny to watch now-- everybody from robin williams as the frog prince, to michael richards (seinfeld's kramer) in the three little pigs... bernadette peters and the late christopher reeve in sleeping beauty... i've got the whole set on dvd now & it's amazing.  so i grew up on disney cartoons and those... and then later in life, during the "animation renaissance" that began with disney's "the little mermaid" in 1989, i would always read the original source material before seeing the next disney film.  (victor hugo's novel the "hunchback of notre dame" i remember reading at summer camp!)  and then i started going back to the old ones because i'm fascinated with how artists and filmmakers twist or elaborate upon existing material into something new & exciting for audiences to gobble up. 

M: What is your favorite fairy tale?

H: oh, man.  my favorite fairy tale?  does "peter pan" count?  i collect every cover and illustrated edition and film of that one that i can.  (i have the vinyl record of the mary martin's broadway cast framed and hanging above my cd collection.)  i also collect cool and antique editions of "alice in wonderland" and "the wonderful wizard of oz."  but as far as classic boy-meets-girl, i've got a soft spot for cinderella.  mary blair's concept work on the disney animated film is legendary and exquisitely inspiring to me, and matthew broderick was in the faerie tale theatre version of it, so i'm sure i had a crush on his cute face and politeness as prince charming since i was a kid.  plus that dress!  gotta love a sparkly ball gown!

M: What research do you do for your paintings?  Tell me about your process, it seems like you don't just slap some paint on some canvas...

H: i do as much research as i can-- going as far back as i can find a version of the known faerie tale-- whether it's hans christian andersen, the brothers grimm, or for example, for robin hood and maid marian, i even read some college textbooks on the history and legend of the characters.  i'll take notes in the margins for elements and details that might make good shapes to include in the background-- key elements from the tale that will give people clues to the plot and what the story might be.   i'll collect various artist's interpretations or illustrated children's books of the story, and netflix/library/watch as many dvds of films that i can, too.  THEN i'll get out my sketchbook and start sketching those little shapes and pick the strongest.  i might go shoe shopping with a friend, or browse piperlime.com for The Shoes i see in my head that i think define the character i'm about to paint... and i'll either look at the torn-out fashion magazine poses for feet posture that i've collected, or if i can't find what i envision, my cousin-in-law melissa will put on the shoes i need for reference and take direction as i make her pose for a reference photo or few.  i sketch in either colored pencil or a red pencil-- nice and loose- and then trace the outline i want to keep once i find the best recognizable silhouettes.  (i took a lot of sequential art and animation classes in college, too.  my major was in illustration, but there's lot to be said for the legibility of your subject's silhouette to read clear action!) allll that leads up to finalizing the background icon shapes and drawing of the feet.  i'll trace them onto a 11x11" square piece of tracing paper to make the final background.  then i'll retrace it with transfer paper between the tracing paper and my illustration board.  and then i'll start painting.  : )

Little Red Riding Hood.
I LOVE the boots!
See the hood?

M: Where do you do [that thing you do] your work?

H: my drafting table that i paint on is in my teeny living room.  i read on the couch, and paint at my table.  my walls are lined with nothing but bookshelves and art.  and one bookshelf is dedicated to art supplies that i keep organized in old tin lunchboxes. 

M: Did you know that for my entire highschool career, I used a tin spiderman lunchbox?

H: Nope.  Didn't know that.

M: What advice can you give about making art?

H: to me, if you're making art, and you're happy, do it.  no need to be intimidated by it.  if you love stick figures, draw those.  if you like to finger paint, the greater the mess, the better!  if you want to be a GOOD artist, yeah, it's gonna take a lot of practice.  but if you like doing it, do it anyway.  there is plenty of joy in just the act of creating.  so go for it.

M: Please describe your perfect pizza.  This is very crucial to our continuing friendship.

H: my very perfect pizza has a warm, gooey, very bready crust.  it's got either (depending on the day) pineapple & grilled onions, or spinach & feta cheese.  it's also perfect if i don't have to share.  and i get to eat the room-temp leftovers on my living room floor a few hours later.

M: For our final question, what would you declare to be the perfect pet name?

H: i'm scared of animals.  but as a kid, i thought if i ever had to get married, and HAD to have a dog, i'd name him "smee."  like, captain hook's chubby assistant.  so "smee" is the perfect pet name.  

Thank you, Hallie, so much for entertaining all of my ridiculous questions.  Talking with you really made me realize how much work goes into creating really good art.  But that it should also be enjoyable to just make things, too!  And thank you, also, for offering up to one very special reader a 18-card stationary pack!  Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

<3 M.