marchi wierson : artists who blog

A couple of months ago, I discovered artist Marchi Wierson's blog Marchi Made It & Friends and her Etsy shop. It was love at first sight when I saw Marchi's beautiful felt jewelry and objects, and her blog is witty, fresh, and delightful to see and read (so be sure to check it out)! On her blog, Marchi gives us a peek at her many personal creative projects, and she has a great eye for cutting edge art created by others. To view a wide variety of her 2-D and 3-D work, have a look at her Flickr site.



from December 12th, 2008:

Why did you decide to start a blog?

Before I was on etsy or even thought about etsy, I browsed the craft blogs and was really amazed at the mass of talent and creative energy out there. I tried to blog in a journal style at that time, but I didn’t enjoy it. I was writing about my daily life and found I am too private for what I was writing. I felt uncomfortable, so I stopped. When I started etsy, I felt a connection to what other people were trying to do, and also I found what they did inspiring. So I started to write about what I found to be inspiring in some way. Now my blog is a place where I gather things together which are meaningful to me. In this way, I have come to enjoy blogging.





How did you come up with the name of your blog?

My blog name comes from my etsy shop name. I wanted there to be a close connection between the two sites. My shop is “Marchi Made it” and my blog is “Marchi made it, & friends”. The shop name came about because people were asking me or my friends about art or crafts I had made. My friends would say, Marchi made it. I liked the sound with the “ems”. But I do have to clarify the sound of my name marchi/sparky, because the sound is part of why I like the shop and blog name. Also, the “and friends” reminds me I am connected to these other creative people. I do spend a lot of time working individually. And I can get very focused on my own things. So its good to raise my head and see what other people are doing. I find it inspiring.



How has blogging affected your work as an artist/designer?

I don’t have a sense that doing my blog has effected my art works or crafts directly, but it does keep me connected and encouraged, which helps me when I am discouraged or tired.



What are your favorite artist/designer blogs? Why?

That is a very difficult question. There are so many great sites and artists. On my blog I have 4 rotating blog lists called “3 to see”. I had one long list before I started "3 to see", but I felt it was getting monumentally long, and that maybe I could narrow it down for my readers. We will see how my "3 to see" goes. This week my top 3 sites out of my 4 short lists of “3 to see” is
outsapop trashion
pingmag
30gms

What these sites do is show me things I haven’t seen or found on the web myself. They show me ideas I hadn’t thought of and things I wish I had thought of. This week I have been on Ping a lot. It calls itself a magazine, which is essentially a group blog I think. Creativity, novelty, innovation; these things inspire me and help me to expand my range of what I think is possible.



Why do you think blogs have now become so popular with artists and designers?

I think its different for many, but ultimately we want to share what we do in some forum. Blogging is one.



Do you have any advice for artists/designers who are starting a blog?

Do what interests you. Its best I think, if in some way the blog holds what ever it is that is important to the writer.




What has been the most positive and inspirational aspect of having a blog for you?

I havent been doing it long enough to pick one thing that is most positive for me.



What are your top goals for 2009?

To let the seeds I planted this fall by starting etsy and my blog grow into healthy plants. I want to see what develops while I do what I can to benefit the process.

Thanks Marchi!