PurrPrints - Mini Challenge

One of the many wonderful benefits of belonging to a group such as Etsy is the opportunity to meet innovative and caring people. PurrPrints is another wonderful graphic artist (I so wish I could draw!). She loves animals and donotes 5% of her profits to the Shamrock Foundation, a local no-kill shelter. Additionally, she is a member of Etsy for Animals.

The nifty thing about PurrPrints art is that she has captured the quirky elegance of the cat without falling prey to the kitschy country look that so many cat artists succumb to. She works with simple silhouettes and balances them against intricate backgrounds or fill designs. But cats are not all she does! She also does some wonderful abstract work.















Q&A with PurrPrints:
A Little About You:
What is your favorite morning beverage?
Just plain cool filtered water, actually. I know, how terribly dull of me :)
Do you prefer cats or dogs?
Cats! (in case my book, shop, and profile pic didn't make that clear--though actually I do like dogs and draw them as well--I grew up in quite a menagerie)
What is next to your computer right now?
A whole bunch of art supplies and stuff for school that I'm supposed to be working on.
Do you like your handwriting?
When I focus, I do; I took calligraphy so I can make it look nice--but my everyday handwriting looks like a chicken grabbed a pen and ran across the page with it.
Would you bungee jump?
I ask myself this periodically, actually. It looks like fun, but I'm petrified of heights.
If you could meet one historical figure, who would it be and what would ask him/her?
Oh wow, the classic tough getting to know you question. It would be a toss up between Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), Moses, Mohammed, and Jesus; I'd like to know what any of them think about how people use their ideas today.

A Little About Your Mini Scrapbook:
What prompted you to join the Mini Scrapbook Challenge?
Great excuse to avoid schoolwork! No, just kidding--well, kinda. Really it's because I love miniatures and I hadn't ever done a book project before, so I thought it would be a fun way to push my boundaries.
When you first saw the album, what did you think you would do with it?
I knew I'd use some of my cat drawings in miniature, but I wasn't sure whether I'd put them on mini-collages or hand-drawn backgrounds.
What did you end up doing with it?
I went for the hand-drawn background idea, and as I was planning it out the theme of "chasing the blues" just kind of popped into my head, probably because I'd had a kind of tough week the week before. I was originally just going to have the ending be a picture of a piece of chocolate, but when I was talking about it with my husband he suggested something else. That's when it dawned on me that the book could either be a cheer-up gift (with an ending like chocolate) or a thank you kind of gift (with an ending like "you"), and I didn't want to limit the options so I decided to leave it open for the buyer to decide.
Is there a theme to your album? Why/why not?
Yep. I think I've covered that one in the previous question, so I'll refrain from repeating myself here (even though I'm exactly the kind of chatterbox who likes to repeat herself--lol)
Now that you have worked with one, would you want to do another one?
Maybe, though I think I'd like to try something slightly larger--say maybe in the 4x6 range--just to push myself to do new things. The books are adorable and really fun though, so I'll probably come back to them at some point.
What would you do differently next time?
Probably glue more and draw less, both to try something different and to use my time more efficiently.

A Little About Your Art/Craft:
When did you first start crafting? Why?
Forever ago. I really can't remember when I started. My grandmother was a painter, and I know I did a lot of arts and crafts with her, but I think I've been doing it too long to know the original "why." Now I do it because it prompts me to use completely different mental muscles than my work as a PhD student requires, and that's incredibly valuable for my sanity
What is your favorite material/technique?
Anything with ink--drawing, inkwashes, dipping oddly shaped or textured materials into ink bottles and laying/pulling them across a page to see what happens...
What are your favorite colors to work with?
Purple and blue. Unless you're counting black and white--in which case definitely black and white :)
Are you good with written instructions, or do you need pictures?
Depends on who wrote the instructions. Sometimes I can follow pictures better, sometimes words.
If you could learn one new technique, what would it be? Why?
Sewing. I'd really love to make some cool pillows and bags and other fun fabric stuff out of my designs.
If you could give one piece of advice to a young person first starting out, what would it be?
Art and crafting are too painstaking and underpaid to do for any reason other than sheer joy. If you're not loving what you're doing, try something else. And switch to new materials and/or subjects every time you start to get frustrated or bored.