© jill bliss. all rights reserved
2008
my love for you... blog interview
giant robot magazine interview
2007
another girl at play interview
2006
dpi magazine [taiwan] feature
crafty synergy blog interview
design sponge blog podcast
fred flare interview
2005
herbivore magazine, winter 2005/ 2006
sfist interview
about: interviews / press
my love for you...blog interview
april 22, 2008
interview: jill bliss.
i'm so pleased to bring you my latest interview w/ one of my very favorite artists, jill bliss. jill is an artist that i have admired both artistically and professionally for quite awhile. jill's colorful palette of dots, lines, circles and shapes create beautiful images of native flowers, trees and beautiful, organic designs. a great example of what a working artist can be today, jill works incredibly hard. her shop blissen is an inspiration filled with everything from tiny buttons to original artwork. jill took a moment to answer some q's as she was winding down from a very busy start to her year.
you grew up on a farm in northern california, how has that influenced you as an adult? both personally and professionally w/in your work?
i was just discussing this with my mom the other day, who was concerned that those farm years weren't such a good idea after all for us kids because the slowness and idealism of farm life may have made it more difficult for us to reintegrate into "normal" corporate lifestyles as adults. my brother [he's now a computer programmer] and i are both unafraid to work around the clock until the job at hand is finished, and we're both attracted to working within small groups of people, and i think these traits can be directly attributed to a family farm mentality. both of us briefly tried working in large corporate environments, but it didn't work for either one of us.
in the corporate world, i just couldn't wrap my head around all the people in the same environment, each having their own narrow set of tasks. on the farm if you see something that needs doing you do it, you don't wait around for permission or wait for someone else to do it because it's not your job to pick up all the walnuts before the storm hits and ruins the entire crop. and then not being able to see or understand how the whole organization worked was equally as puzzling. it was all just too big and beyond a single human scale for me.
also...growing up on a farm, i got to experience the entire cycle of life, and the deep commitment every component within the cycle must have in order for everything to function properly. at the same time, the experience also taught me to remain flexible and optimistic, to remember that every situation, good or bad, is temporary. for example, you can lovingly tend to a crop for the whole growing season, and then one storm can come and destroy all your hard work for the year. it's not your fault, nor the plant's fault, but you have to find a way to survive it and go on with the belief that next year's crop will be better.
nature is one of your biggest inspirations which is kind of a huge umbrella category, can you describe your favorite places and things w/ in nature that inspire your work right now?
trees are always my number one. they're like people to me, which i guess comes from growing up in orchards. after them, i'm always intrigued with all the small over-looked details in the forest or in the tidepools.
being eco and earth conscious is very important to you. can you tell us a little bit about what you do in your work to maintain these beliefs?
i read a lot of non-fiction devoted to environmental studies and economics both as inspiration and reminder, and go for lots of walks/hikes. my mfa thesis was studying the visual language of anthropomorphism. as a result i'm interested in figuring out visual ways to garner empathy and understanding for non-human things, without resorting to adding a human face on them. i don't think i've succeeded at that yet, but i'll keep trying!
you are one of the first artists i remember to start using recycled materials, it's such a normal thing to see w/ in art & the art-commerce world now. did people 'get' you when you first started out or was it a struggle?
isn't that awesome that it's normal now?! at first i learned it was just easier to downplay that aspect of my work and concentrated on attracting people to the things i made because they were well-designed or well-made. then, afterwards, maybe i'd reveal the recycled part, or just keep it to myself like a little in-joke.
now that i sell larger quantities of things i'm beginning to use "new" materials, but i remind myself that these new materials should also be recycled or sustainable. and i strive to make just enough items to satisfy demand. making too many items, even from recycled materials, is also wasteful.
what's your feeling on how trendy "green" is becoming?
i welcome it, i'm constantly learning new things and ways of working and thinking. and there's more and more people and places available for me to work with now as a result. even though it may be classified as a trend, i think it's much more than that. i don't think any of us will have a choice in the matter for much longer.
when and why did you start blissen?
blissen came to be in may 2001, as a place to sell limited edition goods i made from materials left over from other projects.
you were incredibly industrious as a child. are any of your products at blissen reminiscent or inspirations of things you made as a child?
now that i look back on it, it all seems like a lifelong natural progression. i've never not done what i do now, it's just on a different scale these days. on the farm we were paid once a year, in january, for crops harvested in the summer and fall. by october the funds would run low so i'd help my mom make holiday craft items to get the family through the rest of the year. i graduated from making spice ropes, raggedy anns, pom pom animals and quilts in middle school when we moved back to "the city." by then i was altering thrift store clothes and accessories or making them from scratch for me and my friends. then art and design school projects, and nights and weekends devoted to making stuff, and now what i do now.
you have designed so many beautiful paper products, what is it about paper for you? do you yourself write letters? are you online a lot?
paper and fabric are my two favorite materials for sure. although wood is pretty appealing when i have access to a good woodshop! paper is just an easy material to work with because it's easy to find. i do write a lot of letters. and emails. i'm not so good with the blog thing, either writing one or visiting others' on a regular basis. the social networking websites aren't my thing either. i prefer one-to-one communication.
how i first found you was through your delicate and beautiful flower necklaces about 5 yrs ago. what was your inspiration/drive behind making something so delicate and unique? how many incarnations have you made since the first one?
gosh, i have no idea how many different flower necklaces there have been! i remember the first ones were inspired by learning the names and shapes of different flower parts, and wanting to make 3 dimensional models of those to help me try and remember the names. i want to get back to those roots of making small meticulous hand-made fabric items!
can you tell us some of your favorite blissen products right now?
right now i'm using my datebook and datebook cozy the most! oh, and my perfect pocket wallet. and the notepads. and the notebooks. my favorite products are always the newest ones, right now i'm incubating a few new ones i can't talk about yet!
as an artist you are heavily associated w/ northern california however you are now living in portland, what made you move?
yeahhh, i'm just another californian ruining oregon. i really, really tried to stay home in the bay area with all my friends and family, but could no longer keep up the 90 hour workweeks necessary to pay the rent. the increasingly expensive, competitive and desperate atmosphere down in california was totally draining and affecting my ability to work. i'm still recovering.
i think my first visit to portland [as an adult] was in 2005, jenn at the recently closed motel gallery invited me up for a show and i was enchanted. it's all her fault! since then it's been my favorite quick-get-away-for-the-weekend destination, so much so that a lot of friends here began asking me "so when're moving up here?". i moved this past summer and my favorite thing besides my friends is the gloomy weather. it was disgustingly sunny and nice this past weekend, and i just couldn't wait for the rain to return!
who are some of your favorite peeps in the art & craft world?
right now i'm interested in art more than craft, and i've been mesmerized by the work of nigel peake, jen stark, jenny bowers, helle jorgensen, jacob magraw...in person, i try to keep up with friends saelee oh, souther salazar, caroline hwang, evah fan and brendan monroe, and fellow portlanders brittany powell, amy ruppel, bishop lennon, apak, kara at egg press... i'm sure i'm forgetting a lot of people and places.
what are you listening to? any favorite bands you want to share w/ us?
i'm just rediscovering music, both old and new favorites, via mp3s and digital downloads rather than cds and records. wow, the "shuffle songs" feature is a brilliant invention! i know, i know, i'm a little behind the times!
well i've been listening to a few of the bands you mentioned a few weeks ago and checked out some of the other ones i hadn't heard yet. it's getting harder for me to find whole albums i like, mostly it's a song or two only. to your list i'd kick up the dance factor a bit with the ting tings' "great dj" , justice's "d.a.n.c.e.", and cut copy's "future".
as for albums, on my i-pod m.i.a. and seawolf have been on constant repeat this past week. and i'm looking forward to re-aquainting myself with life without buildings' "any other city" album. i can't find a digital download for this anywhere. i bought the cd online and have to figure out how to transfer it to my i-pod so i can listen to it over and over and over no matter where i am with headphones so i don't drive anyone else crazy with it. i tend to listen to a particular song or album continuously, like it's my personal soundtrack for a project or time period.
what's coming up for you this year?
right now i'm taking a bit of a break to reorganize and re-prioritize. the past few years were overwhelming and extremely busy both professionally and personally. all of it was necessary, but now i need a time-out! once i'm done catching up with sleeping, i have a few book ideas and fine art and limited edition goods ideas i'd like to work on.
can you give any advice to to peeps who are just starting out on their own self-employed, creative adventure? any key nuggets of support or inspiration you'd like to share?
dream big, but start small! learn from your mistakes (because you'll make plenty), don't get discouraged by them, and seek out like-minded people to work with. and find a good accountant. they're expensive but worth every penny. a good one will help you figure out how to hold onto as much of your hard-earned money as possible!
giant robot magazine
the natural, blissfully yours
april 2008
like a crafting alchemist, jill bliss uses everyday items such as ball-point pens, fabric scraps, paper cuttings, and basic thread to make objects that are unique - stationery, household items, office supplies, and artwork. her deceptively simple, nature-inspired style stems from her growing up in a do-it-yourself household surrounded by nature in Northern California, and then going to art school. selling her work directly to fans online or via indie boutiques around the world, bliss has become an indie-business icon. transcending studio art, graphic design or craft culture, her name is a lo-fi lifestyle brand - a grass-roots counterpart to martha stewart or ralph lauren [!!!]. i had tea with the artsy crafter a few days after the opening of her collaborative show with Saelee oh at GR2.
How did you arrive at your current way of making a living?
lots of trial and error, really! what i do now is what i've always done on nights and weekends, after the day jobs or after classes. making things gradually took up more and more of my time, and gradually began paying the bills. i still augment my income with other freelance jobs from time to time.
Have you always drawn pictures? Can you describe your style of drawing when you were a kid?
i've always drawn and made things. some of my earliest pre-school memories revolve around the newspaper roll ends my dad would bring home for me from his night job at the wall street journal. i was in love with my huge box of crayons, you know the one with the built-in sharpener? i'd draw the jolly green giant life-sized, or draw complex toys my friends had that i didn't. i'd try to construct them in 3-d from paper, or hang them on my walls like a mini art gallery.
my grandfather's retirement consisted of painting thomas kincaid-type canvases in his garage, while my dad had his own room in our house where he built and tinkered with machines and computers. both influenced my own playtime in my room when i was locked away for bad behavior, which was often. at some point my parents realized locking me away wasn't really punishment at all, and that my bad behavior was actually because i wanted to be alone in my room drawing my alternate world!Has your artistic style changed a lot over the years? How has it evolved, and what were some of directions you’ve taken?
all of my work has always revolved around line work and color. i've tried other mediums and ways of working throughout the years, but i always remain true to pen and line. although i'm interested in exploring the similarities between all things, depicting this idea with non-defined edges and solid swaths of color doesn't interest me.
Your work tends to mix a ton of small details with a lot of open space. Are you ever tempted to just keep drawing when there’s so much canvas (or other material) to fill? How do you know when a piece is finished?
i like the interplay of open spaces and densely filled spaces. eyes, like everything else, need rest. that being said i've been craving making a very large piece densely filled with small details. it would take so long to make though, and my hands are getting bad, but some day i'll get to it!
Do you find that the nature that you depict is drawn from your youth or memories from your youth? Or is it something you see that inspires every day?
the california landscapes are such an integral part of my childhood memories: exploring and falling into the tidepools at the beach, playing with friends in the snow in the forested mountains in both the winter and summer, all day explorations through the rural rolling yellow hills near the family farm with my dogs... my best memories involve all the small natural details i was surrounded with.
it wasn't until i lived in the grey concrete landscape of new york city for 5 years that i realized how important those details and the natural landscapes they live in were to me, to all of us. i also realized how much our cities are another version of nature - there's just as much activity in a natural landscape as in an urban one, it's just on a different scale. but since there's not a lot of human activity to notice in nature, people tend to overlook it or see it as "empty." i try and keep all of this in mind with each project that i undertake.Do your art and craft sides ever struggle or are they always in tandem? What about design?
i don't really see major differences between art and craft apart from form versus function, and then design can be a type of marriage between the two. it really depends on the context in which an object is presented. i like to oscillate between these three ideas and explore that fine line between them. i love art that can be utilitarian, or utilitarian objects that are artful.
You work with so many mediums and make so many things. Do you have a lengthy to-do list or do you just go from one project to another with ease?
both! i sometimes get a little panicy because i feel like i have so many ideas, and i'll never have enough time to get to them all. every creative person i talk to struggles with this problem.
What’s your schedule like? Do you work until your eyes bleed or are there starting and cut-off times?
every day is a little different, and the amount of work per day depends on the time of year. but usually i am answering emails, packing orders, sewing, designing new things using fabric or papers i've found or been given, drawing, working on freelance design projects to supplement my blissen income, going to the post office, and walking my dog! it's very busy, but i'm so grateful to do what i love!
Do you take certain jobs to afford you the chance to your other jobs or do you like them all equally? Put another way, are there certain gigs that you would cut out of your schedule if you had your druthers?
i know what you're getting at! i used to do these kinds of jobs, but after seven years i've been able to mostly segue into freelance or shortterm projects with friends or like-minded companies. one of several motivators to move to portland was to escape working for others completely so i can concentrate on my own work exclusively. i've been here 6 months, and so far so good!
Why did you move to Portland? How is it different than San Francisco?
northern california has changed so much during my lifetime with the constant influx of new residents and high prices. it was time to relocate to a place that still retained the relative affordability, friendly people and sense and support of local community i grew up with. and it doesn't hurt that I love gloomy weather, lots of trees, and moss!
You went pretty far in art school, and even got an MFA. What role did art school play in your development?
for me, art school was an escape from the real world of 9 to 5 jobs. i'd work a few years, get sick of it, go back to school, graduate, get a dumb job, then repeat. i adored school. the emphasis on learning new things, constantly exploring your strengths and limitations, questioning and improving everything around you all the time, and the manic work schedule that didn't conform to 8 hour days at a desk... it suits me well.
but now that the world appreciates independent art, craft and design - and internet shopping - i don't need to hide in school any more! which is good, because the narrow focus of an mfa left me dreading the even narrower focus that a ph.d would entail!Is there a part of you that resents the current popularity of indie or crafty art, and wants to keep it to yourself - like whe a band you like suddenly gets big?
No. i actually like the fact that there are so many people making things now and so many independent art, design and craft goods out there! when i began making things to sell on my website, in stores, and at events, there was a lot of consumer education on my part. they didn't necessarily know or care that the materials were reused or recycled or made by me rather than someone else, or even why those issues were important. consumer awareness has coem a long way in the past six years, and i think a big part of that is because so many people make their own things and understand what's involved in the process now.
How long has environmental impact been part of your work? Was there a news event, activist or artist, or book that informed your outlook?
i think it's always been there. i grew up on a family farm for part of my childhood where i was surrounded by lots of plants and animals rather than people and people-made things. at the same time, by necessity, just about everything we needed was made from whatever materials were at hand, including our house, our clothes and machinery. this background served me well over the years as a poor art student and later as an artist/designer committed to working with materials at hand! from there, it's a natural progression to using materials that have less environmental impact.
It seems like you do a lot of collaborations. Why?
most of my collaborative projects come about pretty organically. it usually stems from an interest in someone else's work and a curiosity to see how or why they do what they do. if everyone involved can let go of their ego and expectations of the finished result, collaborating can be really rewarding.
Is collaborating easier for you? Harder? Depends on the person? Explain.
like any relationship, it really depends on the people involved. sometimes it's easy and works well and other times it totally sucks and you end up hating one another. and you never know which it'll be until you try.
i think it's because the act of creating is usually done alone, so it's a really intimate experience that some creative people may find hard to share. there's a certain level of trust that has to be established and maintained when you're spilling out all your tricks and secrets. my favorite collaborator ever so far is, of course, saelee. we have a natural affinity for the same ideas and they're always evolving. for the last three years we've collaborated on a yearly calendar and all the artwork and design that goes into it. each year our little project gets a little more intricate; we challenge ourselves a bit more, and top what we did the year before. the themes, processes and ideas in our yearly collaboration creep into our own individual projects we do on our own the rest of the year. always a sign of a successful collaboration!I’ve got friends in bands who say they can’t wear their own T-shirts and Eric doesn’t even like to wear his own GR shirts too much. Do you tend to use your own things? For example, do you wear your own floral necklace and carry our own pencil case, wallet, and mirror around?
i can no longer wear my own tshirts or totebags or jewelry unless i'm testing out a new design. i feel too self-conscious at this point. but i still use all the utlitarian things i make: the wallets, the notebooks, the datebooks, the journals and all the cozies. i'm constantly figuring out ways to improve them as i use them, or if i run into someone else using them i solicit improvement suggestions.
Tell me about your role in the Save Gocco movement.
in december 2005, i was commissioned to write an article on gocco and discovered through my research that they would be phasing out the system in the u.s. there were also rumors of a possible world-wide phase-out. it was devastating news, gocco is a big part of the new arts and craft movement.
at the time, i was living in southern california and would be at a craft event the next day. my partner and i stayed up all night. he created the website while i made the logo and some "save gocco" flyers, buttons and stickers to pass out the next day and get the word out. i didn't really realize what i was getting myself into! thankfully lots of other people have taken up the cause and it appears gocco is on it's way towards full production again.Please don’t take this as an insult. Since your art has such an emphasis on nature, do you consider yourself to be a hippie in any way?
ha ha!!! me being a hippie is a constant joke between me and my friends. i totally love and am inspired by the positive outlook on life that hippies have, and of course l love nature and hippie-type foods and ideas, but i'm far too dutch and practical and organized to really be one. plus i'm not realy into tie-die or patchouli. (hopefully no hippies are reading this and are insulted by my answer! peace!)
Is Jill Bliss your real name? It seems almost too perfect.
i guess "bliss" is a popular word these days, i never got asked this until a few years ago. yes it's my real name. it's on my birth certificate! my dad named me - sorta after himself, i guess. his name is bill.
another girl at play website, april 2007
jill bliss
occupation: artist and designer
website: jillbliss.com + blissen.com
biography: jill bliss draws, sews and makes things in her studio everyday. her studio is nestled in between two majestic redwood trees and an ancient cherry tree, one hour north of san francisco. jill's small company, blissen, collaborates with others to make beautiful, useful and thoughtful items in limited editions from reused materials.
what do you do and how did you start?
i draw with colored pens, and sew with various sewing machines! my favorite materials are paper and fabric, though occassionally other types of materials sneak their way into the limited edition stationery and fabric accessories i make.
how old were you when you realised you wanted to do and how old were you when you actually began?
ever since i was small i wanted to be a grown up, draw or make things all day, have a dog and live by a beach and a redwood forest. i have 3 out of 4 of those things now, almost there!
what steps did you take to create your own business?
what i do full-time now is what i've always done on nights and weekends after the day jobs. making things gradually took up more and more of my time, and gradually began paying the bills. i still augment my blissen income with other freelance jobs.
what kind of formal education, training or experience do you have that applies to what you do?
i avoided the "real world" as much as possible by going back to school whenever whatever latest day job i had became too tedious to bear. all of my degrees have been in design: fashion, illustration, design theory, and most of my jobs have been in small companies or freelance.
how did you first begin to sell/market your work?
i've always worn clothes or accessories i've made myself, and often would be asked to make more by friends or strangers. it wasn't until i got my own website and the ccnow payment system, and later paypal came along, that i realized the possibility of having my own "line" or "company." if it weren't for the internet, i don't think i would be where i am now!
what is the most rewarding aspect of what you do? the most frustrating?
the most rewarding thing about being self employed is that i can set my own schedule. i'm braindead between 3 - 6 pm, so that's when i slack off or run errands. i'm most math/planning productive in the morning and most creative at night. generally i love what i do and am thrilled to finally be able to do it just about all day and night, everyday. sometimes i try not to work so much and have a "normal" life with friends and weekends off and vacations and such, but then quickly get bored or broke and get back to work!
do you have any fears about what you do, and if so, how do you deal with them?
there's always the fear of having to return to a crappy day job again, which just makes me work harder!
how do you deal with creative blocks?
i have years of sketchbooks of ideas so i can always consult those. but, generally, my problem is too many ideas and not enough time and money to see them all through!
what has been your biggest struggle(s)/challenge(s) with your creative career?
balancing time and money!
what kind of work environment do you have?
my sewing studio is in what's supposed to be the master bedroom of my converted live/work space, the shipping area is in what's supposed to be the kitchen/ dining room, and i do all my drawing on the couch in front of the tv at night.
have you encountered any financial obstacles, and if so, how did you overcome them?
as i said before, if it weren't for the internet i probably would not be able to do what i do! before the internet came along, having a small business like mine took a lot more money to start up and maintain. also credit cards have been a big help when orders come in that i don't have the cash flow to produce.
what is your definition of success?
living where you want to live, doing what you want to do, surrounded by people you want to be surrounded by.
who or what are your inspirations?
i like to go for walks or hikes, or travel, or read non-fiction books or magazines. anything that gets me out of my usual routine.
words of advice for those pursuing their creative goals:
i didn't realize until very recently how helpful it is to make a plan with concrete goals to reach, and outline steps on how to get there from where you are presently. strangely, that's not something that was really taught in all my years of design school, but it's the most helpful tip i've learned on my own.
do you know any helpful/inspirational books, websites, organisations etc.?
for essential business and legal stuff, check out the books on nolo.com; for essential graphic design/ illustration business practices check out the graphic artist's handbook from gag.org. you can also borrow these from any good library if you're short on funds.
dpi magazine [taiwan], october 2006
blissen
3 full spreads of my artwork and interview!
blissen specializes in handmade small edition items available exclusively on blissen.com, while larger edition items made in collaboration with other small businesses are available in independent shops across the u.s. and worldwide.
i love bright colors and nature! i think the bright colors come from living in new york and san francisco and traveling to other big cities, plus my japanese and korean stationery collection i've had since i was a child. i lived on a farm for part of my childhood, where some of my best friends were trees or animals, so that is why i love nature also!
sometimes i collaborate with other artists and designers and we make them together, sometimes i have them printed by a printer, and lately i've begun to hire local sewers to help me when it's too much for me to do myself!
my new favorite project will be a book about tidepools, which i've just started after snorkeling on vacation in the great barrier reef in australia.
my most popular selling items are wallets and totebags, which makes me very happy because these were both things i worked very hard to make perfect. i couldn't find the perfect one made by someone else, so i made many prototypes for myself until they were just right. then i made more for other people, and they seem to appreciate the care and attention to detail i put into them!
i hope my customers will love and appreciate the things i make as much as i do, and i hope to inspire others to do what they love to do and to learn to appreciate handmade things, the natural world and creative materials reuse.
i am constantly inspired by just about everything i come across! i have many sketchbooks full of ideas, usually a new sketchbook every month or two, but there's never enough time to make all my ideas!
the happiest part of my work are the emails, letters and meeting my customers who appreciate the work i do and are inspired to live more thoughtful lives and do their own happy work! i like to help others as much as i can.
i would just like to continue doing what i'm doing now, and collaborate with other designers and artists. every year since i began blissen i've been able to work a little more on blissen things and a little less on things for other companies. maybe in three years i can work on blissen full time!
something else: i've just returned from my first long vacation in 10 years, in australia, which was so much fun and very relaxing. now i'd love to take a vacation every year!
craftysynergy blog
november, 2006
website: jill bliss and blissen
where are you located?
santa rosa, one hour north of san francisco.
what do you create?
mostly limited edition paper goods and fabric accessories from found or recycled materials. i'm especially obsessed with depicting little beautiful overlooked details or colors found in nature, helping others notice and appreciate them.
when and why did you decide to start your business?
in 2001 i moved from new york back home to san francisco and i couldn't find a job. it was during the dot-com crash, there were no jobs yet the rent still had to be paid. so i began to make jewelry and accessories from the fabrics i had in my apartment, and sell them on my website, my partner's record label website, at indie-pop music shows and to local shops.
how do you get the word out about your business?
i like to participate in sales events - it's the best way to get instant feedback on the things you make and meet other great makers in person!
where do you see your business in 5 years?
i hope to keep doing what i'm doing now, and continue to collaborate with other designers and artists. every year since i began blissen i've been able to work a little more on blissen things and a little less on things for other companies. five years from now i hope i'm working on blissen full time!
where do you get inspiration for your projects?
just daily life, really. for instance, i'm enthralled with the redwood tree in my new front yard - already in the past three months i've watched it cope with several heat waves and now the change to cooler weather. two weeks ago it dropped heaps of pine cones and needles in preparation for winter - our yard smells divine. and now there's little buds forming on the ends of the needles still on the tree. also walking my dog today, i found a pod dropped from a magnolia tree. it has the most outrageous shapes, colors and textures.
you work in several mediums. which is your favorite?
i oscillate between fabric and paper, they've always been my two favorite materials to work with. sewing and drawing are very similar as well, and great to back and forth between.
which of the tools you use is your favorite?
because i have two favorite mediums (paper + fabric) i equally love my pens and my sewing machines.
how do you pick which project/idea you will produce to sell?
i don't really plan what i'm going to make ahead of time, it depends on what materials i've found to work with, customer requests, or something i need myself!
what keeps you motivated?
always trying to improve and evolve my work, plus coming up with the rent each month.
what advice would you give to someone starting a creative business?
start small and go steady. don't overwhelm yourself trying to keep up with other people's accomplishments. we're all unique and have our own areas of expertise. do your best to learn what yours are and go from there. reach out to others in your community making similar things or that have similar ideas. your peers are your best source for help and support!
*****
little extras
can you recommend a good book or great music?
during the busy season i don't have time to read books, only magazines, but it's on my list to reread critical path by buckminster fuller in january.
the new mahogany album is on constant repeat this week, as well as an old band in my cd collection, the brittle stars!
who is your favorite indie designer/artist?
oh gosh i can't pick just one! saelee oh, souther salazar, lotta jansdotter, seamripper, lekkner, lisa congdon, small object... the list goes on and on and i sincerely apologize to everyone i haven't mentioned! i appreciate any designer/artist dedicated to advancing their own unique vision and point of view.
what is your definition of a perfect day?
that really depends on what i've been doing lately! sometimes a "boring" day of cleaning and organizing my studio is the perfect thing (like today), sometimes an insanely packed day of running around exploring boutiques with a friend is what i need (like last weekend).
when you have some time to relax what do you do?
go for a walk: in the woods, on the beach, or around town.
design sponge blog
april 21, 2006
--> listen here!
fred friend: jill bliss
april 2006
to celebrate the coming of spring, we got together with one of our idols, designer jill bliss. her nature-inspired designs dazzle our eyes and fill our dreams with poppies, daffodils and sea creatures! although based in california, jill popped by our brooklyn warehouse recently to chat with us about her amazing necklace note set, a fredflare.com exclusive, as well as her childhood memories, undersea adventures, biggest influences and more.
what age did you start drawing and designing?
my dad worked at the wall street journal in san francisco when i was really young and would bring home the end rolls of newsprint paper. one of my earliest memories is being in my room with one of those rolls, drawing all the cool toys my friends had that my parents couldn't or wouldn't buy me: kid-size kitchen appliances that really worked, pedal-powered mini cars, etc. that was in the silicon valley during the first wave of the home computer industry, so my friends had tons of awesome toys to covet. i'd draw their toys life-sized and would try to replicate them as best i could, then tape them on the wall or put them on the floor and pretend to play with them. i also remember spreading one of the rolls the entire length of the house and drawing the jolly green giant, life-sized!
you grew up on a farm in northern california. what was it like moving to the industrial metropolis after growing up in such a natural environment? was it a hard adjustment?
to me, rural natural environments and manmade city environments are a lot alike. each has its own natural order and everything in each has cultivated its own niche. there's always so much going on that you can experience just by taking a walk. like, for example, in the city you may find the old man who sits on his stoop each day to watch the world go by, while in a rural environment you have the old oak tree that does pretty much the same thing.
is your nature-inspired design sense a result of your childhood surroundings?
yes, definitely! i have one strong memory from when i was three or four years old that relates to tide pools. i'd stay with my grandparents a lot when i was really young, and we'd go to the beach often. one time i was following some older kids around the tide pools and fell into a pool that was deeper than me. i remember standing in the middle of all these rocks, mesmerized by a starfish and all the other tide pool creatures around me. we were all hanging out, gently swaying back and forth with the current. then my grandfather lifted me up and out of the water. the whole event was probably not much more than thirty seconds or a minute, but i still remember all the small details of that experience!
some of your work seems to reflect japanese influences. have you ever been to japan?
i did research for my mfa thesis and apparently our local mall was the first to receive a sanrio store in the u.s. in 1976! i've been a huge fan of sanrio since first discovering it there in kindergarten! some of my best friends are japanese also. i've always admired their aesthetic, which has many similarities to the dutch aesthetic i grew up with in my family. i was finally able to go to tokyo for five cold january days, two years ago. it was a ton of fun visiting all our friends there and i took pictures of absolutely everything i came across (especially in all the shops). that was the first time i was such a stereotypical tourist with a camera around my neck, taking pictures of every little thing! that's another city i'd love to live in for a while.
what's it like to have your own published line of stationery? how did that come about?
i have drawers and drawers of stationery i've been collecting all my life, so it's beyond amazing! it's two steps up from my childhood efforts of making my own sanrio-esque stationery, and one step up from the stationery line a friend and i made together in high school to sell in the print shop where she worked it all came about when an editor at chronicle books contacted me a few years ago and asked if i'd be interested in making stationery with them. boy, they didn't know what they were in for! i brought them a huge box of prototypes and all the things i'd ever made for blissen.com. everyone who works at chronicle is super nice and they're all super crafty too, so everyone in the department came by the office and we all geeked out over all the different things we all made!
omg, we love your new necklace note set! how did you come up with the idea?
back in 1997, the first incarnation of my personal website had an area where you could download projects to print out, cut out, and assemble. the necklace note set is a more sophisticated version of the print-and-wear jewelry i used to make. it turned out so great!
how do you spend your free time?
free time - what's that? no, really, making and drawing things is always what i've done with my free time, so i feel really lucky to finally be able to do it every hour of the day! i remember one of your other designer interviews said he'd be doing this even if he won the lottery and it's so true! if i won the lottery i'd just use the money to make more things and hire all my friends that make things too! oh! and i'd buy the old elementary school building in sf that's been for sale for years for all of us to work in.
you do a lot of collaboration with other artists. how does this experience influence your own design process?
i adore working with other creative people! working together you can create some of the most amazing things you'd never even think of on your own. you also get to learn how the other person thinks and makes things and teach them what you know and do at the same time.
who are your favorite artists?
my favorite people and places are the ones that don't limit themselves, the ones who aren't afraid to experiment and try new things. past, present and future dream project collaborators are or would be: sarah at thesmallobject.com, kathleen at seamripper.net, melissa at lekkner.com, oilily, ikea, saelee at lemonademaid.com, shinpei at pleanflatplan, souther salazar, hella jongerius, lotta jansdotter, marimekko, vera neumann, orla keily, sukie, san-x and far too many others to list!
okay, time for fred's speed round!
fave color: green
fave tunes: lately we've been enjoying ha ha sound by broadcast, risky dazzle - a service party shuffle comp, the new stereolab, ms. john soda and perennial favorites to get me through a late night in front of the sewing machine or computer screen: the pulse compilation, eggstone in san diego by eggstone, cut copy, or ipod shuffle genres such as: new and new new wave, disco, or early rap.
fave videos: videos on constant repeat this week are nth degree by morningwood, birds by pleix and baby blue by halcali
fave drink: daytime: water or tea - especially green pear tea. nighttime: red wine
fave candy: grape pez or expensive dark chocolate
herbivore magazine, winter 2005/ 2006
gallery: jill bliss
text by michael seidel
jill bliss's life story bleeds into every piece of art she creates. that story is a bifurcation of the rural and the urban. with her childhood spent lending a hand at a family farm in northern california. and her teens tangled in the glossy web of the san francisco bay area.
"the older i get. " bliss reflects on her early years, "the more i appreciate those farm years, not just the relationships i had with the land and the animals, but also i find the lifestyle of the artist and the farmer strikingly similar. both need to diversify their work in case one type fails, both face a mountain of middlemen between themselves and the final consumer."
this farmer-like resolution to her craft is apparent in bliss's astounding body of work, which runs an exhausting gamut from mural to drawing to graphic design to a million etceteras. nature is the most commonly occurring theme in what she does. this, of course, is an obvious nod to her childhood- to mention nothing of her nearly 20 years as a vegetarian. but lest the uninformed write her work off as bucolic pap, it's important to know that the urbanism bliss learned during her city years creeps in to provide the sort of vivacious colors that mother nature, that foolish old broad, never daubed from her own palette. the urbanism also lends to a gentle perversion of shape; bliss's lines seem almost neurotic, which, as any woody allen fan will tell you, is beauty in it's purest state.
bliss graduated from new york's parsons school of design in 2000, and has used design and art as her bread and non-dairy buttery spread ever since. "when i'm completely exhausted and broke," she explain, "i yearn for that office-job lifestyle where you have one simple job to do all day long, get a steady paycheck, and then drown your boredom at the mall. because of my childhood on the farm, i tried to make the seemingly easier office lifestyle work for me over and over again. but i'd always get bored and frustrated with all the office life limitations, and after about 9 months at each job i'd quit! now that i've been self-employed so long, there's no going back- and i guess in the end it suits me much better anyhow!"
freedom of mobility is one of the major perks of a self-sustaining creative life, and bliss has taken full advantage. she's vacationed in places as disparate as reykjavik and tokyo, as well as having paid rent on both u.s. coasts. but applying the term "transient" would be a grave mistake- bliss's life history won't allow it. "we're saving up to attend out friend's wedding in australia next year, and we're hoping to go on our first honest-to-goodness 2-week holiday. my goodness, what do you do for 2 weeks without working?! i predict i'll become bored and fidgety after 5 days and want to come home!"
as of the writing of this article, jill bliss has just moved to southern california, fresh from several years in san francisco. surely, she's already hunkering down, moving boxes still unpacked, itching for the action that will only come if her hard work wills it.
sfist.com
august 15, 2005
interview: jill bliss
when sfist met up with our sister in vienna this summer we fell in love with her journal. not with the content of the journal (full of tales of rendevous with mysterious european men, no doubt) but with the journal itself. every page had depictions of native californian plants carefully drawn on them. we checked the back and lo and behold the journal was the work of none other than sf local jill bliss. bliss's delicate creations have gained a worldwide following. at home chronicle books liked bliss's work so much that it published the journal that we noticed.
bliss answered the question that most artists get all the time, "so, uh, what are you going to do with that" by starting blissen.com. blissen is an online boutique where you can buy things from bliss and other crafty artists that share a similar aesthetic. jill bliss was kind enough to answer similarly pesky questions from sfist in the following interview:
how did you start blissen?
blissen is a hobby that got out of control, really. when i lived in new york i began the site as a place to sell illustrated books and other little things i made on the side of my regular design and illustration work. as soon as i'd secured a spot at grad school, i moved back to san francisco thinking i could just get some temp work in the interim. but that was at the end of 2001, no one was hiring! at the same time, i'd visit boutiques wearing one of the things i'd made, and sometimes they'd ask me to make more for their shop. and i also met other crafty makers and offered to put their things on my site as well. so blissen became my interim job before and during grad school, and now it competes equally for my time alongside the design and illustration work!
what are the best and worse things about running a business out of sf?
since i don't have the time or money for 'real' vacations, i love the ability to take the afternoon off on occasion and go to the presidio or some place else quintessentially san francisco, or go up or down the coast for a quick getaway. the proximity to so many great places is ideal.
what is your very favorite product you've ever made?
the things i make are like kids: i love them all equally!
age and occupation
35 - artist and designer.
home town
san francisco
how much time have you spent in the bay area?
i've spent all my life in the bay area, apart from 5 childhood years on a farm near chico and 6 adult years in new york.
favorite website
favorite local business
doe, a boutique/department store on lower haight. i get all my clothes there!
what i'm currently reading
the last book i read was "ecocities" by richard register. but now that it's my busy season, all i have time to read are magazines - if that!
favorite mode of transportation
walking
best band or musician to come out of the bay area
the orange peels
favorite local hangout
every week a group of friends and i get together at someone's house for dinner and a movie. we each take turns cooking and picking out the movie.
sf has the best:
weather + food
favorite bay area politician of past or present:
i pick up an examiner every morning while walking my dog, and catch up with the board of supervisors.
now that gavin newsom is single, who are you going to set him up with?
my friend pete had a nightmare his wife left him for gavin while he's away at grad school! now that it looks like the divorce may not happen, pete can breathe easier.
you can tell someone is a local here if:
they pile on a heavy sweater, coat and a scarf, and... flip flops. when i first moved back from nyc i used to laugh when i'd see this look, but now i'm guilty of it myself from time to time. i don't know what everyone else's excuse is, but mine is laziness when the dog needs her walk!
sf would be soooo much better if only:
i didn't have to spend most of my earnings on rent.
best burrito:
i'm still searching for a place that has a good veg burrito, good meat burritos for my accompanying carnivore friends *and* good house made chips. it always seems to be 1 or 2 out of 3, never all three.
best restaurant:
koi samui and the monkey, my favorite thai restaurant near my apt/studio on brannan. the veggie green curry is second only to my partner's homemade recipe.
best thing to do in the city in the summer:
chill out (ha ha!). no. bundle up and go for a walk when the fog starts to roll in. it's beautiful.
place you always tell visitors to check out:
the coastal trail between the sutro baths and the presidio
favorite bridge in the area:
ok, i know i'm not supposed to say the golden gate, but come on! pedestrians and bikes are allowed, unlike all the other bridges. and ever since i was little the designer in me has always been fascinated with those little poles and the ability to change the number of traffic lanes for each direction.
you have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in sf, what are you going to do?
invite a friend, especially one i haven't seen in a while, to lunch or tea.
i have found/sold/bought the following on craigslist:
i sold my bike and all my bike gear on craigslist in january once i realized i prefer walking. biking, in my opinion, is the most stressful mode of trasportation in this city. most drivers are very inattentive to their surroundings.
tell us a san francisco story:
i guess this really could've happened anywhere, but the first thing to spring to mind is this one time when i was walking down market and some guy yelled at me "yo, bitch - i mean, miss - what time is it?!"