5 questions: Little Clay Houses

I seem to be drawn to some of my fellow Canadian artists and artisans lately and wow are there ever a lot of great Canadian artists and artisans!

As I've mentioned here before, my goal for this feature is to put the spotlight onto some of the shops on Etsy that I have either spent my money in, or who I would love to buy from.

I initially came across the little red door shop through twitter, she's on one of my lists of super creative people and I've always loved her avatar. I've been known to laugh out loud to some of her posts but this feature is all about her super awesome shops and not her super awesome Twitter posts.

So I initially found her shop ages ago and then found her vintage and craft shops from there. Of her three shops SpaghettiJones is the least active with only one item for sale at this moment but her shop tag line is worth a visit and the cute robot greeting cards listed there really made me smile. Little Red Mercantile is chock full of amazing finds and well worth a visit.

When it comes down to why I love her shop I have to say that I just love tiny things. There’s something about the intimacy involved in both the making and the owning that really appeals to me. One of the main critiques I had in art school was my penchant for the small, while I’ve branched out size wise with my own work I covet it in others. From her signature tiny clay houses to tiny bowls, ninjas and an assortment of ceramic pendants and rings there is lots to choose from; and her colour palette is in a word divine. Plus, how enchanting would it be to give out tiny little clay houses as party favours for your next big event? Let me answer that for you: very enchanting.

As always each image in this article is linked back to Little Red Door's shop. See something you like? click on that puppy and get more information!

Can you describe the palette you use to create with, what colours do you always “reach” for?

I use mainly primary and other bright bold colours with white and black. I'm not a huge fan of pastels. My signature colour is of course red. I'm of the opinion that most everything goes with red.

Do you listen to music when you create? If yes, what's on your play list right now and why?

I listen to music all the time but most essentially when I'm creating. Without it, I'm in for a long lonely day of pottery.

My music collection is best described as varied. I like everything.
If I shuffle through my Ipod here are the next 10 songs that come up:

Sam Malone - City And Colour
Your Man - Down With Webster
Goodnight Goodnight - Hot Hot Heat
Rapture - Pedro the Lion
Hard Road - Sam Roberts
Tonight She Comes - the Cars
Time to Switch to Whiskey - Corb Lund Band
Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World
Just A Girl - No Doubt
Walls Fall Down - Bedouin Soundclash




What got you started?

I've always been a maker of things, since I was in grade school. Embroidery since I was 7. Drawing & painting in my teens. Cross-stitch in my early 20's. Papercrafting & photography since my late 20's. I'm approaching 40 and I've been working with clay now 7 years. I am one of those people that must create. It's my raison d'etre. I think everyone should make something everyday.



If you were granted 3 wishes to furnish your dream studio space, what do you choose and why?

1 - floor to ceiling shelving
2 - packaging area
3 - lots and lots of windows

I think they're all self-explanatory

Which Children's book character would you be and why?

Little Red Riding Hood. She wore an awesome hoodie and loved to visit Grandma.