Surface Creator: Ginny of Erickson Surfaces

You know those cookbooks with really pretty pictures of food?  Yup, all those images are meticulously styled to make you want to cook and try that food. You probably know that there’s a photographer taking the picture and a stylist or art director placing the food/props in just the right place.  You may not notice it, but there’s another key element that makes the photo look as amazing as it does - the surface. And chances are, a lot of the food photography you see use portable surfaces created specifically for food or product photography.  Ginny, of Erickson Surfaces, hand-creates these photo surfaces that have been featured in dozens of cookbooks and hundreds of blogs.

Discovering Your Passion

I doodled or did crafts on Pinterest every now and then, but art was never an active part of my life.  I didn’t define myself as an artist. My husband was (and still is) a school counselor, but he built headboards in the garage and listed them on Etsy.  When he was making these at 10 pm, I told myself, “I can either sit here complaining that I’m by myself or I can go out in the garage and we can be together.”  So I started helping him and then found different techniques of painting the headboards.

A portrait photographer found it and requested a 6 ft by 6 ft double sided platform for her studio.  We thought, ‘Hey, maybe other photographers might be interested in something like this.’ So we listed those boards as well.  Then a food blogger found us and asked, “Can you make it smaller?” She came in and designed a couple of first pieces and I started thinking, “Hey, maybe there’s a need for this.”  

I had just been laid off from a real estate job I had for 12 years.  I had been a Stay at Home Mom, but my kids were about to start school, so I was wondering if I should get a “real job.”  My husband said, “Just sell 10 boards a month and we’re good.” That month I sold 20. I was elated. “This is what I’m meant to do! I love this!”  I sent about 50 emails to bloggers. This was back in 2013, so people like Pioneer Woman and Joy the Baker. Joy the Baker got back to me and I started screaming and crying.  My husband said, “I don’t think you were that excited when I proposed.” I’m like, “It’s JOY THE BAKER!”

When we started this business, you didn’t really see anybody doing this.  And throughout my marriage my husband told me that he wished I found something I really enjoyed doing.  I never really found something I loved doing until I found this. It was so exciting. We got kicked out of our condo because people were complaining about the noise coming from our garage from all the woodwork, so we lugged everything to my sister’s house.  Then, our friends encouraged us to get a space. “This is happening. This is good.” They said, “But you need a space.” In 2014, we got our first space and in 2015, we got this current space.

Stifling or Inspiring Creativity?

It’s easy to fall into the “Oh, I’m not good enough” mode.  That’s what stifles creativity.

I spent so much of my time last year kicking myself saying, “I’m not good at this and that with the business.  I suck at this part. I’m not like so and so.” One morning I got up and thought, “Why am I kicking myself? These things I’m not good at, I can just hire somebody to do those things.  The things I’m good at are really good, so embrace the parts I’m good at and get help with the things I don’t like doing because I cannot be good at everything.  So now we have an awesome team and I get to work with some really great people. At the end of the day, I want to invest in relationships and care about the relationships I get to form through this work.

When you get to create beautiful work, you inspire others.  I love that we get to make art that helps other people make art.  Our mission statement is: “We exist to equip artists to craft beautiful stories.”

Once I create a surface, I can’t imagine what will go on it.  I just like the way the surface looks. But some people will see a surface and instantly start imagining so many ways they can use it.   I have a client who’s become a friend who instantly dreams up things you can do with the surface. One time, I made a custom board. She had a shoot with a chef the next day.  At first, they weren’t thrilled with the photos, so she brought out the surface I made from her car, and it changed mood the entire shoot. They came out of that shoot with images they loved.  I love that the work we create can do that for artists and businesses.

Macramé Artist: Elsie of Reform Fibers

Who knew that rope-tying could be such a beautiful art form?  I didn’t, until a few years ago when I discovered modern macramé - a form of textile, or fiber art, where you create patterns by tying cords together.

Elsie Goodwin of Reform Fibers decided to be a Stay at Home Mom when she had her first daughter six years ago. She was looking for a way to keep her hands and mind busy. Two years into motherhood, she discovered macramé and taught herself the craft from YouTube videos.  

The Beginning

“What I loved about macramé was that unlike knitting and crocheting, the rope is thick, so the projects come into form much faster.  So I was able to do substantial projects during nap time or before they were awake in the morning.

What’s cool about macramé is that you can tie a knot and untie it.  It’s very therapeutic for me just going through the process and figuring it out.  I think that it is like a moving meditation - it’s repetitive, but there’s a purpose for each act for the larger picture. If it doesn’t come out the way you want, you take out the knot and do it again.  I enjoy the process of that and don’t look for perfection.”  

Entrepreneurial Spirit

“I had experience recognizing and reading patterns because of my experience with knitting and crocheting for almost 20 years before I picked up macramé.  I realized that there were not many modern patterns out at the time. You saw a lot of the vintage pieces, but there weren’t a lot of patterns out there that would go with modern homes.  I saw it as an opportunity to write my own patterns.

The majority of my business stems from creating and selling beginner to intermediate DIY patterns on Etsy.  I love teaching and connecting with those makers, who want to keep their hands busy like I did. I also get commissioned to make custom pieces.  That’s where I get to be really creative in making a piece. I also do workshops, house parties and team building events.”

Finding a Style

“Initially, I tried to use everything - rope and yarn, crocheting within macramé…  hand-dyeing yarn, (which was really time consuming) etc.  And I even did some weaving and took a weaving class for a year.  I love the art form, but I quickly realized that I have too many ideas and not enough time.  By the way, the floor loom in my studio is for weaving. Macramé doesn’t require extensive equipment. So I realized I need to focus on the things that are most fulfilling for me and that is macramé.  So now, I am more attracted to clean looks lop and the natural colors of the rope and I don’t hand dye them anymore.  

I have a background in the fashion industry as a buyer for retail stores.  A skill you learn when you’re buying and working with brands and collections and seasons and trends is learning to edit.  Knowing when enough is enough and allowing the piece to be the piece and not everything I see other artists and I myself have imagined it to be.  Maybe it can be this or maybe it can be that. But sometimes you just have to say, ‘Let the wall hanging be the wall hanging.’ It’s a lesson I’ve learned to pull back and edit.”  

The Beauty of Crafting by Hand

“There is more work that goes into preparing to make a piece than people typically assume.  Sometimes, when people look at a piece at a craft show or market, they may say to themselves, ‘Oh, I can do that.  No need to spend money on it because I can do it.’ But I think people underestimate all that goes into it: thinking about the piece you’re going to make, how much rope to need, how to cut the rope appropriately, how to set the piece…. You see a lot more mass produced fiber art these days and that’s fine if that’s what you’re drawn to.  But I enjoying gifting and giving to people who appreciate the care and time that goes into making a piece by hand.”