Artist Profile: Alyice Edrich

Some of Alyice’s favorite jars

Artist: Alyice Edrich
Location: South Dakota

Websites & Blogs:

Alyice Edrich
The Dabbling Mum blog
Good Mourning Lord

How do you describe your work, Alyice?
“Art from the heart.”

Currently, I simply create with abstract intentions but as I learn and progress with my talents I’d like to be able to incorporate memorabilia from people’s personal lives and family histories.

Why did you choose to create art out of recycled jars?
Because I wasn’t very talented as a traditional painter and I wanted to paint. Seriously though, my daughter had this old root beer bottle that she wanted to keep. There was nothing fancy to it but she was attached to it for sentimental reasons. I had tried to paint canvases and I was horrible at it. I had the paints, I had the molding paste, and I thought, “I wonder what I could do to that jar with what I have on hand. I wonder if…”

I ran my idea across my daughter and she said, “Go for it!” At first, she loved the jar. But as I improved in technique she found another jar that she liked even more and told me that her root beer bottle had lost its sentimentality (not related to my altering it) and that she’d prefer to keep one of my newer bottles instead.

Alyice agrees that these weren’t her best attempts, but that jumping off point helped her release her perfectionism state and just start creating.

I created a few more bottles which my daughter proudly showed off to her friends and our neighbors and with their encouragement a new business was born.

I bet you thought I was going to say, “Because I am a recycling nut”. Huh? While I do relish in the idea that one less thing is ending up in the landfills and that energy isn’t be wasted to repurpose the glass into something else, the main reason is simply because I wanted to start creating again and I was blessed with a wonderful idea.

Her talent and technique is improving

At this stage in my life I create intuitively. I just sit down and create until the piece starts looking like something I’d be satisfied with. It’s not always the best practice but there is so much structure and order in my life, on a daily basis, that it’s nice to not have to “think” about creating a certain way. And it’s refreshing and relaxing to just play with my art.

I also tend to work in spurts. My day job is working at home as a freelance writer. Sitting in front of the screen can be taxing on the eyes, the neck, and the back. In the past, I had a bad habit of not moving from the desk until I completed x number of projects or at least four hours of work. The strain it caused often left me with severe neck pain. Since getting back into my art this year, I’ve discovered that if I allow myself a little play time in between projects—say five minutes here, 20 minutes there, I feel better physically and the migraines I once experienced on a weekly basis have pretty much gone away. And since the type of art I do needs drying periods between steps, it’s perfect!

There are days, however, when I’ll work on several projects at once—all in various stages. I do this on days that I have to review videos for The Dabbling Mum. I will watch the videos while I am creating. That way, I am multi-tasking but doing so without stress and before I know it, I’ve either completed a project or the video is over.

This is a jar Alyice made for her son, who loves Japanese things

What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
I don’t have any formal training. I do, however, enjoy a good training video. In fact, I prefer them over magazines and books. I think it has something to do with my need to multi-task. I can sit down with a jar, molding paste, and paint or some yarn and a need and create something while I watch the videos. I can also re-watch them or simply listen to them as I do other things, like cook a meal, clean the house, or exercise. Another reason is that I am very visual. I learn better and faster when I see someone actually performing the steps.

Some of the videos I’ve acquired are:

• Painting Trees & Leaves by Susan Scheewe
• Mixed Media Painting with Timothy Ufuomaefe Orikri
• Design With Figure by Polly Hammett
• Acrylics: Textures, Layers, and Metallics
• Telling Stories With Collage & Paint by Ann Baldwin
• Exploring Art Materials with Mary Jo McGraw

Then there are the gracious artists that share so much over at YouTube, such as my short list here: Simply Amazing

Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
Molding paste. There is literally no end to what you can do with molding paste. And thanks to the various types of molding paste available, you can even use it as a plaster to form and carve out designs.

Attempting a little grundge art on her bottles

What inspires you to create?
The joy of giving of myself to someone else. The world is full of objects that were made solely for the bottom line—the income. In essence, they’re heartless. But when you create something from your heart and you give it to someone else, it’s like giving a part of yourself to that person. And when you are commissioned by someone to provide a truly unique gift for someone else, it’s like helping someone less gifted give something they wish they were gifted enough to create–it’s like giving two-fold. The giver may not have created the piece with her own two hands, but she has to sit down and share about the receiver so that the gift is “perfect” and that’s what makes it truly special.

I have been creating in one form or another since I was a young child. I recently posted a serious about the various phases over at my blog: What’s With the Phases?

Creating has helped me when I was a shy, lonely child. It has helped me heal from tragic losses. And it saved me from myself when I couldn’t find a way to de-stress and relax without guilt.

What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
Trust yourself. Believe in yourself—even when no one else does. And practice—lots of practice.

At one time, I had stopped creating altogether. At first it was because I got distracted with life. When I found it again, I had kids. We created together and built beautiful bonds. But after experiencing too many deaths, the grief consumed me and the creative part of me died again. Then a few years ago I realized that a part of my life was empty and my days were far too hectic and stressful. I thought becoming creative again would give me a renewed sense of purpose and at the same time help me find some time just for me—time to relax and be stress-free.

The sad part is that I had a person in my life who knocked down everything I created — pointing out all the little flaws. And believe me the little snide remarks add up. Soon, I felt too embarrassed to show this person anything I created, too afraid of being told how much I needed to improve, tired of being told that I’d be better off doing something else. And before I knew it, I had once again buried that part of my life. That person made me feel horrible about myself and had convinced me that I was untalented—even though deep down, I knew that I was talented and creative, even though I knew that with practice and trial and error, I would get better, and even though I knew that art is subjective in nature. I’m not sure why this person had such a hold on me or why I allowed this person to tell me who I was or who I wasn’t but once I let go of that person, it was as though a new me had been reborn. And slowly, my confidence grew and my art improved.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with criticism. We all need it to grow. We all need constructive criticism to help us improve in our art and as human beings. But there is something totally wrong with criticism that’s meant to belittle someone or hold someone back from being all he or she can be. So my best advice is to listen to the critiques with a grain of salt. Realize that art is subjective and only take the advice that will help you improve as an artist, a business entity, and a human being.

Using an old peanut canister. It’s perfect for holding paint brushes, pens, and even small house plants.

As someone who’s run a successful business as a freelance writer, what will you take over into your art business?
There are so many things I could pass on. So many things that even I am having to relearn, thanks to our struggling economy. So my first tip would be that if you were making good money in the past, and you’re struggling to make a single sale now, drop your prices. With grocery bills nearly double what they were a year ago, and gas prices nearly triple, there isn’t a lot of money left over for luxuries. So art, being a luxury, is the first thing to go—as is anything in the “service” industry. The key is to drop your prices just enough to get sales back up again but not so low that you find yourself in the red each month.

Business is all about profits. You must take into consideration the money that leaves your bank account so that you know how much you need to make each month to pay your bills, buy new supplies, and have a little extra money left over. It’s tempting to want to charge peanuts for your art because you want that first sale, because you want sales to pick back up, because you want repeat business, or because you see others charging so little for their work and you think others may feel you are overpriced. It’s tempting to undercut yourself. But you cannot live on negative dollars.

Another tip would be to not allow your discouragement to stop you from marketing your business, your art, or your services. It’s easy to want to walk away when things aren’t going as planned—believe me, I’ve been there several times over the past 16 years—but it’s only going to make matters worse. If you’re not burnt out with your business, your service, or your art then work through those burnt out phases: take on less work, but still take on work; make less art, but still make art. If, however, you are burnt out and you no longer want to work that particular type of business, but still want a business of your own, allow for change. Whether it’s changing the type of art you create, or whom you sell your art to.