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Name:Lucie Veilleux
Tell us a little about yourself.
Hello! I'm Lucie. I live in Québec, Canada and i make things, most of them are wearable. Basically it's all i ever think about. :) I also love to bake, i enjoy spending time in nature or travelling to new places. I love botanical elements, i think they are the most amazing things in the world and i love to look at them closely. I sleep sometimes because it's necessary but i would prefer to skip this part of life, there's too many other fun things to do.
When did you start creating and how long have you been on Etsy?
I've been creating for as far as i can remember. As a kid, if i wasn't getting dirty in a mud puddle or climbing a tree with my brother you could find me playing with paint brushes or crayons, making a bricolage with dried leaves or pieces of wood ...or perhaps i was petting a cat.. I always made choices that would lead me somewhere artistically interesting and if it wasn't so, Art would find it's way back to me. I am grateful for that. What i do now is just the natural evolution of who i am. I believe that in a life time, we evolve but we never really change that much.
I joined Etsy in 2008 with another shop named 3dots (www.3dots.etsy.com) which i still run. There, i sell my wooden jewelries. I opened this new shop with my silverworks about a year ago.
How did you come up with your business name, is there any special meaning behind it?
Well, obviously there's no special meaning behind it but this time i wanted to sell my work under my own name, it just felt right to do so.
Has your Etsy shop become your full time job? If not, would you like it to be?
For the last year, I've been making jewelry almost full time. Even though it's stressful and uncertain, i enjoy this life and i am busy all the time.
How would you describe your creative process?
It's quite simple, as soon as an idea comes to my mind i figure out how to do it and then i get to work as soon as i can. Sometimes a whole collection emerge from this first piece, i am just obsessed! I think that i'm creatively impulsive, i won't stop thinking about a new piece until it's finished and when an idea comes i want to turn it to reality right away. I am not a complicated person, i just trust my instinct.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I think inspiration is everywhere and most of the time, i don't really understand where an idea come from, it just POPS into my mind. The desire to create itself stimulates inspiration. I like to think that ideas are in the air and they find their way to the person that will make them come to life... but that probably makes no sense! :D I am pretty sure that the experience you gain working with different materials widens your horizons. The more you experience the more your mind can imagine new things, combine materials, understand how things work, then inspiration is stimulated. It's also necessary to get out of the studio sometimes, just to have a fresh perspective on what you're doing.
Do you also sell your work at craft shows?
I don't have a lot of experience in craft shows, i want to focus more on this in the next months. This past year was what i like to call "a year of experiments". Now i have created a few different collections that are connected between them in a way or another, i think it's time to get out of the studio and see how people react to my work. So far i am pretty happy about people's response on etsy. I have great enthusiastic customers, it's always fun to hear what they have to say. :)
What is your most cherished handmade item?
It's a caterpillar drawing my brother made for me as a joke on a birthday card envelope. You must know that my brother isn't an artist, he never draws so it was very sweet to me that he took the time to do that. I kept it, added colors to it and framed it, it's in my living room. :)
Apart from creating things, what do you like to do?
I love to wander in the countryside or in the forest to pick up nice looking leaves and breathe fresh air. I love to travel and see new places. Walking in a new city is always exciting, i can't imagine a life without exploring what the world have to offer. I am also interested in design and architecture so i love to keep an eye on what's happening in this world. I always have lots of ideas of home accessories but unfortunately i don't have the time to make them all come to life.. Oh, I also bake LOTS of muffins.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be and why?
Honestly, I have no idea. I think I could do pretty much anything but I could not be as happy as I am now.
Five years from now you will be…
I hope still as passionate about what i do as i am now with even more projects in mind. I would wish for my business to be stronger and for life to be a bit less stressful... and travel more!!
Describe yourself in five words:
enthusiastic, lunatic, dedicated, silly, open-minded.
Carrying on with the five theme, if I were to turn on your <iphone>, what five artists/songs would I see on your recently played list?
Well, these days you would only find 2 things, i can't stop listening to the last Metric album or to The Killers. I will probably do that until i cannot stand their sound anymore! :D
Lastly, do you have any advice for anyone thinking about opening their own shop or participating in craft shows?
Get to work!! Don't expect any instant success, nothing comes without hard work. Be committed to your product and never underestimate the importance of quality. Most of all do what you love!
