This week we head out to Prescott, AZ
Name: Kerry Estey Keith
Age: 48
Age: 48
Occupation: Photographic Artist/Treasure Maker,
Wilderness Wanderer, Optimista
Blog: www.womanwild.org
Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/WomanOnWildMountain
Blog: www.womanwild.org
Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/WomanOnWildMountain
Tell us a little about yourself.
I find this part hard: the telling about myself. I have always been a content loner,
contemplative wilderness lover. I grew
up with horses and was off riding through the forests and fields of New England
at a very young age. Creative endeavors
supported me through college where I earned a double major BA in Expressive
Arts and Transpersonal Psychology (I know, right?): I set up a little booth in
the student lounge and sold batik t-shirts, beaded necklaces, even haircuts. I taught rock-climbing and led backpacking
trips. I also met the love of my life at
Prescott College and together we created three wild, tree-climbing, dirt-loving
children. Our two sons are now off at
college, the 12-year old daughter is still creatively learning about life while
“un-schooling.” (You can read about our home-schooling style on my blog.) In 2005, we moved to a remote off-the-grid
environmental education and research center.
We managed that center until last year, when we moved closer to town for
the children.
When did you start creating and how long
have you been on Etsy?
I have been creating and selling art, photography, and
crafts since college in 1987. However, I
put my work aside to create a thriving home-schooling environment and run the environmental
education center until just recently. I
have been selling on Etsy for about four months.
How did you come up with your business
name, is there any special meaning behind it?
I named the shop after my blog, Woman on Wild Mountain,
which documents and records my life as an artist living a wilderness-based
life. My original blog was called “Creek
and Mesa” named for the two wilderness areas we lived between: Juniper Mesa Wilderness and Apache Creek
Wilderness
Has your Etsy shop become your full time
job? If not, would you like it to be?I am lucky enough to have an amazing man who really is the
“bread winner.” I took on the role of
full-time parent, home schooling mom, gardener, creator of art, and research
center manager. I do bring in a steady
income from my Etsy shop and gallery show sales, but at this point it would not
be a full supporting income on its own.
My Etsy shop is slowly building on itself and my sales have been
steadily increasing as more people read my blog and see my work around.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Every drop of my inspiration comes from the wild places of
the earth, a simple life and the silence between the moments of “busy”. I walk,
hike and run every day that I can; these are the moments I get inspired to
create art. For many years, my art was
my garden and my children. I felt that
everything I had (creatively speaking) was being poured into providing the most
nurturing home-schooling environment and abundant garden I could man. I did not
create any art to sell. I did, however,
learn to brain-tan elk hides into buckskin, make beaded buckskin bags, develop
and print film in a darkroom, make fire with a bow drill, track critters in a
creek, pit-fire pottery made with local clay and work with elk and deer
antlers. So in a way, much of my
inspiration comes from these special years with young children where I learned
many new things. Although my daughter is
still learning at home, she is now the age where I can disappear into my studio
for a few hours or go running in the forest while she studies French, trains as
a gymnast or goes rock-climbing with her papa.
Do you also sell your work at craft
shows?
I have had several photographic art and jewelry exhibits
since beginning my work as a craftswoman/artisan/photographer. My first show took a lot more time to prepare
for than the ones I do now. I have had
very good feedback from my shows and generally get the vibe that people
appreciate my work and I should continue.
What is your most cherished handmade
item?
My most cherished handmade item is one that I ended up
selling because a woman wanted an antler/turquoise pendant from me, but she
wanted the ONE I WAS WEARING! It was the first one I ever made (2005) and the
reason I began making them to sell was because I got so many compliments on
that particular one. As soon as I
started making them to sell, I couldn’t keep my inventory up. It was quite exciting.
Apart from creating things, what do you
like to do?
I have always been a solitary wilderness explorer. When I was 19 I hiked for three months
(alone) on the Appalachian Trail. I have
been exploring, collecting and photographing ever since. I am a rock climber,
forest runner and general bushwhacker. I
hike mostly off-trail and this is how I find most of my natural treasures
(twig, stone, feather and bone.)
If you weren’t an artist, what would you
be and why?
If I weren’t an artist, I would be a research biologist
living at a remote field station somewhere in Idaho, Wyoming or Montana
studying one of the many earth creatures I love and writing a book.
Five years from now you will be… living in a cabin in the wilderness, creating art, running in the forests, collecting bones and photographing the things I love. I will be growing veggies, hugging my people, horses, cats and dogs. I will be making a full-time income from my online shop, craft fairs and gallery shows. Or maybe traveling with husband and daughter to British Columbia in the little vintage trailer I just bought to restore. So you see, I love my life and would change very little. I would be doing all the same things I am doing now (except making a little more money doing it.)
Describe yourself in five words: In-love,
self-reliant, happy-hermit, tree-hugger, GRATEFUL!
Carrying on with the five theme, if I
were to turn on your <insert whatever type of music player you use here>,
what five artists/songs would I see on your recently played list?
Lastly, do you have any advice for
anyone thinking about opening their own shop or participating in craft shows?
Oh My Goodness, follow your heart and
inspiration! Be Grateful every day for
the gift of creativity and let your shop and business grow organically. It will come together if you keep your vision
strong with intention. What I mean is if
you keep your intention and desire and passion clear and strong, you will
accomplish amazing things.