This week we are in Slovenia..
Name: Boris Nemet
Age: 26
Occupation: Avid Orange Peeler
Tell us a bit about yourself.
Finally it has happened. I opened a shop called Orange Sessions. Lately, it was on pause, since I have been waiting for my new and better camera to arrive so I could make proper photos of these new orange lights. What else to say about myself...
I like to do too many things at once and sometimes when I start speaking I cannot be stopped.
I believe kindness is the best religion there is and I revere Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
And that’s the hole truth and nothing butt. Ok, there is a lot of butt now, since I got a little bit fat this winter.
When did you start creating and how
long have you been on Etsy?
I’ve made my first steps into field
of visual expression when I was 15, I started painting, drawing and
making some installations under caring eye of painter Mira Narobe.
Making different things out of orange and other peels started around
6 years ago. First thing I ever did with peels was a wooden box for a
girl I liked, followed by a big orange sculpture.
How did you come up with your business
name, is there any special meaning behind it?
I'm not sure, but I believe it has to
do with me being a big musicophil and listening to all those BBC Peel
Sessions, french radio Black Sessions, Pixies Purple Tape. I googled
my name now and it comes up with an album of the same name by some
band called Cash Audio.
Name
Orange Sessions is tied to symbolism of orange color that combines
the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with
joy, sunshine, creativity, optimism, enthusiasm and warmth.
Has your Etsy shop become your full
time job? If not, would you like it to be?
Not yet, but I’m working towards it.
I imagine it not being an easy job, but it is what I would really
love to do for a living. Currently, I'm unemployed and attending a
school for biotherapist. I plan to mix it with Ayurveda which is,
beside creative work one of my biggest passions.
How would you describe your creative
process?
It’s pretty basic, I turn on some
music that I like and start painting or drawing and that's it. If I’m
peeling peels (removing the white stuff that’s called albedo) it
can get pretty tedious so I prefer to smoke one before and I do if I
have some. Then I love listen to some good audio book. Other part’s
of orange work are fun.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
My mind is like a fishnet and when I
catch something interesting I contemplate on it for a while and then
try to bring it to life in the most original and interesting way.
It's quite obvious that my peel work is inspired by nature. Not just
my art but my whole being seeks wisdom from unmistakable laws of
nature and from works of Lao Tzu and Buddha. Sometimes I get
something from a book or the way the clouds are shaped or how Sun
spreads its brightness and warmth. I like being around people and
sometimes their kindness fills me with such positivity that it’s
transformed into full blown inspiration and then my most creative mode
turns on.
What is your most cherished handmade
item?
From recent ones it’s the big Sun and
from the older, it’s the painting called “Letište v srdci”
(The airport in the heart in Czech) but I preffer to call them art
instead of handmade. Smaller items, like small suns, boxes and lights
can fit into crafts category but my paintings and bigger conceptual
work is so called “fine art”. It may be that I’m so sensitive
to categorization because lack of formal art education, I’m not
sure. Maybe I have to bring those snobish walls in my head down, now
that I will start to do jewelry.
Apart from creating things, what do you
like to do?
I love to do many things, almost
everything but watching sports. I think that these days, sport is
just business of buying and selling. That being said, I love to run
and cycle, but do it rarely.
I am part of
Theatre of the Oppressed
group
and have just started educating in modern storytelling variete. I
like reading books on diverse subjects, listening to music and going
to concerts. I write. I love foraging in the wild. I do Vipassana,
Sungazing and Entheogens
and like to
mix
the last two with music if I can.
Was there ever any other job you
dreamed of having growing up?
When I was little, I’ve been dreaming
about being a radio dj, explorer of undiscovered species and
lifeforms or inventor. Now I dream about taking my peels craft to the
world and making a living out of it, biotherapy and natural medicine.
And getting a decent job in the process, but that seems unlikely.
Five years from now you will be…
Creating, doing therapies, writing and probably be still involved with theater or storytellng in one way or another.
Describe yourself in five words:
Sociable,
eloquent, inward-turning,
creative, tall
Carrying on with the five theme, if I
were to turn on your music player, what five artists/songs would I
see on your recently played list?
I’m glad that you asked this one.
Cocteau Twins – Those eyes, that
mouth
Billie Holiday – All of Me
Fela Kuti – Look and Laugh
I’m Not a Gun – Every Moment Is
Ours
Bersarin Quartett – Alles ist ein
Wunder
Lastly, do you have any advice for
anyone thinking about opening their own shop or participating in
craft shows?
I will quote two of my heroes. Joseph
Campbell when he says:
“Follow
your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a
kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for
you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are
living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who
are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I
say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid,
and doors will
open
where you didn't know they were going to be.
If you follow
your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for
anyone else.”
I wanted also to quote Hubert Selby,
but I can’t find that one, so I will try to paraphrase it.
He said that making true art is a
process when you give up everything, the relationships, recognition
and give the whole energy and time into it while not expecting
anything in return.
In the end, I will add something of my
own. I agree with Selby, but I try to not be so idealistic anymore.
I love getting something in return,
that’s the whole reason that I opened an Etsy shop.
I believe the most important things for
your art or craft are honesty, to yourself and to others and
originality. Believing is the key. When you try to do something
really different, people will, even your loved ones think that you’re
mad. Be persistent. There is an old saying that even the mad man will
become wise, only if he persists enough in his lunacy.
If there’s a creativity inside you,
find ways to get it out. It’s beneficial for you and your
surroundings.
It brings magic to everyday and makes
life no longer something to endure, but to live.
