Meet Ravenshold! EAST Member interview #1

This is the first in a series of posts introducing our Street Team members. We are a varied group of unique artists! Today I am sharing interview responses from Rebecca of Ravenshold!

1] What is your name? Rebecca

2] What is your shop name and please share a link:

Ravenshold Creations http://ravenshold.etsy.com/

3] What was the inspiration for your shop name?

Well. . .it just sort of happened. I wanted a user name on Etsy that had raven in it somewhere and everything I picked was already taken so out of desperation I used ravenshold which was the name of the country I was running on the game NationStates and it was available. Out of that grew Ravenshold Creations.

4] Where are you located and any does this have an impact on your work?

I'm in Wyoming, and I'm not sure if there has been any impact on my work beyond the fact that working with leather is still pretty common in this area which means that people are pretty accepting.

5] What is your preferred medium(s)?

Most kinds of leather, although I also play around a bit with jewelry

6] Would you please share a brief personal history?

I was born in Wyoming and have lived here most of my life beyond a short stint in Texas and a semester in Hungary when I was at University. I've got a BA and MA in International Studies (focusing on the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc) which I haven't ended up using but it was worth it. I also ended up becoming heathen around the same time but I don't think there's any connection between the two. I'm a huge history and science geek and can bore people to sleep on a number of topics, I'm also staff to a large number of cats. I'm not sure what else to say really, I lead a pretty quiet life.

7] What brought you to crafting and etsy?

I came to crafting because of my Mom and Grandma, they were always working on something and always had projects for us to do to. I got started doing leatherwork when I worked at a Tandy Leather store some time ago and then didn't do a lot with it when I moved on to other jobs. I got started on Etsy after someone recommended it to me and here I am.

8] Where do you glean your inspiration, family, friends, Spiritual Path?

There are two sides to inspiration for me. Everything I make is functional, so the first part is the idea to make a specific thing for a specific purpose. That is usually inspired by trying to meet a specific need which can come from family and friends. The other side is the way I decorate the piece and that comes from a number of different places. Some does come from being heathen, there's a lot of wonderful designs that can be found in Norse archaeological finds, but I also draw inspiration from medieval manuscripts, medieval archaeological finds, Victorian design books, textile patterns and nature.

9] What's in the wings, mediums to try, subjects to explore?

In the wings right now are belts, purses and messenger-style bags. Belts will show up first, I still need to do trial runs on the purses and bags.

Rebecca, thank you for sharing a bit about yourself with everyone! I look forward to keeping up with the new and wonderful work in your shop!

Please visit Ravenshold to view her amazing leather work items!
http://www.ravenshold.etsy.com/