Featured Seller: Mystic Spiral

Confession du Jour:

I stayed up too late last night watching Staying Alive. That's right. The sequel to Saturday Night Fever. With John Travolta in tights. And hair up to the ceiling.

I was fixated. It was like a flaming forum fire. No matter what, I could not look away.

Damn I love that movie. There, I've said it. Let the chips fall where they may.

I need to focus my attention on true, hairspray-free art such as this:



Help me, Mystic Spiral. You're my only hope.


Your Shop Name
Mystic Spiral

Your real name
You wouldn’t think that would be a tricky question, but it is. My first name, as it appears on my birth certificate and my legal identification is actually not a name that I use. I was named after my grandmothers (yes, both of them) and to prevent confusion I was always called by my middle name. Now everyone just calls me Andi.

Fifth grade teacher?
Ms. Ahart. I should probably follow some wise advice and decline to say anything else since I have absolutely nothing nice to say about the woman. Let’s just say that I know that my hatred of school is a direct result of the time spent in her classroom.

When did you first start crafting?
I think I may have tried macramé with my umbilical cord. I won a fire safety poster contest when I was in kindergarten. My mom has a flag that I knitted in 1976, when I was 7 years old.

Got a day job? What is it?
I describe myself as an “Almost Full-Time Artist”. I haven’t worked outside my studio in about 14 years. These days, however, my daughter takes enough of my time that the studio hours are fewer and farther between than I’d like.

What creation are you most proud of and why?
Hmmm… I’m pretty impressed with my pierced porcelain beads. I’m trying to talk myself into listing some on Etsy. You can learn more about them on this page of my website: http://www.mysticspiral.com/pierced/



What's the ugliest thing you ever made?
When I first got my spinning wheel, the results of my early efforts looked more like something that someone would create if they attempted to make a drawing of a cat’s hairball using a spirograph. I’d like to think that my spinning is improving, but it’s still not at a point where I’m ready to try competing with any of Etsy’s wonderful yarn artists.

Explain your etsy shop name.
Wow… I started calling my studio MysticSpiral after my first experience walking a labyrinth. At the right time, under the right circumstances, if you’re in the right place in your life, walking a labyrinth is like walking into your innermost spirit and then emerging again as a renewed person. Ideally, I have the same experience walking into my studio.

Angelina or Jen?
Angelina. I have a weakness for brunettes. Besides, she reminds me of Wednesday Addams, and who couldn’t love that?

Final words?
“Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!*” Really, I’d rather think of this as the beginning of a conversation (or series of conversations) than the end of one. One of the greatest things about being an artist and selling through Etsy is that I get the opportunity to “meet” so many people who I’d never have encountered otherwise. I love getting to know my customers.

* I have a morbid fascination with the last words of historical figures. The quote is from Karl Marx. (who would probably have plotzed if someone had shown him the internet…) If you’re at all interested in this kind of thing, I had a lot of fun reading the quotes at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Famous_last_words