Name: Charlene Gey
Medium: Well, everything

I make everything based on if I have the materials, basically, though for the shop I like to stick to things that are short and sweet. I like working with fabrics, I draw, paint, photograph, write, stitch/embroider and I'm learning how to work with metal and glass. I'm an artistic jack of all trades; if I don't know how to do something, my curiosity helps me figure out how to do it, and I start. I never let anything [but time] stop me from expanding. I like acquiring materials anywhere I can get them [dumpsters, Free Markets, thrift stores, friend's houses, junk yards, wholesalers, whatever] because I enjoy the thrill of the hunt and it also keeps my costs low if I plan to sell the item.

I'm inspired by anything if the factors are right. Some undying loves of mine come from travel and art history, gruesome folklore, '20s flappers, silent movies, the Middle Ages, Steampunk, and the bands 10 Years, Strata, Otep and Tegan & Sara. Steampunk's whole premise is taking the relevance and beauty of the antique and making it functional--- or vice versa, romanticizing technology by making it aesthetically retro ... and by retro, they mean the Victorian/Edwardian Steam Age. I love the pocket subculture; it's made me want to work more with fabric and metals so I can make things that I like but don't see available or cant afford. I'm captivated by radicals and guerrilla gardening and people making their own way, people like me who don't [want to] fit into the mainstream and blaze our own path, living below the radar--- for now they do it a bit better, but I'm gaining momentum. When I need inspiration I either go outside, go downtown or surf the web. I have a few blogs and websites that always get the wheels turning.

My major is Communications and my minor's in art studio [I couldn't imagine explaining to my parents why they were paying a university for me to paint and frolic around], and beyond school is where the hardcore planning stops. The plans for the future are open, but I'd love to continue the store and keep doing what I love; bigger, better, geekier. If I ever get tired of it, I'll retreat to a more soothing palate of colors and themes; I see myself becoming more engrossed in Steampunk. The future will involve evolution. Always evolution.