Peacebird: I learned to make hoops because I didn't want to pay $40 + shipping for a hoola hoop on some of the popular hooping websites. I make hoola hoops in the brightest color combos I can imagine and use lots of grip tape to make it easier to keep going. My personal favorite hoop is my LED light hoop that I use to practice since I love night hooping in Florida. The latest move I am working on perfecting is one shoulder dipping.

 

Soul Candy: What are you making right now?

 

Peacebird: Right now I'm working on a wire wrap pendant~it's a small cluster of amethyst crystals rather than a single crystal, so it's going to be a unique piece.

Soul Candy: I met you through Gypsy Road. Tell me about Gypsy Road and how and why you are involved in it.

Peacebird: Gypsy Road is the Etsy team "for those who dream in color." I think it's a great description because all of the members have unique and colorful artistic expressions with a hippie or gypsy flair. I have learned so much from the group about promoting my business as a livelihood while maintaining balance in the consumeristic "way it is."

Soul Candy: When did you quit your day job? How did you decide you could quit your day job?

Peacebird: I left my day job a few months ago. even though it was earlier than I had planned, my husband & I are very happy with my decision. I believe everyone has something that makes them truly happy and if you're lucky enough to find out what that is, you should pursue living the life you love. Sometimes it's easy to get trapped in a "have to" mindset, but ultimately we have more choices than we consider. I don't have a regular paycheck anymore, but synchronicity, hard work, research and perseverance are moving me on to being successfully self-employed.

Soul Candy: Tell me about your family...

Peacebird: We lived in Key West for a bit and the locals' motto speaks to my world view "All people are created equal members of one human family." My immediate family is my husband and our 4 adopted stray cats. Even though I have always been a little different, I like to see myself as maybe the artsy eccentric cousin in the greater human family.

Soul Candy: Do you vend at festivals?

Peacebird: I haven't vended at a festival yet, but I don't rule any possibilities out.

Soul Candy: Any advice for festival vendors?

I mostly sell online through Etsy or at local craft shows, so I don't have any advice for festival vendors. Attending and vending are pretty expensive. I was able to work for a vendor to get into Bonnaroo. I realize there are costs involved in the production of a festival, but it would be nice to see some more affordable options for the general population. Then people would have more money to buy handmade!

Soul Candy: What skills do you think artists need to be self sufficient today?

Peacebird: I have done a fair amount of research into "success" stories of artists or crafters and I've concluded that there is no one magic plan that fits all. Most important to me is the passion for creation not compensation. If the goal is to just sell out and get paid, likely quality is not top priority and not much love and attention will be transferred to the creation.

I make things that I love and would love to keep with the highest quality materials available and an obsessive amount of attention to detail and quality craftsmanship. Common sense about goals, budget, pricing one's work and time management are very important to start out with.

Handcrafted needs to cost more than mass-produced and artists should not hesitate to ask for a living wage, educate potential customers about fair wages and encourage one another not to accept less. Almost nothing mass-produced available for sale today should be as "cheap" as it is because of the debt incurred by the environment and the oppressed people who work in wretched conditions to make a very privileged greedy few more powerful and unaccountable. I would recommend the movie "Home" to anyone who thinks that the status quo works just fine and to those of us who know it does not.

Networking, advertising and promoting are the nails that will build the house of making a living as an artist. If no one knows you and no one sees your work, it is highly unlikely to sell. There are free or low cost means of advertising as well as connecting with other artists like social networking sites, Stumbleupon.

I create because it is instinctual and empowering to make do creatively and I believe that every single person has potential to be an artist in some way in their life. When that creative impulse is not utilized and people just work to pay bills and buy the latest consumeristic wonder crap, we find ourselves individually, collectively and our beautiful planet in this sad, but able to heal condition.