March Meet the Maker Part Two

This week has flown by here. Storm Gareth has blown the poor old Holly tree this way and that but thankfully she is still standing tall. Here is part two of the 'March Meet the Maker posts' a daily month long Instagram challenge by Joanne Hawker

Day 8. Product range

The product range for Moonlight  and Hares as most of you know, is currently greeting cards, postcards, notebooks and prints. I hope to expand on these products in the future.  

Day 9. Story behind the name

'Once upon a time there was a girl who fell in love with the moon. The moon told the girl to follow a hare along a path made of stars, so she did. The hare was always one step ahead, fast and wise he ran, leading her to places of magic and showing her the light that sparkled.

One day she will catch up with him'... 

Back in 2008 I began a blog and called it Moonlight and Hares because it was just two things that I loved. I’ve always been in love with the light of the moon and have been drawn to the magical persona that surrounds hares. The name just seemed to stick, although I never officially called my Etsy shop by it and often people get confused a little by that. I kept with my maiden name for Etsy (Karen Davis) because it was what I used for previous freelance work when leaving art college. Now I have my website domain as moonlight and hares and am in the process of getting a shop up and running on there too. 

Day 10. You. 

I wasn’t sure what to say for this one besides that I am a nature lover and married with two grown up children, so here are 10 random facts about me. Nothing arty just relaxed for a Sunday.

1. I am learning Welsh on Duolingo have been since last July. “Bore da” ;-) 
2. Star sign- Sagittarius 
3. I  adore the scent of sweet william’s, night scented stock, bluebells, woodsmoke, a struck match and Penhaligon’s Agarbathi~ I’m saving up for a bottle!  🙏 😘
4. I love sugared almonds and rose tea (yogi which i just discovered and tastes like turkish delight, how fabulous is that!) 
5. I recently stopped dyeing my hair and embraced the grey although some days I wish my brown hair was still with me. I had a dream the other night that it was, but when I looked in the mirror I was Sandra Bullock and not me. 😂
6. I haven’t wore a watch for about 20 years
7. Book I just finished reading- The Warriors Princess ~Barbara Erskine
8. I love ancient history, myth and magic, especially about the British isles. Druids, Celts, Castles, King Arthur, Biblical, Ark of the covenant, holy grail etc and often feel I was born in the wrong time. 
9. I am an INTJ on the Myers Briggs personality test.
10. I was an extra (background artist as they are called these days)  in the new Downton Abbey Movie. It was great fun to do and am looking forward to trying to spot myself on camera when it comes out this year ☺️

 Day 11. Reducing waste. 

This topic is ongoing for me as I am always striving to reduce waste.

I use cardboard boxes for packaging, only ‘reused’ bubble wrap for delicate hangers. Paper packing tape instead of plastic tape 99% of the time. 

Producing  prints means that cellophane sleeves have always been a big part of protecting them. In early 2018 I changed to bio veg starch cello sleeves. All prints now come in these. Most cards are sent naked, or tied with string, but sometimes depending on how they are being shipped, I will put them in the clear sleeves too. Default shipping settings is without a packing receipt, unless asked, to save on paper. 

I do a lot of printing, so means I am left with empty cartridges. Epson provide a free recycle service via their site. Fill in the request form for envelopes & they send you 4. I can fit in 2 of the cartridges I use, into each envelope. Every time I need to, I just request more.

Since beginning my journey as an artist I’ve used acrylic paint, which yes, is plastic! I often feel hypocritical about this. However I hope that my work doesn't get discarded that often to become landfill rubbish? When cleaning, I never empty paint water down the drain, so it doesn’t get into the water system. Instead I dispose of in a corner of the garden away from waterways. You can also pour it into a bucket, then when the water evaporates you are left with the tiny fragments of paint that you can dispose of.  Keeping the paint palette in an air tight tupperware box with lid, between painting stops paint drying out which helps save paint and money too. The less old flakes of paint you throw away, the better! If you do get some larger ones, maybe collect them in a jam jar & glue them into a mixed media piece or collage? (I’ve always thought of doing this but never have!)  When cleaning the palette, I let dry, then scrape fragments off with a palette knife or finger nails ( bad habit!) & dispose of safely. I’m now saving mine in a bottle & making an eco brick. Of course it’s not the best solution, that would be to use eco paints. But in the mean time every little helps. Do you have any tips to share to reduce waste? 

Day 12

Hands at work. For this one I thought I'd make a little video. Background music is by Thomas J Curran 

Day 13. 

Photography.

I love photography, especially capturing the magical moments in nature. I’m like a child in a sweetshop when I see rays of light through trees and frost patterned mornings. Raindrops become jewels on branches and a moth or butterfly to me becomes as important as a black rhino in the African bush. When it comes to photographing my work though I don’t enjoy it as much. I find it’s often one of the things that takes a lot of time and I have a quite a few problems with. It sometimes takes me ages to get good pictures of my work before I add them to the shop, and then I’m often not 100% happy with them. I take most of my pictures with my iphone or iPad now as my old camera is not that reliable. I’m thinking of investing in a decent DSLR though, so any advice what I should go for would be appreciated. It’s all about light isn’t it. Get the light right and it doesn’t often matter what camera you have 📷☀️✨

Day 14. 

How I learnt.

As mentioned in day 2 (how I started) I studied Illustration at Art College.  However I don’t really consider this ‘how’ I learnt.  Learning comes from practice, more practice and repetition. Continuously playing around with pencils, paints or whatever your medium is, you learn through doing. You don’t need to go to college to do that. Art college for me gave me the luxury of time, the time to completely immerse, experiment, live and breathe it for 4 years. It taught me how to observe things and helped me find my path, which led me to the beginnings of a style.  

Day 15. 

Motivation/Goals    

My motivation is the desire to bring an idea to life, completion and share it. That’s what keeps me ticking. 

I’m not really the type of person that has big goals of grandeur. Just doing what I love each day, being happy, healthy, surrounded by trees, flowers, animals, in a cosy little home, creating things that I would want to buy myself is my goal for as long as possible.