While I haven’t received any criticism for my most recent about etsy, where I delved a little bit further into the conflict I feel about the changes etsy has been making, I have been thinking all week about the artists that still sell on their work on that platform.
Just in case it wasn’t clear, I love being able to search for just the right handmade gift from my living room. I love running into new artists in cyber space and sending the links to my husband and my friends when I think they would like them. I like introducing people to new art by artists they hadn’t found yet. (Ya’ll know it’s true, because it’s my day job.) Etsy has always been an irreplaceable tool for discovery.
When I am stuck on a particularly difficult passage in my novel or just need a break for creative inspiration, I pull up etsy and browse through listings of my two favorite things to shop for: self-striping sock yarn and pottery.
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore self-striping sock yarn from White Birch Fiber Arts. I want this for my feet.
A sock knitter can never have too much sock yarn, and as a former dyer, I know just how much work the self-striping yarn is. I don’t have the patience to do it myself most of the time, but I am more than willing to throw down $30 just for the experience of knitting with it. Self-striping sock just never gets old.
With pottery, I’m a little more discerning with my purchases. If I purchase pottery, it’s likely coming from someone I know like, FriesenArt, because I can buy it locally. (I’m drinking coffee out of one of her wheat mugs right now!) But I love browsing through the beautiful shops on etsy, favoriting pieces for future gift ideas, and imagining just how full of robin’s egg blue vessels my house will be when my boys are older.
But these bowls from AbbyTPottery keep grabbing my attention.
Now, imagine the yarn from above in the yarn bowl and that berry bowl full of cherries. Can you imagine the squish of the wool? The crisp contrast of the orange against the blue bowl? The slick glaze cool to the touch. The water droplets sitting on the skin of the freshly washed cherries? The heft of the bowl in your hand as you sit back down to your laptop ready to delve back into teasing out whatever conflict is giving you trouble.
Or is that just me?