Wednesday Indie Artist Fixx with Loop

For today’s Wednesday Indie Artist Fixx, I am happy to share my interview with Elissa Barbieri from Loop.  Loop is a line of eco-conscious paper goods that combines a love of modern design with an appreciation for nature. Offerings include notecards and wrapping paper and a line of fabrics is the works as well. I first discovered Loop in 2007 after they displayed at the National Stationery Show and appreciated their commitment to using sustainable materials in creating their goods.  I also really loved the abstract beauy of the Drawings and Doodlespark collections.

Here’s my interview with Elissa.

1. What’s the name of your business, what do create and sell and how did you get your start?

My company, Loop LLC creates eco-conscious paper goods [ note cards,wrapping paper, etc. ] based on a collection of hand-drawn patterns and paintings. We also produce the Doodlespark line, which shares the collaborative drawings of a mother-daughter duo [me and my mom]. I launched Loop in the Spring of 2007 at the National Stationery Show in NY, the first time I ever publicly displayed my artwork.

2. What are your inspirations in your art and in life?

I am heavily influenced by growing up in Vermont; the patterns, colors, shapes + textures of nature, their changeability in weather and the way they age, intersect, overlap and combine. I also travel quite a bit and studied Architecture at university, so the built environment, geometry, maps, technical drawings, the urban landscape from a bird’s eye and a worm’s eye view also influences my work. Taken together, the way humans interact with nature – the powerful inspiration, love for, and sense of connectedness with nature that I feel – inspires me to live a responsible life and create a sustainable business model.

3. What three things would you want to be able to have if you were on a deserted island? Beyond the basics of survival.

An endless supply of 0.05-tipped pigment pens, colored pencils +paper [ and my husband, if he wanted to join me ].

4. What blogs and mags do you read and what shops do you shop at?

I try not to read too many blogs, because it starts to influence my work. I do pop into Bloesem + design*sponge now and then, Life Is carbon for great Scandinavian design, Yatzer, and Ping Mag out of Japan. I love TED and I read a variety of green blogs and architecture blogs/sites [Archinect, Treehugger, EcoFabulous, etc.]I’m starting a business; I don’t have money to shop! When I do, I shop a lot online. I love Stewart + Brown, the new nau, and athletic clothing companies for women, like lululemon and athleta. I also buy a lot from my clients; green sites like Greenward and Essentials.

5. What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst?

Personally, Loop provides me a platform for sharing my creative work, and that is incredibly rewarding. Professionally, I love that Loop tries to effect change in the marketplace… If the small about of work we produce can encourage paper manufacturers to raise their eco-standards and can help consumers make more intelligent choices, I’m happy !The difficult aspect is balancing the competing forces of being an artist and a business owner … Being creative is a matter of going with the flow, being open to exploration, ignoring the clock, and yet being a business involves immediate attention, deadlines, communication, constant attention to the calendar, working 24/7 for months at a time….

6. What are you reading, watching and listening to?

I’m reading Everything Is Illuminated by J. Saffran Foer and a few things by Murakami. I’m watching new patterns emerge on my drawing board, the weather change the trees, and occasionally Pushing Daisies. I’m listening to NPR, the random mix on our media center, and New Zealand artist Tiki Taane.

7. What’s new? Any new plans or products that you want to share?

Loop just re-launched its website – I’m thrilled to have all of our work up and in one place. Loop also had a 2008 holiday card that I’m excited about; it’s a nod to the man who first photographed individual snow crystals, Vermont farmer Wilson A. Bentley. I am also in the process of researching eco-fabrics to add to Loop’s paper repertoire. I am so impressed with the ladies of the eco-fabric world who have been such pioneers in their industry.