i am woman

what does it take to be a woman in the creative industry? lara, posted about one of our previous email conversations about how different it is being a woman in the "handmade, modern world" (thats my nickname for the indie craft and design industry), verses being a woman in the commercial design industry. We both agreed that there is this special comforting and excepting feeling you get when you decide to start developing relationships with indie people. They (we) embrace people from the get-go rather then seeing them as a compitition, like most mainstream designers do. Although i did have to agree with lara about how a big art of the "coldness" of the design industry is because it is male dominated. now, if your a male designer reading this then i do want to let you know that i don't mean any disrespect by that statement, my husband is a designer. it;s not all about the men either though, alot of the woman almost have to be cold to survive independently.
For the past two years, i've been slowly developing myself and learning what it is to be a woman handmade, modern designer. even though my foundations from school were in illustration and graphic design, i've always leaned towords the more "handmade" arts. i just figured that i wouldn't be able to survive as an artist in the real world unless i made myself a commercial designer. well, i'm here to say that it's not entirely true! right now i'm an example of a commercial designer making the change into a handmade modern creative. yes, it is easier to make a regulated income being a commercial designer, but is it as fulfilling? not for me, there is just something about a piece of art that has been crafted start to finish by one persons hands. I can't say enough about how awsome and caring the people in the indie arts commuinity are, no one person does the same as the other, yet they nurture and support each other like they would want to be in return so it's almost like a giant "pay it foreword". we look out for each other we guide each other, we collaborate with each other, and no mattr your medium, you are respected and your work is excepted with open arms. can you get that in the commercial design world?
so after that huge random rant,i wanted to announce that this week i want to make a woman's week, i want to post for you the women that inspire me to make my living off what i love doing rather then what i have to do. These will be women that i grew up striving to be like and still striving to be like! some will be from the past and some are my age today, but the one thing they all have in common, is that they inspire and empower! so lets go WOMANS WEEK!