Meet Etsy Owner Robin from rrizzart and 5 giveaway entries!

I have been living in Southern California for the past 13 years. I grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, went to college there, and then moved to New York to attend graduate school. I met my husband in New York and we have been happily married for 23 years. We have one fabulous daughter, who is 19. I currently work part time at an arts & crafts store.

I have always crafted and over the years have given much away as gifts. I also made my own jewelry and altered clothes and wearable art. I always had it in the back of my mind to sell my work (I was accumulating so much!), but the thought of schlepping around to craft fairs never appealed to me. It took me a while to work up the nerve to go on line (I am not of the “computer generation”), but once I learned about etsy, I knew I had to be there.

My shop name – rrizzart – is based on my signature. I sign all my work with my first initial and my last name, but the last letter of my last name tends to get left off when I write it. So it looks like R.Rizz- I just added ‘art’ to that.

My favorite item in my shop is usually the one I’ve most recently listed! But if I have to choose, I would have to say any one of the embellished crosses would be my favorite. I was raised Catholic and have always been attracted to the pagentry and iconography of the Catholic church. I don’t really view my crosses as a Catholic or christian item per se. Rather, to me, they are an expression of the positive energy and hope of a spiritual life in general. They are celebrations of the hope and love within us all and are meant as spiritual reminders to see the good in life.

No particular piece has a story attached to it. My mink-lined trinket boxes, however, were based on one I made for my daughter. I had made a necklace for her that I thought was rather plain. I decided to create a gift box to hold it to ‘dress it up’ a little. By the time I was finished decoupaging, stamping, and adding crystals and mink to the box, the necklace was all but forgotten.

Doing Mixed Media, I have worked in a lot of mediums. One medium I would love to explore would be photography. I love color, shapes, texture and shadow, and I think it would be exciting to explore the world this way. However, judging by the stuggle I have had photographing my items for listing on etsy, this is not likely to happen any time soon!

My mixed media art often requires many steps, and there is a great deal of planning, designing, and composing at the outset and often many layers of mediums to bring a piece to fruition. The part I enjoy the most is when I am adding the final embellishments and see my piece coming together. Adding the last little details – that last sprinkle of glitter – that final crystal in just the right place – and I can say “Oh, yeah – that’s it!” That’s the moment I love.

I decided to work in mixed media because I am fickle and can never decide on which medium to work in! I started out crocheting and doing embroidery (I love texture & color). But I work in a huge crafts store – who could resist all that great stuff?

I don’t know what led me to start creating – only that I always have. My father was always very artistic although he never had the luxury to persue art professionally. My mother sewed all her life. Both of them instilled in me an appreciation for the handmade, and I owe them much.

 **Please take a moment to visit rrizzart‘s shop.  If you comeback here and leave a comment with your favorite item you can have a total of five extra entries to leave on any or a combination of my current giveaways.  You MUST leave the comments for the extra entries on the giveaways you would like to be entered into.  This offer ends on  9/15 at midnight.