CWC Member Feature: Kirsty Eckard
By Roslyn Russell Today I welcome Kirsty Eckard as the featured member on the CWC blog. I met her at the recent Finders Keepers Market in Melbourne and loved the range of accessories she designs and makes for her label So Little Time Co. It's great to have her here today sharing the varied ways she works creatively.
What do you create? I run the wearable label So Little Time Co. The label was created by my husband and I, and we make accessories from locally sourced wood - most of them are laser cut pieces which are all hand-painted and pieced together. I also create blogs, brands and websites through my new venture as a freelance graphic designer, which I am loving. I am endlessly creating. If it's not through my label, then it's a paper bird, just for fun, or knitting a scarf with HUGE pom poms, just because I can. I find I get anxious if my hands aren't busy, even when the working day is over.
Have you done training in your creative field or has it come about informally? I started a degree in Interior Design in 2006, and soon realised I hated that - I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't that. Thankfully my university did a course in Communication Design, and once I started that, I never looked back. I even went on to do an Honours year - I am a bit of a sucker for study. I think that some sort of formal training is so valuable to a creative profession and all the self teaching in the world could not have taught me the things I learned though my degree.
What are your main creative inspirations? Like most people, I'm inspired by other's creativity. The things I see in magazines, on blogs, through people folio sites - the creativity of others never ceases to inspire me. Something that I'm really inspired by is other people's dreams, especially the ones they are hesitant about telling other people. It's one of my favourite questions to ask people, and once you dig a little, the things that people strive for are incredible. And then to watch them go for it. That's the inspiring part.
How do you balance your creative projects with the administration aspect of creative work? Aside from the number crunching, I really don't mind the administration aspect. Strangely enough I enjoy writing invoices, heading to the post office to send off some goodies to their new homes, emailing clients and customers - I really don't mind it, which makes doing it a lot easier. I think most people who aren't doing it don't realise just how much admin is required to run even the smallest of creative businesses, and just how little amount of time you spent being creative. If only we could all just hire someone to do it for us.
What do you do when you experience a creative block? I'm a serious procrastinator and as a result I often find that I don't have time (especially with a looming deadline) to have creative blocks. I find that tight timelines really help any creative block that might come my way. My biggest help and support is my husband Josh, and when I feel stuck I go to him to get his perspective. Sometimes I find that his suggestions miss the mark, and that really I knew the solution all along, and sometimes he just gets it and tells me something that I completely missed to start with. I also walk away from it. I'll go and do something else, get some fresh air or grab a coffee, and even those few small moments clear my head enough to keep going.
What future goals do you have for your creative pursuits? I'd love to eventually have a three part business. One part So Little Time Co, with plenty of stockists and a great online store, one part design studio and one part blog (I've just re-launched my So Little Time blog with a serious face-lift). It's all small steps, but I have each of those written down and what I need to do to achieve them and little by little I'll get there. Watch out world!!!
Thanks so much for sharing your creativity today Kirsty! You can find out more about Kirsty here:
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Roslyn Russell is a sewist, blogger and teacher. Her blog, Sew Delicious, is where she showcases her latest projects, designs and sewing tutorials. Roslyn also enjoys cake baking and decorating, exploring Melbourne cafes and restaurants, and hunting through op-shops for vintage sewing and kitchen treasures.