41. Living Your Art with Tessa Perlow

In this episode, I welcomed back Tessa Perlow, an incredibly talented embroidery artist inspired by magic and nature. We discussed her journey and evolution since her last appearance on the podcast, her new creative ventures into other mediums, the challenges of managing physical strain and burnout, and the intricacies of running a creative business in today's world. 

Tessa also shares her thoughts on the importance of allowing oneself to play, researching inspirations deeply, and making art that truly resonates both personally and with her audience. Whether you're an artist, a fan of her work, or someone interested in the balance between creativity and business, this conversation was filled with gems for you!

Where to find Tessa:
Etsy
Instagram
YouTube

My workshops mentioned in intro:
Magic Threads LAST CALL
Spark Your Imagination Workshop
Stitch Explorer Workshop

Transcript

 Next up in the series of artists included in my upcoming book, the Art of Embroidery Design, which publishes on Januar 21st 2025, is embroidery artist Tessa Perlow! First off, hi, I have a bit of a cold as I’m recording this intro but luckily you don’t have to hear me like this through the whole episode, just the intro, anyways I’m so happy to have Tessa back on the show, we did an interview a few years back on this podcast but so much has changed, and we talk more about… being a public facing artist in the evolving landscape of social media, and we talk about the push and pull we have with these platforms that both give us the opportunity to share our work far and wide but also come with their own troubles, and she gives some great advice for dealing with the need to make money as a working artist and how that can actually influence your art in an encouraging way, she shares how she manages inspiration, and her works in progress, and her overflow of studio into home space, and just general life as an artist. She shares all the ways you can find her at the end of the episode, but I highly recommend checking out her YouTube vlogs and videos, they’re so sweet and it’s just so cool to get an inside look at an artists life like that.

Before we jump in, just some updates from me and my biz - I’ll be brief but, I’ve taken my ten week online creative embroidery course, Magic Threads, and chopped it up into tiny bites so you can choose to take just the creativity and inspiration bits, or just the improvisational stitching lessons, and gobble them up, BUT, if you’re really into the idea of having it slow dripped to you over 10 weeks in its initial inception, the format that was originally designed to be an unfolding of personal style through the art of embroidery, be sure to keep an eye out for an email from me as will be the LAST TIME I offer this 10 week version of the course, and it’s at a lower cost than if you bought all the bite size courses together.

Otherwise, you can jump into the newer version of this course by checking out the Spark Your Inspiration workshop - and when you get that, you have the option to add on the Sketchbook Lessons, or the Stitch Explorer, so it’s kinda like there’s a DIY version of Magic Threads still available in that way, umm. you can find out all about these in the show notes, and also I’m sort of winding down my online shop because I really don’t have the bandwidth for all of this anymore, so my Stitch Wish Talisman my little embroidered patches that this show is named after, will be on sale until they are sold out, umm there’s only a handful of each, at most, so if you’re interested in grabbing any of those - now is the time! OK let’s jump into this conversation with Tessa.

Hey, Tessa, and welcome back to the podcast. Hi, Christy. Thank you for having me. Yeah, definitely. So, um, this is your second time on the podcast, which is very exciting, but for those of you who maybe aren't familiar with your work or haven't listened to that, would you, can you just,  introduce it to us?

Yeah, definitely.  I do embroidery art, um, inspired by magic and nature, and I'll sometimes do up, well, upcycled clothing as well. Um, it's kind of a combination of art pieces, upcycled clothes, and then, , sometimes I'll dabble into other crafts and art mediums, but it's mostly embroidery art and beading. 

Yeah.  Cool. Yeah. Um, I love seeing the recent sort of dabbling into other, I mean, I love your embroidery too obviously, but seeing the dabbling.  Yeah. I feel like this year especially I'm excited to try different things partly because I feel like I need to offset some repetitive strain that I'm getting from embroidery, um, like injury in my hand and shoulder. 

And then also just because I think it helps creatively to try other things, just generally.  So, um, how do you decide what other mediums that you're working in? Is it like, that you find something and it just speaks to you? Or is it more like you have the idea first?  Yeah, I guess, , I just kind of let myself I kind of go wherever, , an excitement takes me.

So I, and also like I do, sometimes I'm better at being focused than other times. Like right now I feel like I have a lot of different, things going on and   There's a lot of unfinished projects, which is always the case, but it feels especially so right now.  Um, and I'm very excited about,  uh, like filet crochet.

I honestly don't even know if I'm saying that correct. Cause I feel like I've only read about it. I've never heard people talk about that, but I'm excited about learning filet crochet and also trying to make my own patterns for it.  And I'm taking a painting class and I decided on that because, um, it's kind of more gentle for my wrist. 

And which I'm sure you relate to. I don't know. Yeah. I feel like that's got to be a conversation.  Something just happened this past year or last year where I'm like, oh wow, I can't work the way I used to work. And yeah. I feel it in my body. Yeah. Um, but yeah, so that I'm definitely curious about gentler forms of art and,, learning painting, which is, 

it's just exciting and different for me, even though it's just. challenging since it's like a wet medium, and I really love dry mediums,  being someone who's kind of prone to being messy.  Um, yeah, and I'm also really trying to, well, I started dabbling in reupholstery, and I'm curious about doing stuff in the realm of home decor.

But, , before I really dive into it, I want to kind of clear away a lot of the projects that I have. , and like use up some supplies I have before I go and like purchase a bunch of new tools and a bunch of new and  start bringing chairs in or whatever. But I really want to learn that and then somehow incorporate it with embroidery down the line or beading.

Yeah. That'll be incredible. I think it'd be cool.  Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Um,, you were making those button nymphs. Yes!  Are those still part of the project? I'm still, I've got a lot, what's funny is I have a ton of unfinished or half finished button nymphs and they're kind of like these weird stuffed animal creatures or shapes that,, hang up on the wall.

And my partner actually hung up a bunch of the unfinished ones. So they're just plain fabric and then they're stuffed with,, scraps of fabric and thread  and then my idea was, oh, well, I also have like an insane amount of vintage buttons. So this is like helping me  use up all of that stuff that's like sitting around too.

What do I do with all these buttons? I'll like decorate them on these weird little sculptures, but I haven't gotten around to decorating them. So they're just kind of like sitting there. Sitting on our walls naked along with some of the other button ones, but I do want to kind of like stuffed animals It is kind of yeah, it's weird I would  I guess it's good to be reminded of them that they're up there and I'm like I got I want to work on That because it's just like looks like a weird blob on our wall, but it's it's okay And we have a few of the finished ones hanging up.

Also. I do want to get back to that um And that is definitely one of those fun projects that felt like playtime, which I feel like I don't always allow myself to do,  but it's important.  And I went to, like, now I'm living in Philadelphia  and we went to the Barnes Foundation, which is like a museum. Uh, sometime last year, we went for the first time, even though I've been here, I think two and a half years.

And it's really cool the way  it's set up like a house, I guess it's like a historical house or it's a museum mimicking the historical Barnes house. , and then, so all the rooms have all these. There's beautiful paintings, but there's also, , antique metalwork, like door hinges and doorknobs and all these like intricate things  complementing the different paintings.

So I wanted to make. Like strange little pieces that could hang up complementing other artworks. That's kind of also where the button nymphs came from.   I'm kind of speaking on that, , how do you deal with your unfinished work? I recently had a student that asked me like, what do you do with your unfinished pieces?

And I was like, oh, I don't know. It's chaos. They're sitting around in piles everywhere.  It's actually, it's crazy how many small piles I have all over the house. Um, well mostly in, this is like my little workroom and then I have like a pile  city next to the couch also. Which is like some crochet piles and it's better when I can see it.

And then I'll work on it. It's when it gets put in a basket that it's like a year goes by. And then I pick it up and I'm like, I would like to finish this. Let me work on this for like this month, finish this project. Yeah, totally. I in the same way. I need it. I need it up in the open. I just recently started putting them on the wall just to be like, that's good.

Yeah Definitely and that's what I think also that's a good way of like using your space and not necessarily taking up floor space Yeah, yeah Yeah I think that's helpful for people who are creative and they feel like they're expected to keep their space clean and like put away all Their projects afterwards.

It's like  yeah, it's a rare Yeah It's so, it's challenging. Just general organization, I find to be tricky too, because I'm the same way with supplies, where I also want to see all my beads laid out, and then it's like, they never get put away, they're just always out in the open.  But I, yeah, I try not to be too hard on myself, because then,  I don't know.

At least if it's all out, then you're kind of always practicing your art, and yeah, that's, that's what I want to be doing. Yeah, right. That's what, and that's kind of what I want to be looking at, to be honest. Yeah, true. Seeing all my materials. Like, no one's coming over,  so I may as well.  Yeah, so you've got these,  you've been making these beaded quilts, which I think is the best way I could describe them.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, so I have, I feel like last year I started, um, I read a book about the weaving workshop at Bauhaus, That, that whole, um, I want to call it a movement, but the textile and weaving workshop at Bauhaus. And that really inspired me, like Annie Albers and, , just, I suppose more modern and graphic art and, , Also, my mom is a quilter, so I've always just loved quilts, and, , I like making quilts, but I never thought about using quilt as a subject matter with a different medium.

So that's what I've been trying to do, and also some of the beading, like, pattern pieces, um, is my way of using lots of very random beads that maybe there's, like, not a large enough amount to do, like, a whole motif, like, oh, a whole, like, pattern. Beaded bonnie. There's not enough of this brown shade for this bonnie.

So let me add it to a pattern in like a bead piece But I have kind of put them on the back burner and this is a shame but it's just because like they haven't been selling as as well and i'm trying to recalibrate with what's working in my shop and I guess those are kind of more like  a passion project thing that I If I sell enough in a week, then i'm like, oh you can work on something a little more experimental um, yeah, i'm kind of trying to Figure all that out because I think this year has been kind of tricky with the small business aspect of it, um, of everything.

So.  Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Mm hmm.  I was like, I didn't want to talk about the business until the end, but I just I do want to revisit that.  I feel like you just, yeah, started on something that I do want to talk about. Yeah. I have a lot to say. Yeah.

I'm, I'm very excited about trying different things and I think, you know, I It's also interesting to reflect, like, right now in being a working artist and  Like, using social media, like, everyone has to use social media, but maybe being in a place where you're known for a certain look of things.

Um, being okay with trying something different, even though it maybe isn't working  in the sense that the other stuff works, but it's working for you emotionally or, , creatively. And I want to give myself, allow myself that, but, um, yeah, it's, I guess a balance I'm still trying to figure out and then also give myself breaks because like my hand is hurting all the time.

Oh man. Yeah. I mean, I really, I admire that about your work though, is that you do really experiment even though you do have, you know, the specific style, like on Pinterest, it's always like, you know, the very specific  pieces that come up. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, that's good too though. Like, and I love that about other art.

Artists and artwork, and I love that about your work too, um, I do love when it's like a world you enter, that's, that is something I always want to, or strive for, that's like, oh, this, this world of art, that's like a whole, they're all connected, even if they're different, um,  but yeah, I want to introduce some other elements into it too.

Yeah, like even seeing those, almost like winged forms, but they have a bunch of different colors blended together. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm not sure, how you, describe those in your own work, but Yes, that was, that's what I would group that also with my Quilt pieces, even though they are kind of different, they're more like blooms.

Yeah. And I feel very influenced,  my partner, , is also an artist and does more non objective work, so I think maybe being surrounded by,,  these shape,  landscape y things that are , that remind you of things, but maybe aren't necessarily something and that it's hard not to be influenced by that all around you.

 Those are kind of inspired by like the Wheel of Fortune, but in my way of kind of thinking, Oh, how do I  portray a wheel, but, or like an energy wheel? In a way that is like a flower or, um, and also like use up some of my threads and, um, organize my thread by color and yeah, yeah, yeah, I think they're really beautiful.

They do have this sort of like floating energy of, this is sort of hard to describe. Um, I did an interview with someone the other day who used the word ineffable and I was like, yes, I love that word. ,  this word that's describing a way that you can't describe something, but I feel like they have that feeling.

Cool. Thank you.  Um, so  you mentioned you like to research magic in nature.

And I just wanted to get an idea of like, I mean, I know I can, I can tell by your work that you're not just like Googling like magic and nature. Right. Anybody who's maybe a little bit like earlier on in their like research process. Yeah. No shade to that. Yeah. I mean, in the beginning, that's probably what I did when I was like 25 or whatever.

I just like went to Google. was better 10 years ago. That's true. That's What is this? Truly. Yeah. Like now I don't. Because I don't. I'm like, nothing's gonna, they're not going to give me what I'm looking for. Um, but now  I keep lots of lists and, and.  If I'm interested in something, I do want to read about it or watch movies about it.

I, if I listen to a certain podcast, like,,  there was a podcast called Strange Magic about the tarot, and now it's in Between the Worlds, and I feel like they really inspired me, um, because they were always bringing up references, like pop culture references, book references just like quotes by poets or whatever and then I'd like write it down as I was listening go and watch the movie or go and find the book um but I used to google a lot like what are books on witchcraft or books on the tarot like the classic books on the tarot that will help you learn about  the cards and and then get them from the library or buy them from like thrift books .

 Yeah. I love those books.  Me too. I need to keep myself from going too crazy on thrift books or e books or whatever, because I could, like, ah, there's one for five bucks, I may as well get five bucks, or something.  Yeah, but I, so I would think like my advice to people starting out is Is if you like something, especially like, I really was, um, drawn to alchemy art just visually. I was like, Oh, it's so pretty and mysterious. And what is this? This is so cool. Um, and I think in the beginning I probably would just  Oh, I see this and I'm going to do my own version of it.

And then there was a point where I was like, if you're going to be making work about something or like,  the same subject matter, you should really learn about it. Um, cause you don't want to just be making work  about symbols and stuff that you don't know what they mean.  So I think like, yeah, if there's art that you're drawn to, learn about it or figure out maybe there's an artist you really love and then see what inspired them and then read about what, what they were inspired by,, or whatever movies that they were watching.

And yeah, that's kind of my method.  I think that's great advice. And how do you  store all of, the sort of like inspirations or different things that you want to research later? Like how, do you have a format, method or format for that?

, I'm pretty analog and everything is in notebooks and there's a lot of them and I definitely,  I have a rotation of like. Five tiny journal sketchbook, like, like Moleskine,  they have the, like, journal planners, but they have, like, tiny little sketchbook packs that you can get sometimes. 

So I'll get those, but sometimes, yeah, right, right now I'm at a place where they're kind of more filled up than and I'm not going back and referencing them and I would like to like stop what I'm doing, go back and look at old ideas and start working through some of those and like lists and stuff of things I want to research or books I want to read. 

They're mostly in notebooks, and I am also like a Pinterest addict. A bit. So every morning I go on Pinterest, and, um, that's just kind of like, soothing. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like sometimes it's like a better curated always trying to show me like weird trending stuff, and I'm like, I don't care about I know.  I just, yeah, there's something really nice about just It's the visuals that speak to you and they're all right there and yeah,  that's where my Oh, yeah.

No, go for it. I also like use a lot of reference images for things and that's, they're usually all saved on Pinterest. Yeah. I feel like that's a really important point because I think sometimes people are like, Oh, I can't draw or like, how do I draw? It's like you almost. All artists use a reference image.

Like, we're not just inventing things up. It's like, we're basing it off of. Yeah.  Yeah. And that's how I learned to draw also. Like, that's how you'll become better. I don't think any drawing needs to be perfect, but  for me, it's helpful to use a reference image. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. And maybe there are artists out here, there who never use it, but I'm sure at one point in their career. 

process they did. Yeah, or even like color references. I don't know. I think it's helpful. Definitely. So do you feel like when you're shifting between mediums do you feel like your expression shifts at all? Or is it? 

Good question. I think I probably approach most |mediums the same way.  Maybe to a fault,  we're like, for example, in my painting class, um, I definitely am approaching it as if I'm drawing because my work is very drawing based, I suppose, , and , my teacher just wants me to relax and like, hold the paint brush like, like, farther away.

I'm not supposed to like, hold it close up that that be very close to the painting.  And that's what I do,  because that just, like, makes sense to me, or be more detail oriented. And the class is more so about just, like, it's a three hour class where you sit down, and you have to paint a still life, and look at the light and the shadow, and that's where you're starting with, and then, like, quickly blocking it in, not worrying about details.

It's like a practice sort of painting.  And it's so hard for me not to just, like, stay in one spot of the painting and try to, like, finish a plumb. Yeah.  But I guess layout is pretty important to me, and that's maybe how I first approach anything that is, like, a larger piece. Um, because with hoops, it's kind of like just a little something.

But with the larger pieces, I think layout is maybe what I am most keen on trying to establish. And then everything else kind of.  fits in and even if I'm not sure about something then that's when I like reference a notebook  for like filling in any gaps that need to be filled in.  Yeah I think some of just to describe it for anybody who hasn't seen it but like some of the embraidered clothing that you've been doing.

It's like this beautiful kind of collages of different embroidered elements around it. And then you've been trimming it sometimes with like a buttonhole stitch around the edges. Yeah. To really pull it together. Um, I just think those, how do you go about, um, like collecting the sort of, the grouping of images on those pieces?

Yes. Um, so, one thing I do will be Saying, okay, I'm gonna make a shirt. I'm gonna embroider a shirt and It's gonna be inspired on like a walk I go on and then I'll go on a walk and whatever I see Then that's gonna be put on the shirt in some way or another Sometimes I'll pick a tarot card and then that kind of helps me Decide what direction to go in sometimes.

I just have an idea or I'm like, oh seasonally. I want to work on something with deers on it or an owl or like the animals that kind of make me think about autumn.   yeah, but especially those, those pieces with a lot of elements to it. If I,  If I have one idea and I'm not sure what else to put on, I'll just flip through my notebooks.

Like I haven't done that yet. I'm going to put that on there. Haven't done this. I'll bring up Pinterest. It'd be like, what flowers haven't I worked on in a while?. I love that., that suggestion of just working with your sketchbook and having it just this constant source . I think it's really powerful in that regard. Um, so we see a lot of your reels where you're just drawing directly onto the garment. And I love it because there's always like seven people who are like, what pen are you using? And it's like, I'm using a permanent micron. No matter how many times I.

say what pen I'm using. I do anticipate having to always say what pen I'm using and I have switched it up throughout the years though because I used to just use a regular ballpoint pen but now I'm not doing that for the clothes anymore because I think it's maybe more damaging or like non archival the way like a micron is permanent and not gonna deteriorate a fabric or anything.

Not that I think ballpoint pen will be that damaging but  It's just best to keep things archival. Yeah, yeah. Totally, totally. Um, so what, do you ever like mess up when you're drawing a bit and how do you fix that? Yeah, definitely. I think there's this idea that it's always perfect every time. I

I mean, well, so sometimes I just don't care like with my line drawings, um, and if I'm planning a project that's going to be like a shirt with a bunch of symbols and motifs and I'm just going to embroider the outline of them. It is pretty regular that I will mess up and I just embroider my mess up spot too if it's not that bad.

If it's like a double line around like the body of an animal or something like that, I'm like, it's fine.  Um, and then sometimes with other stuff, um, well with like embroidered hoops, if I'm working on like, regardless of the size, cause sometimes I'll do stuff that's more like simple, um, little pieces that are great for selling in my shop.

Sometimes I try to do larger pieces that are more.  artistic expressions that I'm excited about, but I will mess up drawing that, and then I just flip the fabric around. I'm like, okay, I just need to make sure that I'm embroidering. a lot to cover up anything showing through. Um, but like those, the quilt pieces are especially good for covering ground on like a linen that is showing through drawing from the other side of the fabric. 

And then I will sometimes just draw over an old drawing and just draw bigger and then fill in the whole thing. Um, and then sometimes I have to sacrifice a piece to like be scraps that get filled into. A button nymph something. Right, yeah. Um, what are some of your favorite, do you have any favorite tools that you kind of can't live without?

I mean, I think our school belts are pretty particular and small, but is there anything that you're just like Yeah. Ooh, good question. what have I been using a lot? I mean,  I have my, my stuff I always have around is like my needles, my embroidery needles, my hoops, , and like my little cutting tools. , I mean, it's super handy to have the overhead thing to help with making like content, unfortunately, but that's like the reality  of life, I guess, if you make things, What I really like, and I'll show you because I have it right here in front of me, I have a couple, um, this is like a whole other thing that I like to make, but a bead spinner has really been fun and useful for, um, like beaded flowers, for 3D beaded flowers, which I haven't done in a while, but I was doing a lot of those maybe a couple years ago.

And I want to do some more and maybe try to experiment with a Christmas ornament design. I'm not sure  what yet, but yeah, I love bead spinners. They're, they kind of blew my mind when I first got them. Yeah, I still can't understand how they work, but basically just to explain to people. Yeah, yeah, just to explain to people.

So it's this little bowl and it just spins around and you just hold your needle up, right? Okay. Yeah, well, I use it with um, Like very thin wire, and then you put a little hook on the wire, like you just fold the wire so that it's like a hook, and then dip it in, and when it's spinning, it'll just like fill the wire with beads, and then you can kinda loop it and make flower petals.

That's what I use it for at least. Yeah, it's like pure magic, really, when you watch is. It's really cool. Um, yeah, I'm trying to think what else. I have, I got an embroidery stand recently, but I haven't been using it. So that's not a good, I'm supposed to, because I think it helps your posture a lot. Um, yeah, so I'm not sure what other tools I have. 

But I recently got a punch needle, and I'm kind of curious about trying that, because that's, um, like a different motion, but I don't see why not applying that to my work also.   So you mentioned having like the wrist and the arm  issues, so I wanted to ask, uh, how did you deal with burnout?

And I feel like that kind of  is evidence of burnout. Totally connected. Yeah.  And I'm very dramatic about it. And so I keep bringing it up because I'm like, this shouldn't be happening to me. But it's like, this is exactly what happens when you  are a bit of a workaholic. , I feel like people used to ask me this all the time.

Um, and I'd be like, I'm fine. Nothing's ever gonna affect me.  I can embroider all day. I'm fine. And now I'm like, Oh God, like I need to take breaks. I need to figure something else out, use my sewing machine more or just, you know, Um,  yeah, and burnout is connected to it and I,  I definitely feel that and it's like frustrating when I want to be working on things, but I feel like I can't and then I don't know what to do with myself. 

And there's like the pressure of also needing to support yourself financially  wrapped up in there. Um, but if I'm burnt out, my rules are like, go on a nature walk because that is always really helpful. And that's how I relax and just like clear my mind. Tried to do that once a week.  Just generally, if it's nice out, um, and also because I'm in a city now, and I'm not really a city person, it's crucial to just like find a park and go, go on a walk and remember that there's trees out outside the city. 

Yeah, so I try to go on a nature walk. I definitely  try to Take time either every day or like at least once a week to spend time reading a book And it doesn't have to be like a researchy book. It could just like especially a fun fiction book which maybe in the past I haven't always Indulged in now. I'm trying to do more so  because it's just great.

I love reading and I guess like, watching movies, I don't know, helps me also with burnouts. It's good to just , take a moment and stop and be like, you are more than your work, and  Burnout is just a symptom of like,  the systems we have to live in and I need to remember that.

 And if I'm not feeling it then I just need to like not try to work or work on something that is not tied up with my thoughts, something that's just kind of like a flower that I don't need to think about that I've done maybe a million times, but, um, it's easy and why not, you know, just if I want to work, but I don't know what I want to work on, then that's when I do something like revisit something. 

Yeah, I think it's good to have that time for your brain to just like,  sort of just unwind, really. Yes. Yeah, you need to take space, from things, because that's also like the magic of how ideas come, so that's, you can even look at it as part of an essential element to creativity, is like stopping. 

It's hard, but that is like when a lot of cool ideas come, if you just stop.  Yeah, totally. I also feel, I don't know, I'm an Aquarius, I know you're an Aquarius. Me too, yeah. Yeah, I feel like we like forget that we are physical beings in a physical body, in a physical world. Totally. Just sometimes just like, okay.

Oh yeah, like grounding. Yeah, like the idea of the nature walk where I like, anytime I go on a walk, I'm like, oh, right.  Yeah, yeah. Getting out of one's mind. Yeah. Yeah, I do relate to that. Yeah. Yeah.  Um, so I do want to ask you some questions about just running a business as a creative person.  You've gone back and forth from Etsy to running, having your own website and then back to Etsy.

 And I'm just curious, um, what has your experience been with like trying to Yeah.  It's hard. I don't, honestly, I feel like I don't know what I'm doing a little bit with  that. , especially like  yeah, I had Etsy for a really long time. And in the beginning, it was just, Because I made too many things, and I thought, why not try to sell some stuff on Etsy, like, I must have been, I was either, I think I was like 18 when I first opened my Etsy shop,  um, so I was definitely working other jobs, still in school, and just kind of had it there, for if people wanted to buy things, and then through the years, , like  started a business and took it more seriously.

So,  when I was able to go to Etsy full time,  That worked really well and then I, I feel like moving to Pennsylvania made it very stressful for me to figure out what I wanted to do with my business and I always wanted to try having my own website and selling off of it, but that was kind of linked to the assumption that it is easy enough to just promote myself on Instagram,  so why do I, I don't need Etsy, like I don't need that,, I guess like the marketplace source where people can look, look up, , random embroidery and then stumble upon your work or discover you that way, like, oh, I'll be fine, I have Instagram, I'll just promote myself, I want my own website, and then I feel like this may be correlated to Instagram becoming way more challenging to use.

as a means for promoting yourself because so much changes with them with all the social media apps but like especially instagram  in the past couple of years it's just  been very different um as far as like so as far as that goes i the first year was really challenging to figure out if i wanted to keep doing that  i don't necessarily think think Squarespace is harder than, because I was using Squarespace, I think any website  builder, um, they're probably all more or less similar, more or less the same price.

Etsy also probably is around the same price too, or even more expensive, I don't know. It seems very expensive when selling anything, they take a pretty large percentage and there's like,  So much to Etsy right now that I'm like this probably wasn't worth it. I don't know what the answer is. Um, but Yeah, i'm back to Etsy Long story short.

I'm back on Etsy Um after doing taxes last year I thought I decided like I think Etsy makes taxes easier for me because it's all in one place  and um Yeah, but now it's like Dealing with them is kind of frustrating for me, and I feel like they gave me a report card yesterday that was like you're, you're not doing well right now as far as you're, um, answering messages to people, so you're not a star seller.

They have like, things where you're like, need to answer messages within 24 hours, or You need to ship your thing. My shipping is always on time and like having high reviews, I guess, and I'm pretty good there as well, but if I don't answer a DM or if I don't answer within 24 hours, I have like a 60 percent or something on there and so my whole score is messed up.

I'm like, why are you even grading me.  Can't I just sell here? Also, it's like, I'm an artist. I'm not running a full time business with a customer service team behind it. So to expect that of an artist, which is what artists are who created the platform in the first place. , it's not good. And  I don't know.

Yeah. I'm not sure what to do about it necessarily, but, , I'm definitely thinking about it a lot. Like, what's going to be my approach, especially this time of year tends to be. a better time for creators because the holidays are coming up. So I'm definitely like, how do I make this, , like a good end of the year?

I think the answer that, or the answer I'm giving myself, , is, well, I want to work on a lot of more affordable pieces, just generally. I think everyone is financially, like, , strained because of the world, or the economy, I guess. , and I want to do more in person things, so I'm trying to find some pop up opportunities locally.

Maybe even, uh, down the line I want to try to reach out to shops and have pieces. sold in local shops, um, because,  yeah, I think just relying on Etsy is not working for me right now. And maybe down the line not having an Etsy, but for now it's what I have, so I'm sticking through with that.  Yeah. So how do you feel like, how do you manage the sort of  the idea of like what we want to make as artists versus what we are actually selling as like business people? 

 It's, I'm okay with it because I'm happy to just make things generally. I, I think, well it depends I guess on the day because some days I'm like well if I'm gonna make stuff and it's kind of . Make my body feel tired. I really only want to make the things that I really want to make.

I don't want to just like  make any old thing. Um, but the challenge is to make even smaller, sellable things special or a special experience for me. And then that gets put into the art. For the person who might want to buy it.  Um,  I think when I first started out, I would tell myself if I can sell a certain amount of, if I can make a certain amount of money in a week, then you can work on the projects that maybe,  you know, aren't going to sell, right.

You know, or like are more indulgent. And then maybe there was a time period where I  didn't have to worry as much  Pushing myself to sell, like, embroidery was at its peak popularity and, like, it was easier, um, and Instagram was, like, worked really great too, algorithmically or whatever.  And now I'm recalibrating  because it's a bit harder, so I'm like, okay, go take a step back, um, Either get a part time job or go back to your rule where you have to work on pieces that you know will be more sellable, um, and then once you sell a certain amount, you can work on the more fun things.

But it's really hard. I don't know how other people do it because I'm definitely trying to implement a schedule of like making  A reel, at least once a week, and like, slash TikTok or whatever, um, making a YouTube video once a week, and those two both, they feel like so much work, and you don't necessarily get an instant reward, um, but it does feel essential too, in some weird way, and like, I don't know how other people do it, but I'm tired.

Yeah, those feel like long term investments in your time, hopefully. I hope so. Like, conceptually they do. Yeah. Yeah. I have fun making videos, so, and if it wasn't fun I wouldn't do it. Right. Um, but I definitely don't feel like I'm working smarter, and you know it's how people say work smarter not harder, and I feel like I want to do that, but I always go like, it's not my thing.

Nature, I guess. I'm like, making more work for myself. Being like, make a YouTube video once a week. Um, yeah. I don't, I don't know what the answer is, but, that's when my approach is, I suppose. And then trying to take as much rest time that I can allow myself.  Right. Yeah. So what do you share?

What kind of videos are you sharing on YouTube?  Oh, a little bit of like projects. I'm doing some vlogs, , really whatever I'm in the mood to do. I'm doing some tarot videos. I think it's, I've become someone who really enjoys watching YouTube and I feel inspired by other people's videos. And sometimes like inspiration videos.

are pretty fun to do as well. I definitely have a lot of ideas, , video ideas that in, in different notebooks and stuff. And, but right now I'm just letting myself learn, I guess, how to do it and be more confident in making videos and like speaking  to a camera by myself. Yeah.  You do it well on your reels, but. 

Thanks. I mean.  Yeah. I don't. As far as video editing goes.  Yeah, I don't know, I guess, I like the process videos definitely, , especially for reels, I feel like I'm shy about anything else on Instagram. For Instagram, it's probably just gonna be, like, a process reel, and I can't imagine doing any kind of video with me talking about stuff, but. 

Maybe one day I'll get better at that. What do you think that is about, uh, YouTube and Instagram having these different sort of like feelings about them? I don't know. Cause I feel the same way. So I'm just  curious. Yeah. I don't know. I feel what's really strange because I feel like YouTube has a reputation of being way more  like there's bullies on YouTube.

Like you expect to get like weird comments or  people trolling you a bit more, but I find it. And I don't really expect that from Instagram, even if I was going to.  Be like, oh, I'm gonna do something and I feel a little bit like I'm being cringy, but I'm gonna do it Anyways, I don't think I think for the most part people are kind  But I think instagram feels scarier to do that.

I don't know why but yeah YouTube I feel a little bit more like Uh people already have a stigma with youtube. So once you're already doing it. I'm like  I feel less embarrassed Right, maybe it is the location where it's just like, this is a space where people go expecting that, where a subscriber has a different expectation, yeah.

Yeah, that's a good point, because I think I go on YouTube and I'm down to like, watch a random person just talk about stuff or go about their day, it's so weird that that's like, a fun thing to watch, but I'm definitely someone who indulges in watching videos like that and I like it and on Instagram maybe it's overstimulation because you're getting it from a lot of people and you're not necessarily  Seeking out a specific person's content that you want to watch is just going to be like whoever's putting up stuff.

So maybe it's more 90 second time limit maybe too. True, true. It doesn't allow you to go into depth. Yeah.  So it does feel more surface, yeah. I'm just thinking out loud now, I'm like, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, I mean,  I think, I think it all depends too, because there's definitely people I do really enjoy watching on Instagram, and, , I definitely like sharing that sort of thing to friends, and, , I guess like comedy type videos.

Yeah. But.  Yeah, it's interesting to give a lot of thought to, but it is like a reality. Yeah. So you described one of the elements of like, trying to make sure that you're still making work that you love as like, I took a note that you said, make it more special for both you and the person who's receiving it.

So I would just love if you want to like, go into detail on that at all, or just like how that, I just love that little gem. Well, I mean, I, all of my work, I do just choose what I want to make. I don't really do custom stuff, but,  I'll keep lists of, um, ideas for like little hoops or shirts and, , it's more special for me to  think of like a meaning or like almost, , I like to say it's like a spell that I'm creating, , what kind of spell would I want to make and what kind of symbols embody  confidence and or healing or protection.

and make a list and designate like a certain attribute to a certain symbol  and then  that helps me get excited about it and I feel like I'm putting magic into like a shirt or even just a little hoop like oh I've never done a little monkey hoop and that seems really playful and that's like a fun energy to try to um like if I had that on my wall I would think like Oh, be more like playful today.

If I looked and saw a little beaded monkey all the time. Um, and often like, yeah, if I make a piece, we, we put all of our art everywhere. Because that's like a great way to store your pieces, just put it up on the wall. Um, so what do I want to look at and think about or try to work on in myself and then hopefully other people also feel that way looking at certain symbols or  energies of a piece.

I don't know. Yeah, I think that comes through in the pieces too, even just looking at them digitally. Cool. Well, one question I love to ask everybody is, um, how do we, just thinking about like us as artists creating The worlds we wish to live in and how can we kind of work within that 

I think we can oftentimes artists just be like, Oh, I doesn't mean anything or this or that, but I feel like our art becomes so much more powerful.  Totally. So, yeah, do you have any thoughts on that? Definitely, yeah, I mean maybe even before the stage of making things in my everyday life, I want to see, , things in the everyday and be inspired by that.

 My personal life is pretty simple and like some would think mundane. I really like a simple life,  I like going on my nature walks. I like walking around town. I like making things and I love noticing, I guess, just details and, , being delighted by  nature and little things that you see.

And, , so. Me wanting to be inspired, I want to give that to other people too. The, , desire to see, , things in their everyday life and be inspired by them enough to, , honor them with a lot of time being put into a little, um, embroidery piece or a shirt that you make, want to make or wear. Like, I definitely also want to inspire people to want to make things too, I guess.

, and Yeah,  I want to create a world where people, just appreciate their surroundings, and see the magic in nature and see the magic in everyday life. Yeah, I think you use the word to honor that, honor the things that you see, that's everything.

I think that's really beautiful. Yeah. Let me capture that. Yeah.  Well, um, can you share where people can find you? Even though I'm sure everyone's  found you and I mean that in the best way.  You never know. I mean, my Instagram is Tessa Perlow and I, I do also have a TikTok that I try to  upload on,  which is also Tessa Perlow.

Actually, all my things are Tessa Perlow and I have a YouTube, um, That's also Tessa Perlow and my Etsy  is Tessa Perlow Inc. So that's a little bit different but I think those are all my My most used places my that I'm updating regularly cool. I have to check out your YouTube because it sounds really fun  Awesome.

All right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me