Blue Bicicletta: Solo Exhibit (With Giveaway!)

“I love making art–it feels like riding my blue bicicletta down hills -fast- wind blowing my hair back.” –Blue Bicicletta

It has been fun to watch Blue Bicicletta evolve as an Etsy shop. I was first introduced to Nicole’s illustrations when I got a lovely card in the mail, just after Etsy Stalker launched. Since then, her shop has grown and expanded.  The overall aesthetic, though, remains very much the same. I find myself amazed at what this artist can do with ink and white paper.

Five Trees

I’m also quite drawn to the way she uses geometric shapes in her work.

LittleBig

But if I had to choose my favorite thing about Nicole’s work, it would be the way this artist integrates letters and words into her illustrations. As a writer by profession, I am so drawn to the power that words can have visually as well as audibly.

Eat Well and Slowly

Fall Poem

The latest line of illustrations in Blue Bicletta are the “Natural Patterns Alphabet.” These prints would be as perfect in a baby’s nursery as they would in any room primarily occupied by those of us unfortunate enough to have grown up.

Call me crazy, but I’m thinking that “violets” print might make my Co-Stalker do back flips.

For the past month, an exciting celebration has been taking place in Blue Bicicletta. Nicole calls it the “Quit Your Day Job Button Celebration” as she has just given notice at work to pursue her art full time. Can I get a collective “Woot woot!”? Every Thursday for the past several weeks, Nicole has been creating completely original hand-drawn buttons and listing them in her shop for an amazing price. Each button is a miniature original drawing, one of a kind, never to be duplicated. She plans to end the celebration by reaching her goal of 100 original buttons on September 15th. You can find them all here, but how about a little taste?

I was lucky enough to coerce Nicole into an interview and found her to be a delightful subject. Hope all of you Stalkers out there enjoy this as much as I did.

Curator B: Where does your shop name come from?

I like to say that making art feels like riding my bike fast, down hills, wind blowing in my hair. I also just love riding my bike, and have actually come to find that bike riding is one of my best idea development activities—I have often come up with many drawings while riding along. At the time I came up with the name, (originally for my blog, and then my Etsy shop followed) I wanted something that had a good sound quality but also portrayed my lifestyle. I love the color blue, I love biking, and I am half Italian and love the Italian language—bicicletta (beach-ee_clet-ta) is the Italian word for bicycle (it’s also the Spanish word).

Curator B: You clearly have a love for words and letters in your drawings. Where did that love come from? What is it about words and letters that visually speaks to you?

I’ve loved words nearly as long as I’ve loved visual art. I was an English major/creative writing minor in college and often thought I would become a writer. There’s so much meaning in words for each person—when you read something, you’re always interpreting it through your own personal lens, and that really adds an extra intrigue for me.

Specifically, I’ve always loved poetry, but have often found it frustrating and sad that so few people are interested in poetry. I have a memory from a few years before Blue Bicicletta when I thought to myself, “If only poetry was more visual, then more people would see it.” Then a couple of years later, I took some graphic design classes, and when we started talking about typography, something just clicked. I had already been doing some word paintings, but it was at that point that I started to come into my current style.

Because of my love for words and drawing, the act of drawing the letters is just great fun for me. Sometimes when I’m drawing letters, I have this sensation of complete childlike crazy abandon, like I’m drawing on walls with big crayons. It just makes me giggle.

Curator B: Could you give us a brief bio of your life in the arts?

The first thing I ever wanted to be was an artist, and I followed that dream clear up through high school, but towards the end of high school, I got it in my head that it wasn’t possible for me to make a living with art. Through college, I focused mainly on writing and poetry, with black and white photography on the side. After college, and several unfulfilling, pretty random jobs, I realized that something was really missing in my life. I soon discovered that I was missing art—that art was what really mattered to me, and I wasn’t doing enough of it.

Shortly after getting back into art, I started to become aware of blogging, and how some artists were making a living online with their art. I saw artists like Creative Thursday and The Black Apple, and thought, “I should try this.” So I started a blog, and the blog just made me want to make more art, just so I could share what I made. My Etsy shop soon followed because it was such an easy and low-risk way to put my art up for sale. Now I’ve been going for about a year and a half, and new avenues just keep opening up, online and off. Making art, and the whole business of it is so exciting and fulfilling. It’s the type of work I will fit in anywhere. The type of work that makes my heart sing. It’s the first job I’ve ever wanted to see a future in—the first job I would do for free. Really, it’s more than a job, it’s a lifestyle.

Curator B: Do you have a current favorite piece in your shop? What is it, and what makes it a favorite?

That’s a tough one, I think almost every piece has been a favorite at some point. One piece that continues to make me excited every time I see it is “Hopscotch.” I feel like it was one of the first pieces I did with a really poetic line to it (not just a directive). I’m really happy with all parts of that piece—the words, rhythm of the words, letters, visual composition, and balance between black and white all work together to create a piece that is both playful and heart-felt.

Hopscotch

Curator B: Could you give us a glimpse of your studio/workspace?

I dream of an airy studio with lots of tables and shelves (and windows) where I can spread out, but right now, I share an office with my fiancé. This suits me fine—a studio would be lovely, but it’s not necessary. All I need is paper, a pen and a table. I seem to collect small bits of paper, and visual inspiration, so that’s what you’ll see in my workspace. The “Make Art Not War” poster was designed by Shepard Fairey and produced by Syracuse Cultural Workers.

Curator B: What have been your biggest surprises and challenges related to selling at Etsy?

It’s always amazing to make a sale to someone across the world! The fact that someone in South Africa has one of my prints hanging on their wall is really awe-inspiring! I know without Etsy (and the Internet at large) that would not be possible in any way. The flip-side is that because of the ease of setting up shop, there are just so many artists that it’s hard to get noticed on a larger scale. A challenge of Etsy is learning how to get my work in front of as many people as possible, consistently, and not get lost in the shuffle.

Curator B: Now that you are about to quit your day job and work on Blue Bicicletta full time, what things can we expect from your shop in the coming year?

You can expect just a whole lot more. Right now, my time is somewhat limited as I try to balance my office job, my art, and the rest of my life. I’m looking forward to having more time to create, because now I find myself doing the business side of art more often than drawing. This is a wonderful thing because it means that I have business things happening, but I have so many creative ideas that have been shelved. Specifically, I’ve had some ideas for artist’s books that have been brewing for quite some time. One of my plans for later this Fall is to finally start getting one of them down on paper.

Now, for the part you’ve all been waiting for: Blue Bicicletta has generously offered to give this week’s lucky winner a set of THREE prints from her Natural Alphabets series (the winner can choose which three prints in the series he/she would like). To enter, hop on over to Blue Bicicletta and pick a favorite listing, then return here to tell us what it is and what makes it your favorite. One entry per person, please. The winner will be chosen at random next Sunday, September 20th. Good luck!