Monday, July 18, 2011

Art Attack ~ Lydia Dekker of Horrible Sweet

It has been a long time since I did an Art Attack post and I bet a lot of readers thought that it was never coming back, well I'm just full of surprises and Art Attack is never going anywhere!  It's taken me a while to find anything worthy of the Art Attack title, remember we are looking for mind blowing, eye popping, spazzmatron, whacked-out, brain freeze ART,  but I think I have found a real treat for you all today!

In my daily travels through Etsy land I stumbled across a listing that was featured in the same treasury as one of my items, I give you exhibit A...

Herman

I found this sculpture by the name of Herman to be very intriguing and he pulled me into the shop called Horrible Sweet.  I got lost in this shop for over an hour and by the time I had left I had hearted everything in it!  That brings me to Exhibit B...
Pinky
Alien
Miss Purple
Anti

And that is just a small taste of the horrible sweet tasty treat that you are in for if you visit this Etsy Shop !  I went ahead and contacted the artist of all this awesomeness Lydia Dekker and she agreed to do an interview for Art Attack.  So I had the privilege of speaking to Lydia about her art and her shop, and so I give you Exhibit C.....

My Interview with Lydia Dekker of Horrible Sweet

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your shop?
My name is Lydia Dekker and I am from the Netherlands. I started sculpting about 4 years ago and it immediately became an addiction. In my Etsy shop you can find various horriblesweet figures and dolls, headhuggers and prints. 

What inspired you to open your shop?
I live in a small apartment witch is stuffed with boxes with materials, finished and unfinished sculptures. I wanted to make some space and money to be able to continue with my sculpting addiction
.
Besides designing & creating things, what do you do?
I am an artist and a mother of a beautiful 6 year old boy. Next to the crafting I also make big sculptures .

Where, who or what does your influence come from?
I guess the main influence comes from various contemporary art forms, fantasy, fashion, design.

What inspires you to be creative?
I have been a craftaholic for as long as I can remember. Crafting comes naturally to me ….I have always felt the need to create things.

How do you get out of a creative rut?
I try something different :D

When did you first discover that you were or wanted to be an artist?
I studied contemporary art at the Art Academy in Utrecht but always thought I would end up being a mother of a herd of children devoting my time in raising them and doing some craftwork aside. When my son was born the need to create increased and by the time he turned two I realized that next to mothering I must create stuff and grow as an artist to be happy. 

Can you describe your creative process for us?
I always start out with sculpting a face. When the face is done I know what kind of body I want and then I just go with my instincts. 

What is your most cherished handmade possession?
I am always most enthusiastic about my latest projects. My son has made me some really nice crafts…I will guard them with my life.

Where do you see or want your shop to be this time next year?
I would like to see it completely sold out :D 

Where would you like to be in ten years?
I would like to be able to earn a living out of my art. 

Where else other then Etsy can you be found on the net?
I have a website, Facebook and Flikr account and a blog

www.horriblesweet.com

www.flickr.com/photos/22634850@N07/

Thank you Lydia for sharing all of this with us and for anyone who hasn't clicked on the link to her shop or website yet, what are you waiting for?

Here is the treasury that we were both featured in for anyone who might have been curious about that, there are some other pretty cool finds in there too!

6 comments:

Sharon (TableTopJewels) said...

What an interesting craft! Pleased to meet you Lydia Dekker. And, thank you Etsy and Elizabeth, without whom we would not have had the opportunity. May your wishes and dreams come true.

cathouseprints said...

Wow! What a gift. To live in a small apartment, raise a young child, and do something as amazing as scultpting...

Anonymous said...

It takes great skill to produce something that's disturbing and cute at the same time - this shop is a great find and the artist is amazing!

horriblesweet said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!!!!

Greetings, Lydia

Magic Love Crow said...

FAntastic! Great interview and great art!

True Self Studio said...

Weirdly Wonderful! That's all I can say!