March 11, 2022 • 42 mins
Elaine Maisel is another one of those Mississippi artists who explode with creativity. This week's conversation is filled with the many ways she brings that creativity into her life and lives a life of art. As always, there is an advice section at the end, but keep your ears perked because she gives tips and tricks throughout the interview. We talk about everything from sourcing bird feathers to thinking about Grandma before posting! Enjoy the episode and find Elaine at Elainemaisel.com
Find Elaine:
https://www.instagram.com/elainemaisel/
https://www.instagram.com/mscraftsmensguild/
https://www.instagram.com/easycreole/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Derek Smith (00:08):
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Mississippi
artists to artists podcastbrought to you by the little
yellow building in Brookhaven,Mississippi. I'm Derrick
Covington Smith, and I'll beyour host. Just a few reminders.
Before we get started, we havesome calls for our out. Body is
our upcoming virtual exhibitionthat explores figurative art
(00:28):
through the eyes of Mississippiartists. The deadline for that
show is midnight March 11. Sotonight, but I've had several
people messaged me and asked meif they could have a little bit
more time. So I'm extending thedeadline until Monday. So you
have until Monday to get in yoursubmissions, visit the little
yellow building calm under callsfor art and you can find
(00:49):
everything we have. We also haveour ongoing feature southern
exposure, where we feature a newartist each week, we are very
close to the launch of the tlyVR mag, the first issue and I'm
so excited. So if you want thatin your inbox on March 22, go
ahead and go to T lyb. Art magcomm and sign up to get your
(01:10):
issue. So visit the littleyellow building.com and check
out what we've got available toget involved with and then go
over to try B art mag comm andsign up to get that first issue
in your inbox. All right on tothe interview.
(01:34):
Hey, everyone, welcome back. Weare joined this week by Elaine
Maisel. Now I've known Elaine orat least had contact with Elaine
for a couple of years now. Shewas in one of our very first
exhibitions, and I've just beena fan of what Elaine does. I
think that it's extremely neatand fun to look at and watch. I
(01:56):
call her the creator of tinythings, because all of our stuff
is like you paint on feathers.
And then you have theseminiatures that you manipulate
and create this photo serieswith but before we get into all
of that, Elaine, why don't youintroduce yourself by telling us
a little bit about yourbackground and history with art.
Elaine Maisel (02:14):
Sure. Thanks, Derek. Um, let's see. Well, you
know, I'm a Mississippi artist,but I didn't grow up in
Mississippi. But I did you havecontact with Mississippi every
single year as a child growingup and I'll kind of explain
that. I grew up in Ohio in alittle dairy community. I was a
townie. My dad was kind of thetown lawyer, little tiny town.
(02:38):
But my mother grew up inPensacola, Florida, and and also
had family in mobiele. Andactually in Jackson,
Mississippi, so every summer wewould drive all the way down to
Florida and then we would alwaysmake our way across the coast
and spend a little time in NewOrleans. So we always touched a
little Mississippi we alwaysfelt we got key lime pie in
(02:59):
Biloxi. We would pass throughBiloxi every single summer as a
kid so I knew the MississippiCoast growing up from the time I
was born. And my mother was aSoutherner that was living in
Ohio not so I'm grew up in Ohio,got great art lessons and our
(03:22):
exposure there through theToledo Museum of Art that was
really kind of one of the keystones of my of my childhood,
the Saturday morning enrichmentclasses at the Toledo Museum of
Art, which was about 45 minutesaway. Mom would drive us in and
great exposure. It's anexcellent Art Museum and, and
(03:44):
then we had good art teachers inpublic school the whole way
through. And at our town hall,they would also have
concentrated art classes. So Igot to learn things about like
using perspective and thingswhen I was in elementary school.
And then when I graduated fromhigh school, I started pre med
(04:05):
actually, as an undergraduate atALMA College in Michigan. It's a
little liberal arts school,started pre med, but I also had
a scholarship to be in theorchestra because I was a
bassoonist and I had done. Oneof the nice things about growing
up in a small town is thateverybody gets to do everything.
You're not super specialized.
And so they made room foreverybody to be in band and
(04:27):
choir and music and, and art anddo things in theater and be on
the sports teams. So I got to doeverything. I knew I didn't want
to be like, I didn't want to bea teacher in the public schools.
I didn't want to be an artteacher that occurred to me, and
I didn't really see how a careerin art works. Um, and I knew
(04:51):
lots of doctors and I was goodat science. So I started pre med
but I had this scholarship To bean orchestra, and then that kind
of turned into a music minor,and then it kind of turned into
a double major. And so it waslike biochemistry, music. And
then there was a biology classat the same time as orchestra
and they wouldn't let me take itindependent study. So I had a
(05:13):
very serious conversation withthe orchestra conductor. And he
said, yes, you're good enough topursue a career in music. So,
Mom freaked out. Yeah, I'm justgonna go with it. My mom freaked
out. She's like, how on earthare you going to make a living,
but I pursued it. I got theundergrad in music performance.
(05:34):
And then I went and got mymaster's degree in the heart
school in Connecticut. And thenI went and got my doctorate at
the University of North CarolinaGreensboro. So I'm starting to
work my way kind of self in thecountry to and after I finished
that doctorate in westernperformance at UNCG, one of the
(05:56):
job interviews I got was atMississippi State University, if
you're going on that yourprofessor route, oh, one thing
you need to do is you can't getoff the train. If you if you get
off that that train, you'regonna pursue a different career.
I had another colleague and mydoctor at the same time as me,
and frankly, he was a betterbassoonist. But he, he, he
(06:19):
didn't get a job right out ofdoctorate. He ended up going
back and getting a degree inlibrary science because he just
kind of couldn't get back onthat train. So I interviewed
down here in Mississippi, theyasked if I also played oboe, I
said, Well, no, but I can learn.
So I bought an oboe. So I, fornine years, I Mississippi State,
(06:44):
I was the professor of doublereeds, which is bassoon and oboe
and music history, and then alsotaught music appreciation,
taught a class and film music.
And, and then, I was actually Iwas up for tenure, and I didn't
get it. And so that that year,in 2011, we're a bunch of stuff
(07:08):
shifted in my life. Um, so Ilost my job. I got a divorce. I
had been married when I was 23.
So and because of the divorce,we also sold the house. So I
lost, I lost my I lost my, mymarriage, my job in my house. So
I'm like, Okay, what am I goingto do? What makes me happy, you
know, searching my soul goingback and all my life, I've been
(07:31):
dreading to create things,especially visual things. And so
that's when that's when Istarted painting on feathers.
Because I wanted to, I wanted togo back into visual art, which I
probably should have done fromthe first point, you know, I
should have, I probably shouldhave gotten an art degree, not a
(07:54):
music degree. So I did thefeathers. Partly as a practical
thing, because I wantedsomething small, that if I'm
doing a show, I could pack itall up in my car, so I couldn't.
Because I because I moved out tothe country and started living a
little trailer, actually. Um, soit needed it, like just on a
(08:15):
practical purpose. Yeah, Icouldn't, I couldn't do big,
giant, big giant canvases thatjust, I didn't have the
resources. Then I had thislittle tiny feather. I still got
it here. I'll visually show you.
Um, so I bought this in PuertoRico. Actually, it was a little
feather with the Puerto Ricanflag and part of the part of the
(08:40):
fort and San Juan. It's justit's a but but I was like, Oh, I
love this thing. It's one of myfavorite things. How do you do
it? And there was a woman onlinethat said, Okay, use acrylic
paint. You do this, you're like,treat the feather and do this,
this, this this. I had a coupleof peacock feathers. And I
painted some little, littlethings on the eyes of the
peacock feathers. So I'm like,Okay, this works. So I'm
(09:03):
Starkville has the cottondistrict arts festivals. So the
last year that I was aprofessor, okay, one nice thing
about not getting tenure. If youdon't get fired, immediately,
you get an entire year. Which iskind of weird. It's almost like
being a lame duck president likeyou know, you know that you're
(09:24):
that you're leaving. And sorelationships get really weird
with your colleagues and thisand that, but it gives you time
to search for another job, didit? I did, I did. So and I did
take job interviews as a musicprofessor. But one thing I did
though, is I said okay, I'mgonna see if this art thing
works. And I applied to thecotton district Arts Festival,
(09:46):
and I actually make money. I waslike, Okay, we're gonna make
this part of my future. And so Ididn't have any kind of real job
job lined up after after tenure.
Um, I was playing withMississippi State Any time as
soon as. And I had, and I had aworking relationship with
Malcolm white and theMississippi Arts Commission
(10:09):
because I was also on thestarkel area Arts Council when I
was a professor in Starkville.
So, um, I said, Okay, I'm movingdown to Jackson, I don't know
what I'm going to do. But I knowI've got the I know, I've got
the Mississippi symphony, andwhich is not, doesn't pay full
(10:30):
time, I make maybe maximum$5,000 A year playing, playing
at the symphony, you can't liveon that. But it pieces together
as part of part of the wholepie. And I had that working
relationship with MississippiArts Commission, I had
interviewed for a job the yearbefore, but I wasn't ready to
move down to Jackson yet. So.
And what actually ended uphappening is the Mississippi
(10:54):
Arts Commission at the timedidn't have any musicians in the
staff. And they wanted amusician to be on staff to help
run their children's musicprograms that that they were
doing with Carnegie Hall. And sothey essentially created a part
time position for me. So Istarted to piece that together.
And then what I did, when I, um,I moved down here in the summer,
(11:18):
and there's no symphony in thesummer, I treated art as a full
time job. So I paintedbasically, nine to five, at
least every day, and I wassingle at the time, so I didn't
have anywhere to go or anything.
So I could paint like into thenight.
But I treated that as a fulltime job. And I made myself
(11:39):
create a full piece of art everysingle day, that discipline and
that rhythm is something youneed as a professional artist.
So that got that going. And thenthat led to other things. And so
I'm technically self employed. Istill do some contracting work
with the Mississippi ArtsCommission, I still work with
the symphony I play. I play gigsin town, like churches and
(12:04):
things like that. And and likethe International Ballet
Competition hires an orchestraevery four years. And then I'm
an artist. And so I've piecedtogether this career that allows
me to be a professional artist.
Now I've got the all thesepieces. So a lot of people don't
realize I have the other pieces.
So like some people know me justas an artist and don't know me
(12:26):
as a musician, and some peopleknow me as a musician, and not
an artist. And I also, you know,I also put furniture on the side
so some people just know me islike, furniture lady and and I
actually I've learned how towire lamps, I've been making
lamps lately, like, like, take aclarinet, turn it into a lamp.
Um, so I like to make things Ihave to make things I do love
(12:50):
gardening, I do a lot of cookingactually, one fun thing out of
the pandemic is I've improved mycooking even more so because
we've eaten every meal at home.
Actually, my husband and I arevegan, so, so it's completely
vegan cooking. I know I'm likekind of like meandering topics
(13:11):
here. But um so during thepandemic, I photographed every
single meal I made, I dobeautiful pleadings and things I
haven't shared them publicly. SoI've got like two years of
meals. And let's see I've gottengood at rolling sushi, I figured
out how to make beautifulChinese scallion pancakes. I'm
(13:32):
making my own pizza dough and myown tortillas now from scratch
and and now that we are now thatwe've started to started to
venture out and get a little bitof takeout food here and there,
we're kind of disappointed. So Idon't know what to do with all
this food photography, becauseit's actually beautiful, but
(13:54):
I've got like two years worththat I'd have to sort through
and I need to like do like justkind of a photo dump or
something. And I've got thishuge notebook now full of all
these recipes, but I do I loveto cook. My brother is a
professional cook actually, heowns a Creole restaurant in
Berkeley, California. We bothand we get together we cook. So
(14:14):
um, and I guess I learned Ilearned all my basics from my
grandma. I'm like how to make agood pie crust and you know, all
that all that stuff and youknow, it's like good basic
cooking but I guess during Okay,so during the pandemic, it was
it was also weird and I thinkthis happened to a lot of
(14:36):
artists it was hard to get thatmotivation to create art and I
think a lot of us put our energyinto other things. A lot of
people put their energy into itlike everybody was baking bread
and I was baking bread and Imade so much pie I made more
pie. Let's two years. I've madelike the entire time I lived in
(14:56):
Mississippi. I was like I'm I'mand and my garden expanded. And
I just, there was something inthe zeitgeist that everybody I
don't know needed to channeltheir energy into something.
Something like that. Um, forthose with the stress of it,
(15:17):
yeah.
Derek Smith (15:19):
Well, I mean, all of this that you just told me,
you know, I was I was having ahard time figuring out how I
wanted to introduce you. Icouldn't, I didn't feel that I
could, I can't call you just apainter. And I can't call you
just a photographer. And becauseI watch, you know, I see all the
stuff that you're, but now thatreally Yeah, I cook it. I love
(15:40):
all this beautiful plating gear,just a creator.
Elaine Maisel (15:43):
I like I'd like to create things create it, I
guess. And I also I like to makethings I like to save things.
I'm like, I'm like one of thosepeople that will stop on the
side of the road and pick up thepiece of furniture that someone
threw out, and I'm like, I canfix that. And I'll take it home.
And I'll add the missing partand then paint a teal and flip
it. But you know, I? I saved itfrom I saved it from the dump.
(16:09):
And and put a little bit morebeauty in the world. I don't.
Yeah, yeah. And, and, you know,my backyard, you know, if the
bees are enjoying all of thegrass, and I have like all, you
know, all kinds of littleflowers and things I won't mow.
And so I try to kind of keep itneat. But yeah, you know that
(16:33):
nobody sees that. That's fine.
That's for the bees.
Derek Smith (16:36):
Wild and charming.
Yeah. So you made this leap?
Well, I guess you knew it wascoming. You had a year. I didn't
write anything to me like ananalytical person.
Elaine Maisel (16:50):
I think, what,
Derek Smith (16:52):
what was the the thought process of? Oh, no,
here's a deadline. You know,what do I need to accomplish in
order to start making thishappen? And you know, you
mentioned some of it, you know,you got the you're working with
the symphonies. And that's this,this little tuck of the pie. And
then you started to discover thecotton district festival? And
(17:14):
I'm guessing from the way itsounded, do you do a lot of art
fairs? Do a lot of
Elaine Maisel (17:21):
that in the last few years, obviously. But yeah,
there was a point where I wasdoing, I was doing quite a few,
um, and selling in person hasalways been my best market, I
think. And I make small piecesthat work well as gifts. And I
(17:43):
tried to keep my price pointkind of small. Also, I do all my
own framing, which helps to keepcosts down because it takes up
to professional grammar. It'svery expensive, but And that's
been a process, actually. Now.
Now, when I look back at some ofthe framing jobs I did when I
started I'm like, oh, no, it'sterrible. I've gotten much
better with professional qualitytools. And, and this and that,
(18:04):
and like, oh, no, I want to goback and reframe things for
people.
Derek Smith (18:12):
But that's a slower over time. Yeah. When was
because you're at least thephotos that I've seen of your
stuff that's framed, framedreally beautifully. And these
little shadow box ties. Yeah,they're just kind of floats in
there.
Elaine Maisel (18:27):
Oh, thank you, for full.
Derek Smith (18:30):
How did that like?
How long did that take you toget down? How man?
Elaine Maisel (18:35):
That's a good question. Well, I keep
improving, um, I guess, but ittook me Okay, actually, one of
the best pieces of advice that Igot when I started as an artist,
and I think this is, this is apiece of our, you know, advice I
would give I was talking to awoman at an art fair and mobiel
and I said, You know what, I'mstarting what do you what was
(18:58):
your advice? She said, it takesyou five years it takes you five
years to find your rhythm andfind your voice and figure out
your setup and all that so shesaid Be patient work really hard
at it improve every time youthat you can at every step and
but five years, give yourselffive years? Yeah, it took me
(19:22):
five years to figure out mysetup for shows to find my style
and my color palette and figureout the framing and my marketing
and yeah, five years Yeah, giveyourself five years but work
hard at it.
Derek Smith (19:37):
Five years if you're working you know if
you're working half show up aday. No, you're you're putting
in constant effort.
Elaine Maisel (19:46):
Yeah, and you know, if you're not feeling
okay, like on days, maybe I'mnot feeling I just yeah, like
head struggling with the artpart. Work on framing, you know,
and, um, and I also treat myworkers assembly line. So
they'll be actually kind of kindof working color classes a
(20:06):
little bit. So like, if I'm, ifI'm painting Cardinals and and
I'm doing red, it's like, it'slike lots of red things and lots
of cardinals all at the sametime, I'll paint because it's
also you kind of get in a rhythmwith shapes and things. And so,
um, I'll do birds. And then ifI'm doing something else, like
(20:28):
if I'm doing abstracts, it'snothing but abstracts for for
that whole day or for that wholeweek. But then sometimes it
turns into picture framing time.
And so it's nothing but cleaningglass and cutting that I
Derek Smith (20:44):
know, this the ins and outs.
Elaine Maisel (20:47):
Yeah, yeah. And, and no piece, you know, so, you
know, I get that horriblequestion, how long did this take
you to make, and no piece isdone, start to finish, sit down,
clean the feather paint itmounted that it does. So it's,
you know, a piece takes meanywhere from, you know,
(21:10):
anywhere from, you know, twodays to two years, depending on
how long you know, it's beensince I painted it, and it's
sitting in the box ready to goor? I need to put that finishing
touch on you know, it's Yeah, Iknow, people are being polite,
but it's a terrible question.
Because it's a it's ananswerable.
Derek Smith (21:29):
It really is. How do you source your feathers? And
what's the cleaning process?
Like?
Elaine Maisel (21:35):
That's a good question. So, um, I get turkey
feathers. So I use a lot of wildturkey feathers, especially the
tail feathers, it's nice andflat. I get those from local
hunters. And usually whathappens is they'll, they'll
often they'll buy a piece or thecommissioner piece and see that,
oh, I use turkey feathers. Andthen they'll give me a bunch
(21:57):
because they don't have anythingelse to do with it. I mean, they
probably have some turkey tailsmounted. But how many of those
do you want in your house. Andso sometimes I've even had
hunters bring me like, likegarbage bags full of wings and
tails. And I get to process themin the backyard with boiling
water and pluck the feathers andclean them and I have this big
(22:20):
stewpot that my husband will notlet me bring in the house is
super gross. It stays in theshed. Turkey pot does not come
in the house.
Derek Smith (22:30):
These are all the glamorous beautiful sides of
being an artist.
Elaine Maisel (22:33):
Yeah. But a man when you're plucking the
feathers, um, it's um, it reallyhelps to boil it. Yeah. And
that's just the turkey feathers.
That's the only thing that I'mplucking occasionally. Um, and
oh, but then wash it with likesoap and water actually shampoo
(22:54):
works really well or just somekind of mild hand soap, and then
blow drying it turns outbeautifully. And again, so I'll
like be out in the in thecarport with blow dryer and I'm
cleaning feathers and makingsure and then I have to put them
in a box with a lid because Idon't want to blow them
everywhere. And usually that'sgood enough actually. So I'm
(23:16):
washing with smile soap and andblow drying and then we're
stable and I seal everything upin Ziploc bags, big giant Ziploc
bags. If someone gives mefeathers, and I'm not completely
sure what state they're in, likefor example, parrot feathers. I
have a lot of parrot owners thatsay parrot feathers for me and
(23:38):
parrots mold and they'll give mea Ziploc bag I'll stick them in
the freezer because if they'reany little like microscopic
mites or something that mighteat feathers freezer, freezer
will kill them. Some betterartists also said a microwave
them but I don't do that. Ifreeze them and then and then
(23:59):
I'll wash them with some mildsoap and blow dry them and that
gets a nice and shiny andbeautiful too. So I get them
from parrot owners, turkeyhunters, and then I do buy some
feathers because the beautifulwhite goose feathers. I will
purchase those and they'reactually if you want feathers go
(24:20):
on Etsy or eBay. And they're allkinds of people that sell
feathers and that they rangefrom suppliers in China to
little local farms and parrotowners that that provide cruelty
free, like happy feathers, um,because I've also used Guinea
(24:42):
feathers, chicken feathers,beautiful heirloom chickens and
I and every now and then in themail I'll get like an envelope
full of feathers. That's what mywork and they'll send me their
heirloom chicken feathers. I'mjust so cool. One of my favorite
feather trips, I was drivingdown to mobile, where my mom, my
(25:03):
mom and dad actually relocatedwhen he retired to Mobile,
Alabama. So now, everybody inthe family is in the south
except my brother who's inBerkeley, California, but he has
a Creole restaurant. So he'svery glad for the family to be
in this house because it giveshim a little bit more
legitimacy. Um, I was drivingdown automobile and you go
(25:25):
through Collins, Mississippi,and there's the call one Zoo,
and I had never stopped it'scalling zoo before. So it's
like, Okay, I'm gonna stop. AndI was actually going down there
to do the DAFNI Jubilee, littleart show. So, the car was
totally loaded up art, stoppedat the Cullen Zoo, and, and paid
admission and was walkingaround. And this was after all
(25:49):
of their big animals had beenseized. So there was a bunny
rabbit in the Panther cage. Andthere was a house cat, grouchy
house cat, and one of the cagesand so basically, wildlife and
fisheries determined that thatthat they weren't capable of
(26:12):
taking care of the animals andso they took away anything
exotic that you have to have aspecial permit for. So like
Panthers, and lions, I'm notexactly sure what all they had
that was seized, and they wereleft with anything that you're
allowed to have as a pet owner,or, or a farmer. So they had
chickens and guineas, and aparrot named brocco. And turtles
(26:35):
and you know, just kind of Yeah.
And it was so sweet. And, um,when they when we finally got
talking, they got so excited.
And, uh, ran around andintroduced me to all the birds
like this is Rocco. And this isthis is this bird and did it did
it in a day. And they're like,and so they gave me stuff. We
(26:58):
ran around, and we picked upfeathers, gave me a big bag of
feathers, and I let them pickout a piece of art that was in
the car. So we did a trade, andI still have some of those
Collins zoo feathers.
Derek Smith (27:13):
Oh, and I bet that's like a big memory to
them. Yeah. Oh, that's sospecial. It was so sweet. Things
like
Elaine Maisel (27:21):
that. Now, here's another funny story. Or a funny
part of that story. The womanthat owns the column zoo is
named Betty White. Lady, justlike they took away my baby's
Derek Smith (27:39):
birthday. Oh, wow.
So you you you get the feathers.
You got the names. Do you useacrylic paint? Yes. It's
imagining some tiny paintbrushes. Yes. That you like. Uh
huh. Uh huh. Are there? Arethere any specific special
(28:00):
brushes you like to use?
Elaine Maisel (28:01):
Or like size zero? I use spotter brushes, or
whatever.
Derek Smith (28:05):
You can find this?
Elaine Maisel (28:06):
Yeah, basically, the smaller the better. Yeah,
generally size zero. Yeah,almost everything size zero. For
like large areas. I'll usesomething like that's, that's
about as big as it gets. Yeah.
So
Derek Smith (28:23):
it's almost like a little quarter inch brush. Now I
just have like this image in myhead of a light pulled over and
Elaine Maisel huddled over atable with some glasses with
some of those magnifyingspectacles on
Elaine Maisel (28:39):
and you know, I don't do the mastermind
specials. I do have like thelight. Yeah, actually, I have to
I have two lights. I used tohave a halogen light, but it
gets too hot and I'm too closeto my computer and I didn't want
to melt the computer. But I domy office chair, it can get real
low. So I'm real close to my I'mclose to my area. Although I'm
(29:01):
finding I'm hunching, and I'mtrying to be good. And I
actually I'll tape it to aneasel so I'm sitting up
straight. But I tend to like to,I like to brace my hand and
something I have steady handsbut still, you know, I want to I
want to brace it on something.
Um, one thing I'll do though,I'll tape it to a piece of
(29:21):
cardstock so I'll use a littlepainters tape on the on the
quill or I'll cut a little slitand and put it and and press it
flat against a piece ofcardstock or paper. That way it
just doesn't move and it givesit a little backing. And that
(29:43):
first kind of go over is usuallyjust kind of white. A white base
for the colors because if youput like red on a black feather
it'll just disappear. Um, somesome feather painters Jesso as
that base and some just say usewhite acrylic, I just use what
(30:03):
acrylic or even like leftovercolors and things and I start to
kind of rough in some of theshapes and things I'm going to
do within that, but it'sbasically a silhouette. So what
I'm doing is really kind ofillustrations because I'm not
doing I'm not doing landscapesor anything like that I don't
cover the whole feather I do asmall object, or concept. Yeah.
Derek Smith (30:28):
Switching gears a little bit, you've kept the
feathers. But then you've alsogot this ongoing photo series
that I am in love with theadventures of honcho poncho and
Eleanor Rigby and yeah, this isthis teeny tiny figurines of a
little dog and a little mule anddonkey, just they go everywhere
(30:49):
they do everything they hang outwith gummy bears, it just it
makes me happy. Oh, cross myfeet. Where is that coming from?
Like, you know, you've gotten tothis, it's completely different
from your feathers and yourfeather art.
Elaine Maisel (31:03):
It is yeah, and sometimes I wonder if I should
have made them a separateaccount. But it it's all lumped
in together. It's me. Um, well,you know, it started out just
just the donkey started thisjust onto a poncho and, and he
was my little donkey. I don'teven remember why I had a little
plastic donkey. But um,Instagram was this brand new
(31:25):
thing. It's like, Ooh, what'sthis Instagram thing? Okay, I
took a little picture of himunder this big mushroom that had
grown in the backyard, um, wayback. And, um, and it's
developed into this thing, wherethey're essentially a stand in
for me and my husband. So ratherthan taking selfies, they
traveled with us everywhere, andthey get a photo that kind of
(31:47):
gives a hint to what we did thatday. But but it's not a selfie.
Yeah. Um,
Derek Smith (31:54):
oh, that I didn't know that aspect of it. But so
Elaine Maisel (31:58):
so like, you know, if we go on a trip, they
come with us. And so if youlook, it'll be like, well, it's
something you know, we were.
Yeah. Like, there's one. I thinkwe were in New York City. And
there was like a phone boothwith the phone. And there's a
picture of them sitting on thephone. And you wouldn't
necessarily know that that'swhere they were. But but that's
a way for us to remember. Soit's a really, it's kind of
(32:21):
private selfies.
Derek Smith (32:25):
But it connects with me a lot, because they
remind me of the littlefigurines that you would bet i
in the 90s would get out of agumball machine. Yeah, no, my
grandmother's counter in thefurniture store just had these
little figurines stuck ineverywhere, because we would get
a gumball. And then, you know,kids have to forget about it,
(32:48):
but she kept them and would putthem out, like around her plants
and stuff. But it just, it makesme so happy. And I smile.
Elaine Maisel (32:55):
Yay. And I have a lot of people that say their
grandkids follow them. And youknow, people that never even
like click the like or anything.
So it's nice when I get thefeedback that they enjoy them, I
always keep it I always keep itG rated. For grandkids actually,
my rule. So my husband, I swearlike sailors at home, like most
people wouldn't necessarilyexpect that. But my rule for
(33:18):
Facebook and Instagram is that Idon't put anything on there that
I wouldn't want my grandma tosee. And that's kind of that's
kind of been the rule that I'vethat I've kept out and she
wasn't approved. Um, but I do Ikeep I try to keep the language
(33:42):
and, and everything. So so mypublic face isn't necessarily my
true, authentic face, alwaysnecessarily, but nobody's is. So
you know, if, if someone'staking, you know, glamorous
selfies, and they're alwayshappy, and it's lovely. That's
not really your true selfeither. But you also don't want
to, I don't know, if, if you'relike that angry and depressed
(34:07):
about the pandemic, as many ofus are, you don't necessarily
want to put either.
Derek Smith (34:15):
It's true. I mean, we're always searching for it
some presentable side to put tothem. And even when we're
feeling bad, you know, ourangsty our, you know, we want to
put out that right statement.
And that's curating yourself. Imean, it's just kind of
instinctual. And artists tend tobe better at it because we've
thought more about ourselvesthan the average person does.
Not into our brains, and wespend a lot of time there. So us
(34:38):
figuring out what's mostcomfortable for us to flourish.
In a world where eyes are on us.
That's what we're here for. Youknow, we're constantly producing
all of these, you know, visualeye candy everywhere for anyone,
and then when they turn andactually look at the art You
(35:01):
know, that's that's what we haveout there. Sometimes, you know,
I applaud I really do. I applaudartists that just can drop all
cares. Yeah, and, and 100. Buteven then you're still putting
on your public. I'm dropping allcares, persona, right? But, but
(35:22):
having that little bit ofcuration, a little bit of self
curation, where you're takingthat extra second, just to think
about what you're going to say,and what you're going to present
to the world. Because right now,we have such a wonderful
opportunity as artists to movepast the gatekeepers and the
institutions that have held youknow, so many back and, and just
(35:43):
because our voices can be heard,and our art can be seen, and we
don't have to go through aspecific set of selected
processes, in order to have anaudience. And just taking a
little bit of care to make surethat your audience is is bonding
with you and kind of thisbeautiful, holistic way. That's
(36:03):
wonderful. And keeping yourgrandmother in mind.
Elaine Maisel (36:06):
I keep my grandmother in mind. Yeah, she's
passed away. Both of mygrandmother's passed away quite
a while ago, but that also kindof keeps me connected to you
know.
Derek Smith (36:18):
So your Instagram is Elaine Maisel, it's E L. A
INEMAISEL. And then your websiteis Elaine Maisel calm. Yes. And
they find your work anywhereelse, or is there anywhere
physical that they could go inand find you?
Elaine Maisel (36:35):
Let's see. Well, I do have things at the
Mississippi craft center rightnow is the Bill Wallace craft
center. Technically, no, but inRidgeland. I have things there.
If you happen to be listeningfrom Berkeley, California, there
are some things at my brother'srestaurant, easy Creole.
Derek Smith (36:52):
We have a few. We have okay. Yeah, we've got some
in Ireland in the UK. It'sawesome, though. Getting these
new stat numbers has been
Elaine Maisel (37:01):
awesome. Well, my brother, my brother keeps a
little display of my things onthe wall. Next to the register
is his restaurant, his wall toceiling funky art. So so my
stuff fits right in there, too.
Actually, it kind of just blendsas the is the little picture
frames and things continue allaround the room all the way up
to the oh gosh, 20 foot ceiling?
(37:24):
Yeah. Yeah, that's a very coolplace. And he's got lots of kind
of family heirlooms and things,too. I'm on the walls. It's
really personal. Um, and, um,you know, I have an Etsy store,
which I keep meaning toreplenish, and I will at some
point, there's a link to that onthe website. So that's the easy
(37:47):
way to find it. Um, I think Iwas able to switch that over to
Elaine Mays Ella's? Well, I havesome graphic design stuff on red
bubble, but that's kind oftotally different. That's just
kind of a little side thing.
I've played with some. And, andthen, when Archos startup began,
and I feel comfortable goingback out to them, you'll
(38:07):
probably see me at some. It'skind of been nice. Actually, it
was nice to have this year'sChristmas kind of more close to
home, instead of being runningragged doing doing, like arts
festivals, right up toChristmas. Yeah,
Derek Smith (38:28):
I mean, that's a prime time when you're doing
that.
Elaine Maisel (38:31):
It's also a prime time to make money. So yeah,
then to get your work out there.
Derek Smith (38:37):
So one last question, and I'll let you go
for anybody that is comingbehind you are for you, as a
younger self, what would be someadvice that you would give,
Elaine Maisel (38:48):
um, if you're, you can do it, you have to give
it 100%. Um, treat it like so ifyou want to be an artist, treat
it like a real job. Beconsistent and show up and do
the work. Even if you don't feellike it. That's the most
important thing. And actually,once you start doing the work,
(39:08):
if you sit down and start, itusually just goes, it happens.
Give yourself five years to findyour voice and find your place.
But that's five years of workinghard at it. I have a business
plan, realize that business planis going to change and revisit
that regularly, like every fewyears. Pick your marketing
(39:31):
strategies carefully at thebeginning because a lot of them
are going to stick andconsistency is important. And I
see a lot of artists that arefantastic, but they actually do
too many things, I think andit's good and I feel like I do
kind of too many things a littlebit. A little bit. Um, you know,
(39:54):
I'm really focused in on thefeathers. And sometimes I feel
like that that kind of limits mebut It limits good because it
defines you and you need to havea definable style and a
definable voice. So I'm allbecause you love stained glass
and pottery and painting. Andthis pick one, pick one and, and
(40:15):
put 100% of your energy into itand make it the best you can.
Um, if you if you're always adabbler, then you won't be
considered a professionalartist. You'll be considered a
dabbler.
Derek Smith (40:28):
Yeah. Yeah. Wonder which is hard. Yeah. It's hard
to pick. Yeah, it really is.
It's a woman, there's just somuch you can do with art. Right?
One little toe dip is reallyhard to do. The whole pool,
figure out which parts you liketo swim in, and then stay there
for a while? Yeah, if you haveany doubts about that theory,
(40:49):
look back in history and startpulling out artists names from
history, and you're going topull out a name and you're going
to pull out a whole bunch ofartwork that is recognizable by
that person. When you go in andactually read about them. They
did other things. But this was afocus. This was a life. Right?
That's wonderful.
Elaine Maisel (41:09):
Rembrandt Rembrandt was a party party
planner. That was like his dayjob. But his work is very, very
consistent, recognizable, andVango is very recognizable. Um,
and like local people. Whyatwater's is very recognizable,
(41:29):
but actually, if you go back andlook at some of his work he does
his student it's very different,very different, very different.
And then he picked a particularcolor palette, but particular
style and you can recognize aWyatt Waters just like that.
Yeah.
Derek Smith (41:45):
Well, Ole Miss out.
Thank you so much for coming onand giving us your time and your
advice and your your history andsharing all of that with us. I
know that I enjoy connectingwith it and I hope everyone else
does too.
Elaine Maisel (41:58):
Thank you so much. And thanks for everything
you're doing down in Brookhaven.
It's great that you're back inMississippi and and making art
has
Derek Smith (42:07):
been really exciting. For everyone else. We
will have another podcast up foryou soon. Until next time.
Special thanks to our membersJenny Howard, Buffy Jordan,
Jenny Mo, Evelyn Peavy The EvansFamily Janet Smith, Beth
Breeland. Mary Hardy when furyMary Adams Jennifer drink of
(42:28):
water and the Smith family
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Mississippi
artists to artists podcastbrought to you by the little
yellow building in Brookhaven,Mississippi. I'm Derrick
Covington Smith, and I'll beyour host. Just a few reminders.
Before we get started, we havesome calls for our out. Body is
our upcoming virtual exhibitionthat explores figurative art
(00:28):
through the eyes of Mississippiartists. The deadline for that
show is midnight March 11. Sotonight, but I've had several
people messaged me and asked meif they could have a little bit
more time. So I'm extending thedeadline until Monday. So you
have until Monday to get in yoursubmissions, visit the little
yellow building calm under callsfor art and you can find
(00:49):
everything we have. We also haveour ongoing feature southern
exposure, where we feature a newartist each week, we are very
close to the launch of the tlyVR mag, the first issue and I'm
so excited. So if you want thatin your inbox on March 22, go
ahead and go to T lyb. Art magcomm and sign up to get your
(01:10):
issue. So visit the littleyellow building.com and check
out what we've got available toget involved with and then go
over to try B art mag comm andsign up to get that first issue
in your inbox. All right on tothe interview.
(01:34):
Hey, everyone, welcome back. Weare joined this week by Elaine
Maisel. Now I've known Elaine orat least had contact with Elaine
for a couple of years now. Shewas in one of our very first
exhibitions, and I've just beena fan of what Elaine does. I
think that it's extremely neatand fun to look at and watch. I
(01:56):
call her the creator of tinythings, because all of our stuff
is like you paint on feathers.
And then you have theseminiatures that you manipulate
and create this photo serieswith but before we get into all
of that, Elaine, why don't youintroduce yourself by telling us
a little bit about yourbackground and history with art.
Elaine Maisel (02:14):
Sure. Thanks, Derek. Um, let's see. Well, you
know, I'm a Mississippi artist,but I didn't grow up in
Mississippi. But I did you havecontact with Mississippi every
single year as a child growingup and I'll kind of explain
that. I grew up in Ohio in alittle dairy community. I was a
townie. My dad was kind of thetown lawyer, little tiny town.
(02:38):
But my mother grew up inPensacola, Florida, and and also
had family in mobiele. Andactually in Jackson,
Mississippi, so every summer wewould drive all the way down to
Florida and then we would alwaysmake our way across the coast
and spend a little time in NewOrleans. So we always touched a
little Mississippi we alwaysfelt we got key lime pie in
(02:59):
Biloxi. We would pass throughBiloxi every single summer as a
kid so I knew the MississippiCoast growing up from the time I
was born. And my mother was aSoutherner that was living in
Ohio not so I'm grew up in Ohio,got great art lessons and our
(03:22):
exposure there through theToledo Museum of Art that was
really kind of one of the keystones of my of my childhood,
the Saturday morning enrichmentclasses at the Toledo Museum of
Art, which was about 45 minutesaway. Mom would drive us in and
great exposure. It's anexcellent Art Museum and, and
(03:44):
then we had good art teachers inpublic school the whole way
through. And at our town hall,they would also have
concentrated art classes. So Igot to learn things about like
using perspective and thingswhen I was in elementary school.
And then when I graduated fromhigh school, I started pre med
(04:05):
actually, as an undergraduate atALMA College in Michigan. It's a
little liberal arts school,started pre med, but I also had
a scholarship to be in theorchestra because I was a
bassoonist and I had done. Oneof the nice things about growing
up in a small town is thateverybody gets to do everything.
You're not super specialized.
And so they made room foreverybody to be in band and
(04:27):
choir and music and, and art anddo things in theater and be on
the sports teams. So I got to doeverything. I knew I didn't want
to be like, I didn't want to bea teacher in the public schools.
I didn't want to be an artteacher that occurred to me, and
I didn't really see how a careerin art works. Um, and I knew
(04:51):
lots of doctors and I was goodat science. So I started pre med
but I had this scholarship To bean orchestra, and then that kind
of turned into a music minor,and then it kind of turned into
a double major. And so it waslike biochemistry, music. And
then there was a biology classat the same time as orchestra
and they wouldn't let me take itindependent study. So I had a
(05:13):
very serious conversation withthe orchestra conductor. And he
said, yes, you're good enough topursue a career in music. So,
Mom freaked out. Yeah, I'm justgonna go with it. My mom freaked
out. She's like, how on earthare you going to make a living,
but I pursued it. I got theundergrad in music performance.
(05:34):
And then I went and got mymaster's degree in the heart
school in Connecticut. And thenI went and got my doctorate at
the University of North CarolinaGreensboro. So I'm starting to
work my way kind of self in thecountry to and after I finished
that doctorate in westernperformance at UNCG, one of the
(05:56):
job interviews I got was atMississippi State University, if
you're going on that yourprofessor route, oh, one thing
you need to do is you can't getoff the train. If you if you get
off that that train, you'regonna pursue a different career.
I had another colleague and mydoctor at the same time as me,
and frankly, he was a betterbassoonist. But he, he, he
(06:19):
didn't get a job right out ofdoctorate. He ended up going
back and getting a degree inlibrary science because he just
kind of couldn't get back onthat train. So I interviewed
down here in Mississippi, theyasked if I also played oboe, I
said, Well, no, but I can learn.
So I bought an oboe. So I, fornine years, I Mississippi State,
(06:44):
I was the professor of doublereeds, which is bassoon and oboe
and music history, and then alsotaught music appreciation,
taught a class and film music.
And, and then, I was actually Iwas up for tenure, and I didn't
get it. And so that that year,in 2011, we're a bunch of stuff
(07:08):
shifted in my life. Um, so Ilost my job. I got a divorce. I
had been married when I was 23.
So and because of the divorce,we also sold the house. So I
lost, I lost my I lost my, mymarriage, my job in my house. So
I'm like, Okay, what am I goingto do? What makes me happy, you
know, searching my soul goingback and all my life, I've been
(07:31):
dreading to create things,especially visual things. And so
that's when that's when Istarted painting on feathers.
Because I wanted to, I wanted togo back into visual art, which I
probably should have done fromthe first point, you know, I
should have, I probably shouldhave gotten an art degree, not a
(07:54):
music degree. So I did thefeathers. Partly as a practical
thing, because I wantedsomething small, that if I'm
doing a show, I could pack itall up in my car, so I couldn't.
Because I because I moved out tothe country and started living a
little trailer, actually. Um, soit needed it, like just on a
(08:15):
practical purpose. Yeah, Icouldn't, I couldn't do big,
giant, big giant canvases thatjust, I didn't have the
resources. Then I had thislittle tiny feather. I still got
it here. I'll visually show you.
Um, so I bought this in PuertoRico. Actually, it was a little
feather with the Puerto Ricanflag and part of the part of the
(08:40):
fort and San Juan. It's justit's a but but I was like, Oh, I
love this thing. It's one of myfavorite things. How do you do
it? And there was a woman onlinethat said, Okay, use acrylic
paint. You do this, you're like,treat the feather and do this,
this, this this. I had a coupleof peacock feathers. And I
painted some little, littlethings on the eyes of the
peacock feathers. So I'm like,Okay, this works. So I'm
(09:03):
Starkville has the cottondistrict arts festivals. So the
last year that I was aprofessor, okay, one nice thing
about not getting tenure. If youdon't get fired, immediately,
you get an entire year. Which iskind of weird. It's almost like
being a lame duck president likeyou know, you know that you're
(09:24):
that you're leaving. And sorelationships get really weird
with your colleagues and thisand that, but it gives you time
to search for another job, didit? I did, I did. So and I did
take job interviews as a musicprofessor. But one thing I did
though, is I said okay, I'mgonna see if this art thing
works. And I applied to thecotton district Arts Festival,
(09:46):
and I actually make money. I waslike, Okay, we're gonna make
this part of my future. And so Ididn't have any kind of real job
job lined up after after tenure.
Um, I was playing withMississippi State Any time as
soon as. And I had, and I had aworking relationship with
Malcolm white and theMississippi Arts Commission
(10:09):
because I was also on thestarkel area Arts Council when I
was a professor in Starkville.
So, um, I said, Okay, I'm movingdown to Jackson, I don't know
what I'm going to do. But I knowI've got the I know, I've got
the Mississippi symphony, andwhich is not, doesn't pay full
(10:30):
time, I make maybe maximum$5,000 A year playing, playing
at the symphony, you can't liveon that. But it pieces together
as part of part of the wholepie. And I had that working
relationship with MississippiArts Commission, I had
interviewed for a job the yearbefore, but I wasn't ready to
move down to Jackson yet. So.
And what actually ended uphappening is the Mississippi
(10:54):
Arts Commission at the timedidn't have any musicians in the
staff. And they wanted amusician to be on staff to help
run their children's musicprograms that that they were
doing with Carnegie Hall. And sothey essentially created a part
time position for me. So Istarted to piece that together.
And then what I did, when I, um,I moved down here in the summer,
(11:18):
and there's no symphony in thesummer, I treated art as a full
time job. So I paintedbasically, nine to five, at
least every day, and I wassingle at the time, so I didn't
have anywhere to go or anything.
So I could paint like into thenight.
But I treated that as a fulltime job. And I made myself
(11:39):
create a full piece of art everysingle day, that discipline and
that rhythm is something youneed as a professional artist.
So that got that going. And thenthat led to other things. And so
I'm technically self employed. Istill do some contracting work
with the Mississippi ArtsCommission, I still work with
the symphony I play. I play gigsin town, like churches and
(12:04):
things like that. And and likethe International Ballet
Competition hires an orchestraevery four years. And then I'm
an artist. And so I've piecedtogether this career that allows
me to be a professional artist.
Now I've got the all thesepieces. So a lot of people don't
realize I have the other pieces.
So like some people know me justas an artist and don't know me
(12:26):
as a musician, and some peopleknow me as a musician, and not
an artist. And I also, you know,I also put furniture on the side
so some people just know me islike, furniture lady and and I
actually I've learned how towire lamps, I've been making
lamps lately, like, like, take aclarinet, turn it into a lamp.
Um, so I like to make things Ihave to make things I do love
(12:50):
gardening, I do a lot of cookingactually, one fun thing out of
the pandemic is I've improved mycooking even more so because
we've eaten every meal at home.
Actually, my husband and I arevegan, so, so it's completely
vegan cooking. I know I'm likekind of like meandering topics
(13:11):
here. But um so during thepandemic, I photographed every
single meal I made, I dobeautiful pleadings and things I
haven't shared them publicly. SoI've got like two years of
meals. And let's see I've gottengood at rolling sushi, I figured
out how to make beautifulChinese scallion pancakes. I'm
(13:32):
making my own pizza dough and myown tortillas now from scratch
and and now that we are now thatwe've started to started to
venture out and get a little bitof takeout food here and there,
we're kind of disappointed. So Idon't know what to do with all
this food photography, becauseit's actually beautiful, but
(13:54):
I've got like two years worththat I'd have to sort through
and I need to like do like justkind of a photo dump or
something. And I've got thishuge notebook now full of all
these recipes, but I do I loveto cook. My brother is a
professional cook actually, heowns a Creole restaurant in
Berkeley, California. We bothand we get together we cook. So
(14:14):
um, and I guess I learned Ilearned all my basics from my
grandma. I'm like how to make agood pie crust and you know, all
that all that stuff and youknow, it's like good basic
cooking but I guess during Okay,so during the pandemic, it was
it was also weird and I thinkthis happened to a lot of
(14:36):
artists it was hard to get thatmotivation to create art and I
think a lot of us put our energyinto other things. A lot of
people put their energy into itlike everybody was baking bread
and I was baking bread and Imade so much pie I made more
pie. Let's two years. I've madelike the entire time I lived in
(14:56):
Mississippi. I was like I'm I'mand and my garden expanded. And
I just, there was something inthe zeitgeist that everybody I
don't know needed to channeltheir energy into something.
Something like that. Um, forthose with the stress of it,
(15:17):
yeah.
Derek Smith (15:19):
Well, I mean, all of this that you just told me,
you know, I was I was having ahard time figuring out how I
wanted to introduce you. Icouldn't, I didn't feel that I
could, I can't call you just apainter. And I can't call you
just a photographer. And becauseI watch, you know, I see all the
stuff that you're, but now thatreally Yeah, I cook it. I love
(15:40):
all this beautiful plating gear,just a creator.
Elaine Maisel (15:43):
I like I'd like to create things create it, I
guess. And I also I like to makethings I like to save things.
I'm like, I'm like one of thosepeople that will stop on the
side of the road and pick up thepiece of furniture that someone
threw out, and I'm like, I canfix that. And I'll take it home.
And I'll add the missing partand then paint a teal and flip
it. But you know, I? I saved itfrom I saved it from the dump.
(16:09):
And and put a little bit morebeauty in the world. I don't.
Yeah, yeah. And, and, you know,my backyard, you know, if the
bees are enjoying all of thegrass, and I have like all, you
know, all kinds of littleflowers and things I won't mow.
And so I try to kind of keep itneat. But yeah, you know that
(16:33):
nobody sees that. That's fine.
That's for the bees.
Derek Smith (16:36):
Wild and charming.
Yeah. So you made this leap?
Well, I guess you knew it wascoming. You had a year. I didn't
write anything to me like ananalytical person.
Elaine Maisel (16:50):
I think, what,
Derek Smith (16:52):
what was the the thought process of? Oh, no,
here's a deadline. You know,what do I need to accomplish in
order to start making thishappen? And you know, you
mentioned some of it, you know,you got the you're working with
the symphonies. And that's this,this little tuck of the pie. And
then you started to discover thecotton district festival? And
(17:14):
I'm guessing from the way itsounded, do you do a lot of art
fairs? Do a lot of
Elaine Maisel (17:21):
that in the last few years, obviously. But yeah,
there was a point where I wasdoing, I was doing quite a few,
um, and selling in person hasalways been my best market, I
think. And I make small piecesthat work well as gifts. And I
(17:43):
tried to keep my price pointkind of small. Also, I do all my
own framing, which helps to keepcosts down because it takes up
to professional grammar. It'svery expensive, but And that's
been a process, actually. Now.
Now, when I look back at some ofthe framing jobs I did when I
started I'm like, oh, no, it'sterrible. I've gotten much
better with professional qualitytools. And, and this and that,
(18:04):
and like, oh, no, I want to goback and reframe things for
people.
Derek Smith (18:12):
But that's a slower over time. Yeah. When was
because you're at least thephotos that I've seen of your
stuff that's framed, framedreally beautifully. And these
little shadow box ties. Yeah,they're just kind of floats in
there.
Elaine Maisel (18:27):
Oh, thank you, for full.
Derek Smith (18:30):
How did that like?
How long did that take you toget down? How man?
Elaine Maisel (18:35):
That's a good question. Well, I keep
improving, um, I guess, but ittook me Okay, actually, one of
the best pieces of advice that Igot when I started as an artist,
and I think this is, this is apiece of our, you know, advice I
would give I was talking to awoman at an art fair and mobiel
and I said, You know what, I'mstarting what do you what was
(18:58):
your advice? She said, it takesyou five years it takes you five
years to find your rhythm andfind your voice and figure out
your setup and all that so shesaid Be patient work really hard
at it improve every time youthat you can at every step and
but five years, give yourselffive years? Yeah, it took me
(19:22):
five years to figure out mysetup for shows to find my style
and my color palette and figureout the framing and my marketing
and yeah, five years Yeah, giveyourself five years but work
hard at it.
Derek Smith (19:37):
Five years if you're working you know if
you're working half show up aday. No, you're you're putting
in constant effort.
Elaine Maisel (19:46):
Yeah, and you know, if you're not feeling
okay, like on days, maybe I'mnot feeling I just yeah, like
head struggling with the artpart. Work on framing, you know,
and, um, and I also treat myworkers assembly line. So
they'll be actually kind of kindof working color classes a
(20:06):
little bit. So like, if I'm, ifI'm painting Cardinals and and
I'm doing red, it's like, it'slike lots of red things and lots
of cardinals all at the sametime, I'll paint because it's
also you kind of get in a rhythmwith shapes and things. And so,
um, I'll do birds. And then ifI'm doing something else, like
(20:28):
if I'm doing abstracts, it'snothing but abstracts for for
that whole day or for that wholeweek. But then sometimes it
turns into picture framing time.
And so it's nothing but cleaningglass and cutting that I
Derek Smith (20:44):
know, this the ins and outs.
Elaine Maisel (20:47):
Yeah, yeah. And, and no piece, you know, so, you
know, I get that horriblequestion, how long did this take
you to make, and no piece isdone, start to finish, sit down,
clean the feather paint itmounted that it does. So it's,
you know, a piece takes meanywhere from, you know,
(21:10):
anywhere from, you know, twodays to two years, depending on
how long you know, it's beensince I painted it, and it's
sitting in the box ready to goor? I need to put that finishing
touch on you know, it's Yeah, Iknow, people are being polite,
but it's a terrible question.
Because it's a it's ananswerable.
Derek Smith (21:29):
It really is. How do you source your feathers? And
what's the cleaning process?
Like?
Elaine Maisel (21:35):
That's a good question. So, um, I get turkey
feathers. So I use a lot of wildturkey feathers, especially the
tail feathers, it's nice andflat. I get those from local
hunters. And usually whathappens is they'll, they'll
often they'll buy a piece or thecommissioner piece and see that,
oh, I use turkey feathers. Andthen they'll give me a bunch
(21:57):
because they don't have anythingelse to do with it. I mean, they
probably have some turkey tailsmounted. But how many of those
do you want in your house. Andso sometimes I've even had
hunters bring me like, likegarbage bags full of wings and
tails. And I get to process themin the backyard with boiling
water and pluck the feathers andclean them and I have this big
(22:20):
stewpot that my husband will notlet me bring in the house is
super gross. It stays in theshed. Turkey pot does not come
in the house.
Derek Smith (22:30):
These are all the glamorous beautiful sides of
being an artist.
Elaine Maisel (22:33):
Yeah. But a man when you're plucking the
feathers, um, it's um, it reallyhelps to boil it. Yeah. And
that's just the turkey feathers.
That's the only thing that I'mplucking occasionally. Um, and
oh, but then wash it with likesoap and water actually shampoo
(22:54):
works really well or just somekind of mild hand soap, and then
blow drying it turns outbeautifully. And again, so I'll
like be out in the in thecarport with blow dryer and I'm
cleaning feathers and makingsure and then I have to put them
in a box with a lid because Idon't want to blow them
everywhere. And usually that'sgood enough actually. So I'm
(23:16):
washing with smile soap and andblow drying and then we're
stable and I seal everything upin Ziploc bags, big giant Ziploc
bags. If someone gives mefeathers, and I'm not completely
sure what state they're in, likefor example, parrot feathers. I
have a lot of parrot owners thatsay parrot feathers for me and
(23:38):
parrots mold and they'll give mea Ziploc bag I'll stick them in
the freezer because if they'reany little like microscopic
mites or something that mighteat feathers freezer, freezer
will kill them. Some betterartists also said a microwave
them but I don't do that. Ifreeze them and then and then
(23:59):
I'll wash them with some mildsoap and blow dry them and that
gets a nice and shiny andbeautiful too. So I get them
from parrot owners, turkeyhunters, and then I do buy some
feathers because the beautifulwhite goose feathers. I will
purchase those and they'reactually if you want feathers go
(24:20):
on Etsy or eBay. And they're allkinds of people that sell
feathers and that they rangefrom suppliers in China to
little local farms and parrotowners that that provide cruelty
free, like happy feathers, um,because I've also used Guinea
(24:42):
feathers, chicken feathers,beautiful heirloom chickens and
I and every now and then in themail I'll get like an envelope
full of feathers. That's what mywork and they'll send me their
heirloom chicken feathers. I'mjust so cool. One of my favorite
feather trips, I was drivingdown to mobile, where my mom, my
(25:03):
mom and dad actually relocatedwhen he retired to Mobile,
Alabama. So now, everybody inthe family is in the south
except my brother who's inBerkeley, California, but he has
a Creole restaurant. So he'svery glad for the family to be
in this house because it giveshim a little bit more
legitimacy. Um, I was drivingdown automobile and you go
(25:25):
through Collins, Mississippi,and there's the call one Zoo,
and I had never stopped it'scalling zoo before. So it's
like, Okay, I'm gonna stop. AndI was actually going down there
to do the DAFNI Jubilee, littleart show. So, the car was
totally loaded up art, stoppedat the Cullen Zoo, and, and paid
admission and was walkingaround. And this was after all
(25:49):
of their big animals had beenseized. So there was a bunny
rabbit in the Panther cage. Andthere was a house cat, grouchy
house cat, and one of the cagesand so basically, wildlife and
fisheries determined that thatthat they weren't capable of
(26:12):
taking care of the animals andso they took away anything
exotic that you have to have aspecial permit for. So like
Panthers, and lions, I'm notexactly sure what all they had
that was seized, and they wereleft with anything that you're
allowed to have as a pet owner,or, or a farmer. So they had
chickens and guineas, and aparrot named brocco. And turtles
(26:35):
and you know, just kind of Yeah.
And it was so sweet. And, um,when they when we finally got
talking, they got so excited.
And, uh, ran around andintroduced me to all the birds
like this is Rocco. And this isthis is this bird and did it did
it in a day. And they're like,and so they gave me stuff. We
(26:58):
ran around, and we picked upfeathers, gave me a big bag of
feathers, and I let them pickout a piece of art that was in
the car. So we did a trade, andI still have some of those
Collins zoo feathers.
Derek Smith (27:13):
Oh, and I bet that's like a big memory to
them. Yeah. Oh, that's sospecial. It was so sweet. Things
like
Elaine Maisel (27:21):
that. Now, here's another funny story. Or a funny
part of that story. The womanthat owns the column zoo is
named Betty White. Lady, justlike they took away my baby's
Derek Smith (27:39):
birthday. Oh, wow.
So you you you get the feathers.
You got the names. Do you useacrylic paint? Yes. It's
imagining some tiny paintbrushes. Yes. That you like. Uh
huh. Uh huh. Are there? Arethere any specific special
(28:00):
brushes you like to use?
Elaine Maisel (28:01):
Or like size zero? I use spotter brushes, or
whatever.
Derek Smith (28:05):
You can find this?
Elaine Maisel (28:06):
Yeah, basically, the smaller the better. Yeah,
generally size zero. Yeah,almost everything size zero. For
like large areas. I'll usesomething like that's, that's
about as big as it gets. Yeah.
So
Derek Smith (28:23):
it's almost like a little quarter inch brush. Now I
just have like this image in myhead of a light pulled over and
Elaine Maisel huddled over atable with some glasses with
some of those magnifyingspectacles on
Elaine Maisel (28:39):
and you know, I don't do the mastermind
specials. I do have like thelight. Yeah, actually, I have to
I have two lights. I used tohave a halogen light, but it
gets too hot and I'm too closeto my computer and I didn't want
to melt the computer. But I domy office chair, it can get real
low. So I'm real close to my I'mclose to my area. Although I'm
(29:01):
finding I'm hunching, and I'mtrying to be good. And I
actually I'll tape it to aneasel so I'm sitting up
straight. But I tend to like to,I like to brace my hand and
something I have steady handsbut still, you know, I want to I
want to brace it on something.
Um, one thing I'll do though,I'll tape it to a piece of
(29:21):
cardstock so I'll use a littlepainters tape on the on the
quill or I'll cut a little slitand and put it and and press it
flat against a piece ofcardstock or paper. That way it
just doesn't move and it givesit a little backing. And that
(29:43):
first kind of go over is usuallyjust kind of white. A white base
for the colors because if youput like red on a black feather
it'll just disappear. Um, somesome feather painters Jesso as
that base and some just say usewhite acrylic, I just use what
(30:03):
acrylic or even like leftovercolors and things and I start to
kind of rough in some of theshapes and things I'm going to
do within that, but it'sbasically a silhouette. So what
I'm doing is really kind ofillustrations because I'm not
doing I'm not doing landscapesor anything like that I don't
cover the whole feather I do asmall object, or concept. Yeah.
Derek Smith (30:28):
Switching gears a little bit, you've kept the
feathers. But then you've alsogot this ongoing photo series
that I am in love with theadventures of honcho poncho and
Eleanor Rigby and yeah, this isthis teeny tiny figurines of a
little dog and a little mule anddonkey, just they go everywhere
(30:49):
they do everything they hang outwith gummy bears, it just it
makes me happy. Oh, cross myfeet. Where is that coming from?
Like, you know, you've gotten tothis, it's completely different
from your feathers and yourfeather art.
Elaine Maisel (31:03):
It is yeah, and sometimes I wonder if I should
have made them a separateaccount. But it it's all lumped
in together. It's me. Um, well,you know, it started out just
just the donkey started thisjust onto a poncho and, and he
was my little donkey. I don'teven remember why I had a little
plastic donkey. But um,Instagram was this brand new
(31:25):
thing. It's like, Ooh, what'sthis Instagram thing? Okay, I
took a little picture of himunder this big mushroom that had
grown in the backyard, um, wayback. And, um, and it's
developed into this thing, wherethey're essentially a stand in
for me and my husband. So ratherthan taking selfies, they
traveled with us everywhere, andthey get a photo that kind of
(31:47):
gives a hint to what we did thatday. But but it's not a selfie.
Yeah. Um,
Derek Smith (31:54):
oh, that I didn't know that aspect of it. But so
Elaine Maisel (31:58):
so like, you know, if we go on a trip, they
come with us. And so if youlook, it'll be like, well, it's
something you know, we were.
Yeah. Like, there's one. I thinkwe were in New York City. And
there was like a phone boothwith the phone. And there's a
picture of them sitting on thephone. And you wouldn't
necessarily know that that'swhere they were. But but that's
a way for us to remember. Soit's a really, it's kind of
(32:21):
private selfies.
Derek Smith (32:25):
But it connects with me a lot, because they
remind me of the littlefigurines that you would bet i
in the 90s would get out of agumball machine. Yeah, no, my
grandmother's counter in thefurniture store just had these
little figurines stuck ineverywhere, because we would get
a gumball. And then, you know,kids have to forget about it,
(32:48):
but she kept them and would putthem out, like around her plants
and stuff. But it just, it makesme so happy. And I smile.
Elaine Maisel (32:55):
Yay. And I have a lot of people that say their
grandkids follow them. And youknow, people that never even
like click the like or anything.
So it's nice when I get thefeedback that they enjoy them, I
always keep it I always keep itG rated. For grandkids actually,
my rule. So my husband, I swearlike sailors at home, like most
people wouldn't necessarilyexpect that. But my rule for
(33:18):
Facebook and Instagram is that Idon't put anything on there that
I wouldn't want my grandma tosee. And that's kind of that's
kind of been the rule that I'vethat I've kept out and she
wasn't approved. Um, but I do Ikeep I try to keep the language
(33:42):
and, and everything. So so mypublic face isn't necessarily my
true, authentic face, alwaysnecessarily, but nobody's is. So
you know, if, if someone'staking, you know, glamorous
selfies, and they're alwayshappy, and it's lovely. That's
not really your true selfeither. But you also don't want
to, I don't know, if, if you'relike that angry and depressed
(34:07):
about the pandemic, as many ofus are, you don't necessarily
want to put either.
Derek Smith (34:15):
It's true. I mean, we're always searching for it
some presentable side to put tothem. And even when we're
feeling bad, you know, ourangsty our, you know, we want to
put out that right statement.
And that's curating yourself. Imean, it's just kind of
instinctual. And artists tend tobe better at it because we've
thought more about ourselvesthan the average person does.
Not into our brains, and wespend a lot of time there. So us
(34:38):
figuring out what's mostcomfortable for us to flourish.
In a world where eyes are on us.
That's what we're here for. Youknow, we're constantly producing
all of these, you know, visualeye candy everywhere for anyone,
and then when they turn andactually look at the art You
(35:01):
know, that's that's what we haveout there. Sometimes, you know,
I applaud I really do. I applaudartists that just can drop all
cares. Yeah, and, and 100. Buteven then you're still putting
on your public. I'm dropping allcares, persona, right? But, but
(35:22):
having that little bit ofcuration, a little bit of self
curation, where you're takingthat extra second, just to think
about what you're going to say,and what you're going to present
to the world. Because right now,we have such a wonderful
opportunity as artists to movepast the gatekeepers and the
institutions that have held youknow, so many back and, and just
(35:43):
because our voices can be heard,and our art can be seen, and we
don't have to go through aspecific set of selected
processes, in order to have anaudience. And just taking a
little bit of care to make surethat your audience is is bonding
with you and kind of thisbeautiful, holistic way. That's
(36:03):
wonderful. And keeping yourgrandmother in mind.
Elaine Maisel (36:06):
I keep my grandmother in mind. Yeah, she's
passed away. Both of mygrandmother's passed away quite
a while ago, but that also kindof keeps me connected to you
know.
Derek Smith (36:18):
So your Instagram is Elaine Maisel, it's E L. A
INEMAISEL. And then your websiteis Elaine Maisel calm. Yes. And
they find your work anywhereelse, or is there anywhere
physical that they could go inand find you?
Elaine Maisel (36:35):
Let's see. Well, I do have things at the
Mississippi craft center rightnow is the Bill Wallace craft
center. Technically, no, but inRidgeland. I have things there.
If you happen to be listeningfrom Berkeley, California, there
are some things at my brother'srestaurant, easy Creole.
Derek Smith (36:52):
We have a few. We have okay. Yeah, we've got some
in Ireland in the UK. It'sawesome, though. Getting these
new stat numbers has been
Elaine Maisel (37:01):
awesome. Well, my brother, my brother keeps a
little display of my things onthe wall. Next to the register
is his restaurant, his wall toceiling funky art. So so my
stuff fits right in there, too.
Actually, it kind of just blendsas the is the little picture
frames and things continue allaround the room all the way up
to the oh gosh, 20 foot ceiling?
(37:24):
Yeah. Yeah, that's a very coolplace. And he's got lots of kind
of family heirlooms and things,too. I'm on the walls. It's
really personal. Um, and, um,you know, I have an Etsy store,
which I keep meaning toreplenish, and I will at some
point, there's a link to that onthe website. So that's the easy
(37:47):
way to find it. Um, I think Iwas able to switch that over to
Elaine Mays Ella's? Well, I havesome graphic design stuff on red
bubble, but that's kind oftotally different. That's just
kind of a little side thing.
I've played with some. And, andthen, when Archos startup began,
and I feel comfortable goingback out to them, you'll
(38:07):
probably see me at some. It'skind of been nice. Actually, it
was nice to have this year'sChristmas kind of more close to
home, instead of being runningragged doing doing, like arts
festivals, right up toChristmas. Yeah,
Derek Smith (38:28):
I mean, that's a prime time when you're doing
that.
Elaine Maisel (38:31):
It's also a prime time to make money. So yeah,
then to get your work out there.
Derek Smith (38:37):
So one last question, and I'll let you go
for anybody that is comingbehind you are for you, as a
younger self, what would be someadvice that you would give,
Elaine Maisel (38:48):
um, if you're, you can do it, you have to give
it 100%. Um, treat it like so ifyou want to be an artist, treat
it like a real job. Beconsistent and show up and do
the work. Even if you don't feellike it. That's the most
important thing. And actually,once you start doing the work,
(39:08):
if you sit down and start, itusually just goes, it happens.
Give yourself five years to findyour voice and find your place.
But that's five years of workinghard at it. I have a business
plan, realize that business planis going to change and revisit
that regularly, like every fewyears. Pick your marketing
(39:31):
strategies carefully at thebeginning because a lot of them
are going to stick andconsistency is important. And I
see a lot of artists that arefantastic, but they actually do
too many things, I think andit's good and I feel like I do
kind of too many things a littlebit. A little bit. Um, you know,
(39:54):
I'm really focused in on thefeathers. And sometimes I feel
like that that kind of limits mebut It limits good because it
defines you and you need to havea definable style and a
definable voice. So I'm allbecause you love stained glass
and pottery and painting. Andthis pick one, pick one and, and
(40:15):
put 100% of your energy into itand make it the best you can.
Um, if you if you're always adabbler, then you won't be
considered a professionalartist. You'll be considered a
dabbler.
Derek Smith (40:28):
Yeah. Yeah. Wonder which is hard. Yeah. It's hard
to pick. Yeah, it really is.
It's a woman, there's just somuch you can do with art. Right?
One little toe dip is reallyhard to do. The whole pool,
figure out which parts you liketo swim in, and then stay there
for a while? Yeah, if you haveany doubts about that theory,
(40:49):
look back in history and startpulling out artists names from
history, and you're going topull out a name and you're going
to pull out a whole bunch ofartwork that is recognizable by
that person. When you go in andactually read about them. They
did other things. But this was afocus. This was a life. Right?
That's wonderful.
Elaine Maisel (41:09):
Rembrandt Rembrandt was a party party
planner. That was like his dayjob. But his work is very, very
consistent, recognizable, andVango is very recognizable. Um,
and like local people. Whyatwater's is very recognizable,
(41:29):
but actually, if you go back andlook at some of his work he does
his student it's very different,very different, very different.
And then he picked a particularcolor palette, but particular
style and you can recognize aWyatt Waters just like that.
Yeah.
Derek Smith (41:45):
Well, Ole Miss out.
Thank you so much for coming onand giving us your time and your
advice and your your history andsharing all of that with us. I
know that I enjoy connectingwith it and I hope everyone else
does too.
Elaine Maisel (41:58):
Thank you so much. And thanks for everything
you're doing down in Brookhaven.
It's great that you're back inMississippi and and making art
has
Derek Smith (42:07):
been really exciting. For everyone else. We
will have another podcast up foryou soon. Until next time.
Special thanks to our membersJenny Howard, Buffy Jordan,
Jenny Mo, Evelyn Peavy The EvansFamily Janet Smith, Beth
Breeland. Mary Hardy when furyMary Adams Jennifer drink of
(42:28):
water and the Smith family
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