Meet our teammate Ironside!

Creative Minds [taking you behind the scenes]
IRONSIDE with the talented Errin Ironside
Interview by Belle

Hey Errin..thanks for letting us step behind the scenes of IRONSIDE. This interview forms part of the collection of Team Discovery member interviews, where we delve deeper into the creative minds of our members and showcase the handmade goodness that is available.

The photo above is of Errin standing proudly (who wouldn’t be proud with beautiful creations like these!) in front of her pieces which each had their own up-cycled vintage frame, at the Midtown Gallery in Michigan. It’s always lovely to put a face to the creations!

I was first drawn to your scrumptious mixed media items, as they are striking, bold and emotive. And did I also mention..fun! It’s vintage feel brought to a whole new level.
Please write a few lines that capture your journey thus far…

I have worked in galleries, art supply and craft stores, as a graphic designer for a paper crafting company, and as a production artist for a pharmaceutical ad agency. This was all during and after getting my BFA in graphic design. I opened my Etsy shop this May in hopes to fill more of my time with things I love to do. Having my mixed media Etsy shop is a perfect way to combine all my experience from creativity to technical skills.
Mixed media art encompasses a world of possibilities when it comes to visual art media. What goes into your mixed media art? And have you seen your style transform over the years into something different?

It all starts with an idea or a feeling and I keep that in a certain part of my mind as I'm going through my boxes of clippings, drawers and jars of random items, or books and magazines. I feel like my style has transformed over the years from really textured and layered to more minimal and simple.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your mixed media items?

I'm mostly inspired by life and emotions in response to life. I'm drawn to images from the 50s of woman's faces because they are so often outrageously emotional. It really all comes from deep inside and in response to my life. My work is very personal whether I like it or not. I've tried to sit down and just make a collage as pieces of paper brought together, but they always turn out to mean something deep to me.

Please choose one item from your store and allow us to explore behind the scenes…

Constant Reminder:

This image is from an original handmade collage the size of an artist trading card (2 ½ X 3 ½ inches) There is a lot going on here for me personally. I went through a span of about a year where I did/could not make any art. Finally I decided I needed to work some things out and start small with ATC size pieces. I made this collage about 5 months after my mom died from cancer and in broad terms it refers to time and memories. Most of the images in my shop were created in response to my mom's death. Constant Reminder is probably the most pensive image, while the others add humor or whimsy to the mix. Even when life throws an absolutely dreadful situation at you, I think it's still important to laugh.


I love the tagline of your store “recycled images playing nice together”. You clearly have a love for vintage, with your beautiful pieces that are recycled brought to new. I see you have also opened another funky Etsy store, full of vintage items, named ‘Space is Hip’. If you had to sell the idea of vintage to a non-believer, what would you say?
Vintage has character with age and history, a story to tell from a time different than now.

Any sneak peaks into what items will appear in the future for IRONSIDE?

Right now I'm in the process of making holiday cards, gift tags and calendars! I am also making some ornaments for a local gallery's December window display, so I may list those in my shop after the show if they do not all sell.

Any online publications, websites, blogs that you have stumbled across recently that you would recommend?

Most definitely! here are a few sites/blogs I like to frequent:

a community for gathering and sharing images that inspire: http://www.imgspark.com/ blog

for a terrific design marketplace: http://supermarkethq.com/blog/
design and style blog: http://www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com/

where I purchase my recycled paper: http://www.redrivercatalog.com/

super fun blog of vintage advertising: http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/ (check out the links on this blog too for other great vintage ephemera blogs)

What item from the 80s or 90s, would you like to revive and why?

Wow, I really can't think of anything that hasn't been brought back already, and most of it painfully so. When I think of the 80s I think of care bears, garbage pail kids, he-man, popples, rainbow brite, glow worms, thundercats, the smurfs, jelly shoes and banana clips. ~So mostly toys and cartoons since I was just a wee one in the 80s. Maybe the smurfs could have their own reality show!? ~that would be an awesome comeback!
The 90s are just a blur of grungy trends, Ricki Lake, 90210, high school, and the beginnings of the world wide web. One thing I have always wanted though is a cell phone in the form of a rotary phone, not the base just the hand held part. Seriously! Like the size of an 80s car phone! Speaking of phones, let’s bring back the phone booth!

A place that you have visited, anywhere in the world, that has blown you away and why?

Mesa Verde National Park!
The Puebloan Cliff Dwellings, specifically the Cliff Palace. It has stuck with me as one of the most spectacular sights I have yet to see since I was 12. The amazing construction, design and use of space is phenomenal. The dwellings are built into the rock using all natural materials. Such an amazing example of living with, in, and from nature.
How do you decorate your home? Vintage inspired?

It is! with a mix of modern and some up-cycled pieces. Plus art of course, and in our living room we have a giant period table of elements from 1979.

It’s all about Errin:
Ironside: www.ironside.etsy.com

Space is Hip: www.SpaceisHip.etsy.com.

Facebook page for my mixed media: www.facebook.com/IRONSIDE.artwork


Thank you Errin for allowing us to peep through the keyhole into your creative mind.