Papergirl met with illustrator Suzanne Summersgill at her home/studio on West Broadway. Suzanne has been contributing artistically to the eco movement for the last 25 years. Suzanne began her journey by working with naturally dyed textiles, and now works under the name Pinnstudio illustrating her own line of prints using discarded papers and found bits & pieces. Her favourite materials to work with are cardboard, old documents, charm and humor, keeping in line with her mandate to "craft in harmony with nature". Her work has appeared in several publications, including The Georgia Straight, Mothering Magazine, Momentum, 24, BC Parent, and Canadian House and Home. In her first children's book, Three Green Rats, An Eco Tale, she relates most to Oli the little rat who shares her passion for the junk hunt.
See more of Suzanne's whimsical work at Pinnstudio and find her on Twitter here.
Our Q&A with Suzanne:
SS: I went to art school (Langara Fine Arts) and then I worked for a textile company, Maiwa, who began moving toward more natural processes. I started learning more about the environment as it concerned the fashion industry and as I started to get into that more and more it became something that motivated me. I ended up starting my own textile company called Some Piece of Work, and I made naturally dyed and recycled children's clothing. That was about 25 years ago, sort of before anyone was really aware of environmental issues. People were starting to become more aware of what they ate, but there wasn't the whole eco movement as it is now. I've always had a love of drawing so eventually, when I got two studio partners, we started doing eco children's rooms with restructured furniture. One of my partners, Michelle Weeks, kept saying to me "you really love drawing, don't you ever think about illustrating?" I said that I did, and I ended up going that way, exactly as she suggested. My true love is basically a pencil. I illustrated my first children's book this year, Three Green Rats: An Eco Tale, which is a dream come true, literally. It was the year of the rat and I was thinking hard about ideas for a book and then I had a dream about 3 little rats, who represent the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), that save the world, and it started from there.
PG: Do you remember the first time you created something?
SS: I remember loving art and drawing in elementary school.
PG: What is your creative process?
SS: I try to free myself up from making something "good", I just wreck a piece of paper. I always start out with cheaper paper because I don't want to mess up a sketchbook! I just draw and I've learned to keep working up the drawings. A lot of illustrators use the computer to manipulate their drawings but I still don't. I do need to learn a lot more about using computers so that is my next thing.
PG: Do you think about the relationship between artist and viewer when creating?
SS: I don't. I make art for myself. If I like it, I explore it and put it out there. If people like it they like it. If they don't, what are you going to do? I learn a lot from other people but I try to stay away from trends. Right now illustration is very graphic, and mine is more old world, like old story books.
PG: What does community mean to you as an artist?
SS: I've been an artist for a long time and a lot of people want you to give of yourself. They'll say it's really "good exposure" for you but don't believe that! They just want free work. But I do believe heavily in community and I go into schools a lot. I've done huge eco art projects in schools through ArtStarts, and it was great. I joined the Sketchbook Project, and I've contributed to Papergirl. These are the kind of things that I can do for myself but that also help connect people with art. I used to be much more engaged -- I was on the Eastside Culture Crawl committee and I was on the Board of the Craft Association of BC but now, I can't do as much. I try and keep up but I feel that half the time I don't know what's going on! There is a lot going on in Vancouver. I find that the city is allowing more stuff to happen, like pop up shops for example.
PG: How are you supported as an artist in Vancouver? Are there changes or improvements you would like to see?
SS: I've felt a lot of support in Vancouver. I find that, with my book at least, having it sell in the US has helped because there is a huge wall up against self-published books. Vancouver Kids Books sells it and I was so grateful for that. Christianne's Lyceum has been really supportive and she is going to help me with other publishers. The more things that are you interested in and the more groups you join help to find support. You have to work a lot at that in addition to creating, marketing, social media and everything else.
It is hard to find space in Vancouver for small shows. Community centres won't rent you a space if you are selling, so they have rooms but you can't use them. It's so expensive here that to make a little gallery show somewhere can cost a fortune. I would appreciate if somebody could work on finding cheap spaces and helping people connect with them, as well as cheaper studio spaces.
PG: What interests you about Papergirl?
SS: It's something that is an exercise with no attachments. It's something fun. I also love the idea of riding around on bikes and giving away art.
PG: At Papergirl, we are all about the art of giving art. What is the greatest gift you have ever received?
SS: I collect rocks and my dad gave me the most beautiful perfect heart shaped rock ever. It's my favourite thing that I have from him.
PG: To finish, a fun question: what kind of bike would you be?
SS: I am obviously a vintage bike. I have a red Raleigh vintage bike and I love it!
all photos by Julie Larsen. Interview by Julie Larsen and Tara Galuska.