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Tuile & Carrie Whalen | Episode 504
Carrie Whalen, mother of four, from Kingston, Ontario, has been studying, creating, and teaching art for over 30 years. Carrie is an award winning design graduate with diplomas in fine arts and fashion design; she represented Canada twice on the international stage in fashion. Carrie has been running Y.A.K (Young Artists of Kingston) art camps for children for 24 years. Over the past three years, while unschooling her two daughters. Carrie has been doing an independent study in ceramics making whimsical, colorful, sometime highly detail, small functional forms.
Carrie’s Work
Tuile is a 9 year old unschooled girl artist. Tuile has been drawing, painting and making clay sculptures since she’s been able to hold a pencil, paintbrush, and ball of clay. Tuile is passionate about everything she does. Tuile loves imaginative play, animals, is passionate about global warming, chemistry, science, animal rights and is a young feminist. Tuile is currently spending her time learning how to make mugs in her own creative way.
Tuile’s Work
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Carrie’s Work
I know you are on Instagram. Do you like having your art out in the world where everyone can see it?
Tuile: Yeah.
Why?
Tuile: Because then everyone knows how awesome I am and how awesome I am for my age.
Carrie: That’s a funny answer. So everyone knows how awesome I am. (laughter)
Tuile’s Work
What’s wrong with that? (laughter) If we were to try and analyze all of us I think that is probably the most honest answer.
Carrie how about for you. What are your concerns about safety for your child being on Instagram?
That is an interesting question. She doesn’t scroll through it herself. Very little. It is more her just saying, Can you post pictures of these? And if anybody messages her I will read the message and so far it is just other artists asking her questions about anything, her life, whatever she’s doing, about her work, just communicating. And I will communicate that to her and she will tell me what to say back to them. So she is not really on the computer or on the phone it’s more that she just has a space to show off what she is doing.
Carrie’s Work
Tuile, what makes you decide which pictures you want to post?
Tuile: That is a good question. Because sometimes I am just like, That’s a good picture, I like that picture.
Carrie: Or you like doing those drawings on the white board everyday.
Tuile: Yeah, I am like, You know what mom, let’s just draw a picture on the white board.
Tuile’s Work
Carrie, how has Instagram been instrumental been for growing the business side of what you are trying to do?
Yeah, it’s wonderful. It’s everything. It has been everything in regards to that. That is where I am discovering ceramic artists and learning about them and their work and their processes and vice versa. I think before I discovered the world of Instagram I was really just playing and figuring stuff out myself and as fun as that was for years, it was way more fun when I realized that I could sort of communicate with other ceramic artists and see what they are doing and ask them questions and learn about all the different things that are going on in the world of ceramics. And that has just been great so this year is going to be a year where we explore that a little bit more. We are going to go to NCECA for the first time.
Carrie’s Work
Tuile, do you think it is amazing that adults are finding your work to be good and they are saying, I want to buy that?
Tuile:Yes.
Tuile’s Work
Tell me about the first time that someone bought your mug, what you thought.
Tuile: I was like, Oh my God. Like, sweet.
Carrie: And then of course, it was on Etsy, so she had these pre-orders, and Etsy does this cha ching, every time someone would make a pre-order. So all day long for two days after posting it, it was cha ching. cha ching, cha ching.
Carrie’s Work
Carrie, do you feel the pressure of having to sell your work?
Carrie: No, I don’t at all. It is not what I do for money. So I am just playing and learning and enjoying making when I get time to make. I feel like if I had to do it for a living I wouldn’t be doing what I want to do. I would be worried about making certain numbers and going to sales and stuff like that and that’s great it is just not what I want to do at this point in time. So I am just enjoying making and sharing that process with other people.
How fun is it to be in a mother/daughter team for making pottery?
Tuile: Awesome.
Carrie: Really fun. She constantly amazes me with her creativity. I think in the beginning I would be very tempted to tell her how to do some things and then the things that would turn out really well would be the things that she did they way that she wanted to do them. So I’ve learned to just lay off and not tell her to do anything. Because her style is her style and just let it develop. But it has been fun, huh, Tuile?
Tuile: Yeah.
Carrie’s Work
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Contact:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/WhimsofPeterRabbit
Carrie’s Instagram: @carrie_whalen_
Tuile’s Instagram: @tuile_fionnuala