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An interview with Susan Hazel Rich
Written by Elliott Johnston
Monday, 14 December, 2009
Craft markets are blossoming in Fort Collins, bursting forth with handmade everything. There are evermore craft shows in Old Town, where local and regional makers (or crafters) sell their personalized, homespun wares. The types of crafts are expansive (clothes, jewelry, fashion accessories, postcards, functional art, pottery, on and on) and the crafters (women, men, young, old, professionals, amateurs) are disparate in background, specialty, and motivation.
The recent up-tick of well-attended craft shows is impressive for a Fort Collins D.I.Y. art scene (a paradox to be sure, as doing-it-yourself is ostensibly a solitary act, and a scene naturally flirts with the public). Zining, for example, has been kept alive locally here and there, but humble handmade acts like these aren’t guaranteed to bring locals out in droves.
A reason crafting could be catching on in Fort Collins is because it complements established values touted by local environmentalists: reusing old materials, and buying and selling locally. Also, craft markets in general offer a different program than traditional art galleries, giving local buyers a fresh way to interact with local sellers. Markets are often one-or-two-day events held in rented or donated venues and the items being sold at a craft market are usually more affordable and made for practical, day-to-day use. The gist goes back to that classic no-brainer from the farmers market: why buy a tomato from thousands of miles away when you can grow your own, or buy it from the outskirts of town? Likewise: why by a dress or stocking cap at Target when you can make your own, or buy it from a friend? Basically, follow great grandma’s lead.
In addition to fitting in with local living economy trends, there’s another, possibly more integral reason why crafting is gaining visibility in town: inspired organizers and facilitators. The leaders putting the markets on, promoting crafting locally, and encouraging both established and newbie makers (or crafters) to get involved.
Matterdaily is kick-starting our crafting coverage by running a series of Q&As with local craft market organizers. The first in our series is an interview with Susan Hazel Rich, a maker of handmade dresses, bags, cards, and more. Rich, who also works as a graphic designer and barista, has helped spearhead the FREEdom Market, where, as opposed to traditional craft markets, vendors don’t pay a fee to display their goods, but donate volunteer time to make the whole event happen.
Matter Daily: What is your definition of a craft?
Susan Hazel Rich: I’ve been trying to figure that out a little bit. There is this traditional definition of it: you think of like doilies and towels with Santa Claus on them and things like that, and the way in which my mom crafted which was making clothes for us, and that is fine. That’s what I grew up with.
Anyway, I always wanted to be an artist. But how do you sell that and make a living? And, now there is this eco-sustainability jazz out there, and this idea that you can make things that are functional, that are kind of cool to everyone else, and, because they are handmade and local and I think it’s becoming about these other movements that are around.
| "You are doing something that is very traditional, but you are doing it in this very I-am-not-traditional way.” |
MD: Like what other movements?
SHR: Like the local and sustainable and environment and all these local circles of profit and supporting local artists. There’s this huge movement around all of that which is facilitating this new craft movement.
You even see it with Anthropologie. All their stuff looks handmade and handcrafted and there’s this kind of look and aesthetic with it. And I think it’s becoming this new fashion trend and that’s helping with this new movement crafts, which, I don’t think that there is a definition [of craft]. I think it’s whatever you are making. I think it has something to do with the small scale of things. But I don’t think that there is really any border between art and craft anymore. Craft is probably taking something out of a gallery setting and making it more accessible. It’s affordable art. An affordable, practical art that people can see use for. They want buy art, they don’t have money for a painting in a gallery. Although they like that, they don’t have that money. And so if you offer them a bag or a dress or something that looks like art to them, and they can afford it and see a practical use in their daily life, that helps them break into that.
MD: How do you balance the artist side of you with the production side? I’m sure it’s different for each piece, but does each piece need to reach a certain personal artistic criteria? Do you hold yourself to that?
SHR: I do. All of my pieces are one of a kind. That’s really important to me. I’m not just finding one thing that sells and just making that all the time. It’s really important for me to always be trying new things and always having fun. I don’t keep track of my time. Some people ask, “How long does it take to make a bag? Or how much does she make an hour? How much work goes into this?” I have absolutely no idea. I start a project, it gets frustrating, I put it down, and then I start something else and then I come back to it. Sometimes I just have to let things sit there. It’s really about matching colors and textures.
It’s about making sure that I’m having fun and being really creative with it. And, the second that I realize that I’m frustrated and realize I don’t want to sew, I don’t do it. If that means that I show up to a craft show or craft market with four things, then that’s it. Because I’m not going to just pump things out. And then, as soon as something that I make starts to sell well, it’s not that I don’t make it, but I get excited about that piece and I think, “how could this be cooler? People are really interested in this style of bag, how can I make that cooler and more interesting to me?” And that starts to expand and it evolves into something else. I think that is the important thing to me that I am always stressing with people is sometimes you get caught up in thinking that you have to make a living with this. I don't want to. I have a full time job, and this is what I do for fun.
So this is art to me. This is something that I do that relaxes me and it’s fun and creative and I don’t have worry about what’s going to sell really well and making a hundred of those. And I think sometimes that is a fault to me selling a lot. I don’t sell a lot. I don’t have a lot of the same thing. I have one dress, and if it doesn’t fit you, bummer. And the stuff is all really different. For example, if you went into Target and you didn’t quite like that dress, there is another dress right next to it that is modified in ways that might be appealing to you, whereas I just have this whole mishmash of stuff. And I just hope that someone comes along and says, “This is awesome!” and loves it. And that’s really it.
Susan Hazel Rich selling her wares at the FREEdom Market, photo by Charlie Malone.
SHR: I think the first market that I was ever in, I had no idea what I was doing. I just made cards at the time and I made one [type of] apron. And I got in and I made a ton on aprons. I showed up and I did really really well. I don’t know, it was random. It was the best show that I’d ever done to this day (it went downhill quickly for me [laughs].) But I was making stuff by myself in my house and I didn’t know anyone who did this and I wasn’t really sure what I was doing, and I showed up to this event.
It was cool because it wasn’t like a gallery where they are going to take a bunch of your money. I mean, you are going to have to give, let's just say, $100 up front for your space at a craft market, but you know that going in. And you get to meet all these different people. And they were all cool and exciting and doing different things; things that I can’t and will never do, like knitting. I’m just not capable of that. And so I really liked this idea that there were all these people that I’d never met and we were all coming together in one thing, and that had never really happened for me before. Just like you go to school, and those people are kind of grouped there for you. I’d never been apart of this idea where everyone just kind of came there from nowhere. I liked that idea of coming together and sharing ideas. It was a slow day and there was a lot of, ‘hey I really like what you are doing and have you ever thought about doing it this way?’
I got into the idea of putting on shows because I thought this whole getting together was really great. But then I got distracted. I didn’t really like taking money from artists. It’s a great source of income—it takes a lot of work to put on a show—but I didn’t really need that. And again, this part of my life is really for fun and I don’t want it to be stressful. It was really hard to take money from people and watch them not do well at a show, and watch them stress about that $100 that they didn’t make back.
MD: And just to clarify, you are talking about a traditional craft market, and when people put on a traditional market, they are asking for, say, $100 from each artist?
SHR: Right.
MD: And then you decided to start putting on markets where you don’t ask for money from the artists?
SHR: Well, I did participate in helping put on one market, the second Handmade Militia show, and that was great. We had a free space and were able to offer a reduced rate to the artists. Because it was just two of us doing a lot of work and organizing we needed to still ask the artist's to pay a little for their space to cover our time. But I’m interested in the idea that there are a lot of free spaces here in town, and that putting on a market isn’t an imposition. Take Resource, they love to help out the community and free advertising is always a plus. They are really interested in art and the art community.
This FREEdom Market that we started where we are all just working together. Everyone puts in a little bit. It works. Instead of all the pressure pulling on one person to get posters out and tell all their friends, we have ten artists who are doing the show, and they all have 300 or 400 friends on Facebook, and that’s a bazillion people that are all getting invited and it just happens quicker, because its like, ‘this won’t happen without you. And instead of taking your money, I’m taking your time, which is the same.” Then using free space, it’s not looking at it like it’s imposing so much as it’s a great opportunity for the business to support the arts.
I think the idea of starting these shows and evolving into these free shows is by no means a way to look down on the paid shows. I think there is a spectrum [of possible approaches to craft markets]. And I think that’s something that isn’t really happening everywhere. And Fort Collins is a great place start new ideas because there is not much going on. And there is more now than there was six months ago, as far as crafting goes. But it’s nice to have a spectrum for people, like myself, who when I was starting out, that booth fee was stressful to me. And realizing, ‘Yes, I do want to do this, I don’t want to make a living and I don’t want to feel pressure.” I still do paid shows all the time, and when I don’t do well at them, I feel frustrated.
I do pay to be at other people’s shows. I think that there is a place for them. As I struggle to figure out if this is going to be a full time job for me or not, but I do those shows because they are great exposure. Ultimately, I don’t think any one idea is better than the other. I think that that the spectrum is important: of where people can enter and participate and move into paid shows. I don’t think you have to pick or choose, the spectrum just provides this really great way for people to do it on whatever level they want to.
MD: What are the advantages or disadvantages of a paid show versus a free show?
SHR: Ultimately, at the end of the day, a crafter wants to make sure that there is going to be people there to at least look at, if not buy their stuff (probably buy their stuff). I see the only basic advantage/disadvantage is that, with a paid show, I give you a $100 and I trust that you are going to do everything. You are going to figure out where people are going to go to the bathroom, where people are going to park. You are going to try your best to get that best venue, to get the people there, to get the posters and distribute them, and do all the Facebook jazz and all that stuff, and I can just focus on making my work, and I can show up the day of the show and you’ve done everything for me. I have to bring my own tables and chairs, but you’ve marked out my space, it’s there. It has my name on it. You’ve worried about music, if we are going to have it, and all of those details. That’s what I’m paying you for: your time and doing all of those things for all of us.
But on the other hand, with a free show, we all work together. The FREEdom Markets start with 10 people and you donate 4 hours of your time to make it happen. So the volunteer time is baking cookies, and telling all your friends on Facebook and blogging about it if you have a blog, posting it on your website. We aren’t doing any printed posters for this because I think we can do enough through social media. We all give the time to make all those little things happen.
So, we all make this happen together, and because we make it happen together, I think if it fails, it’s kind of hard to be mad at yourself. We are all invested a little bit in the success of it.
| "No one can figure out but yourself what it is that you want, and what level you want to do it at. And maybe free shows are a great way for people to ease in [to crafting]." |
MD: I’m wondering about the language of the marketing for these things, like FREEdom Market and Handmade Militia. It’s kind of funny to me, because of the Fox News tea baggers and all that. It’s like the crafters are being oppressed. Can you talk about the language of revolution here?
SHR: Well, that’s really funny, I never even thought about that. As someone in marketing I dropped the ball on that, I never thought about it. Well, that’s great, because we’re going out under this cohesive forefront.
It’s really like: I don’t want to be the crafter that my mom was. I love my mom and I love all the things that she makes for me. But I love getting dressed in the morning. I feel like really put together and vintage-y and cool, and I didn’t buy anything at these big box stores and I like that sort of aesthetic, old vintage cowboy boots and whatever. I guess it’s just kind of like the hipster flair of it. You are doing something that is very traditional, but you are doing it in this very I-am-not-traditional way. So maybe that’s where that comes from.
MD: So what would you say are the main distinctions between your parents’ generation’s view of crafts and this new view? Would it be that your parent’s view is just not cool?
SHR: No, I don’t think it’s not cool at all. It’s just the look of it, it’s the trendyness, it’s the fashion. That’s what I see it as. I always say on my websites that I “repurpose the unlikely into the fashionable,” which I think is what we are doing, essentially. The unlikely (crafting) into super-fashionable and trendy. This idea that I think we can all kind of relate to is when we were growing up, if someone said, “Did your mom make that sweater, or did you make that sweater?” you would just be mortified. That, “crap, they found out, I didn’t get it at The Gap.”
I think, again, it’s about this cultural shift of local, sustainable, organic, all these things. People debate all the time over whether those things are trends, while we hope that they aren’t. But this sort of shift now. If I say, “Did you make that sweater?” You feel probably so much better. So I don’t know what that is, I think it is a fashion trend. But maybe fashion trends are becoming something that aren’t always bad. And maybe, hopefully, trends are something that become values. So maybe that’s where it is: there’s this mix of values and beliefs that are becoming intermingled with trends and fashions. That’s never happened for me before. So that gets a little confusing.
MD: For you?
SHR: For me. Because I really believe in all these things. That’s what I do for a profession, I am a graphic designer with a strong focus on sustainable and responsible solutions for businesses. I believe in these movements. I believe in working with small local businesses that need good design. And then good design and sustainablity get intermingled with this art that I’m doing; it’s almost a motivation for the art that I’m doing. The art has this level of fashion and trend, which is also really interesting to me.
It’s like this kind-of new thing, hoping I can be this super-hip, put-together designer who's really kind of fashionable and trendy, but everything is upcycled, recycled and responsible.
MD: What is upcycled?
SHR: Upcycled is this new crafter word and it just means that you buy something from the thrift store and you alter it, you hem it, you take a sweater, you cut the sleeves off and you make leg warmers. So you upcycled that sweater, instead of recycling it, because it hasn’t been broken down and made into something completely new. You’ve just modified it to make it into something new.
Susan Hazel Rich in her home studio, photo by Elliott Johnston
SHR: I haven’t found any books that I’m really into. I mean, they have a lot of patterns and things, but I haven’t really connected with the social community aspect of them. That’s not to say there aren’t any out there.
But I do think that’s a lot of what I’m interested in. I do meet a lot of people who are asking those questions, and I like helping them figure it out and find where they want to be. I think the biggest thing is that you don’t have to stress about making this your living.
So that presentation that I did at the Sustainable Living Fair last summer was a great introduction to the community. We showcased six different artists who covered a wide spectrum. One girl is a local poet and teacher, and she just likes to make crafts because she likes to have tons of jewelry and accessories in her own personal closet. And then she likes to make gifts for her friends and her family. And she doesn’t sell. She’s not interested in it and that’s great. We did a show together, but she figured it out and she just realized that she doesn’t like to sell her stuff, for whatever reason.
And then all the way up to Vital Industries in Denver. This is their day job, they just opened a storefront in Denver. This is what they do, and they are great at it and they love it.
To everything in between: to people like myself, where I don’t even know what I’m doing. Am I making a living? Am I not making a living? Do I hate going to shows? Do I love them? And that’s okay. I’m just trying to figure out what I do. So I always tell people that spectrum of it: it’s okay to just really have no idea what you want to do. No one can figure out but yourself what it is that you want, and what level you want to do it at. And maybe free shows are a great way for people to ease in.
For more info on the FREEdom Markets contact Susan directly (
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) or find us on Facebook, "FREEdom Market"
For more info on Susan's work check out her out online at, www.susanhazelrich.com, or visit her on Etsy (www.susanhazelrich.etsy.com)
Click here to read our interview with another integral Fort Collins-based craft market organizer, Whitney Phippen of Handmade Militia.
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