FEST: Interview with Glimpses&Remains, Inc.

Meet Drew of Glimpes&Remains, Inc.

Who are you?
My close friends call me a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ artist but I don’t know if I agree.
What I do know is that my brain seems to have a conflict of interests, meaning part of me is complete artist – not caring whether or not what I’m creating at the time is paying the bills or taking care of my family or reaching toward an obtainable goal.
The other part is the scientific, investigative brain which loves doing math, analyzing things and reading non-fiction. That side taps the other side to fantasize about having the money and storage space to make ordering things in a larger bulk feasible (to keep costs lower). That side is the degree-collector which studies things like business and criminology.
What do you create?
I mostly create photographic prints and stationery (letter sets/cards) featuring my photography. I love photographing everything with every type of camera I can get my hands on (and find film for). I also really enjoy painting and ceramics. The paintings these days seem to be largely things that show up in my dreams and daydreams, little snippets of weirdness that show up and won’t leave me alone until I at least sketch them out somewhere.
The ceramics is more of an expensive form of relaxation therapy which results in bowls and mugs I can serve dinner in or my husband can use as candle holders. Writing is also a huge part of me. Occasionally I make my own jewelry, sew, or craft with found objects or supplies I find around the house.

How did you get started?
I’ve been taking pictures for about as long as I can remember. When I was little, I had a Kodak Instant Camera until they lost their lawsuit and I had to give it up for a little disc camera.
My husband and friends have been pestering me for years to do something with the thousands of negatives I’ve accumulated . There are binders full of black-and-white photos and film from my college days and boxes of Polaroids and whole hard drives of digital photos and digitized photos.
I started Glimpses & Remains officially as a business in early 2008. At first, I started building my own website, but decided Etsy was a better way to test the market.
What is unique about your products?
When I asked a friend what she thought of this question, basically while I was hemming and hawing and sipping Merlot, she responds with, “I don’t think that your work is influenced much by current trends, the media or other artists and that, alone, makes your products unique.”
The reason for the hemming and hawing is because with photography, you’re capturing an image that is there for one of two reasons: it is there because someone else or something else put it there or you’re capturing something you thought up and set up. One feels more original than the other in theory, but at the same time, a lot of “set up” photography is fashion or beauty oriented – sort of the opposite of a lot of my rusty fences and doll parts.
What has been your biggest challenge in developing your business?
Focus and time. When I’m supposed to be shooting photos, I’m painting. When I’m supposed to be writing, I’m reading. When I’m supposed to be finishing a painting, I’m baking cookies or experimenting with tofu. When I want to be writing or editing photos or reading or baking or painting or gardening, I’m probably at work or having to run errands or grumbling through laundry and dish-washing. I need a clone.
What other interests do you have?
Coffee, reading, and wine (not necessarily that order). Also I enjoy – well, I need – exercise. I also like gardening and cooking/baking.
Where do you live?
I live in Fort Lauderdale. I’ve been here since moving from North Carolina after high school about a hundred million years ago (okay, 1995). I like the diversity of culture and food and entertainment, etc., but occasionally I like to retreat to my husband’s family’s native Maine for a little back-to-basics nature stuff.
What are some other sites to find out more about you ?
MyBlog:
http://glimpsesandremains.wordpress.com/
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GlimpsesRemains/100168388112
Handmade Highway exit:
http://handmadehighway.blogspot.com/2009/08/glimpses-and-remains-art-paper-goods.html

Have you ever been fired from a job?
I wasn’t really fired, but I was laid off once from an automotive advertising company. The place was one of those offices where you feel like you’re working in a sitcom – which, by the way, is much funnier to watch than to live.People would walk around in bunny slippers, some drunk and high: there was a woman who passed around nude pictures of herself thinking it would get her ahead; another guy who hired body guards because he thought the mob was after him; an accountant who dressed like an extra cousin from The Munsters; a guy whose parents bought him into the company because they were afraid he’d mess up their business;and a woman who got bored and threw pencils and X-acto knives at the ceiling tiles. All in all, it was kind of a relief to get laid off.

What makes you laugh? There is also an essay by Augusten Burroughs about Junior Mints that is hysterical to me.Fart jokes and that men-are-from Mars stereotype kind of things just don’t tickle me – probably because I married a man raised by his mother to be a neat freak, sensitive, a hard worker, caring and smart; and my father wanted a boy so I know how to change tires even in 3” open-toed pumps (the trick is WD-40 and jumping on the crow bar a couple of times).