Talk Shop: Nature's My Friend

Hello, my sweet darlings! I'm here to pop in and share a lovely little Talk Shop post with one of the loveliest ladies ever: Miss Jessica of Nature's My Friend. As a sponsor of It's Paper Dear for both August AND September I'm excited to say that we get to see her quite a bit this month :} But without further ado... 

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What inspires your work? 
Wild animals, line, process, detail, nature, texture, environment, time, voids, fleeting moments, drawing, touch, learning, dreams,  memories, intimacy, nostalgia, narrative, chance, love, anatomy, letters, postage stamps and Canadiana collectively motivate my practice.
I wrote this list of inspirations in my sketchbook back in 2008 while studying for my BFA; 4 years later, none of them are any less inspiring to me.

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How would you describe your creative process? 
With a pile of oxymorons: organized mess, excitedly contained, rigid freedom, detailed minimalism, loud meditation, past future, complicated simplicity and lovingly fierce.

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What motivates you to keep going as a small business?
My constant desire to learn more, grow more, do more, see more and be more. Those desires are constant motivation for not only my business or my creative path but also for my everyday life.

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 Do you have any advice for other small businesses? Believe in yourself, avoid trends, trust your gut, educate yourself, join a loving and creative community, listen to your dreams, and start small because there is always room to grow. --------- Thank you so much Jessica! Some really lovely advice & I wish I could pop in and look through that studio! :}  Meanwhile, what keeps you guys going? And even as customers/consumers, what do you like about some of the small businesses you interact with? What do you not like? And for anyone who owns/runs a small business, what kinds of things keep you inspired?