Erica Vess

Bees Knees Studio (website)

Circa 2006

What made you start working in your craft? Was it a dream? Was it an accident? Was it payment on a bet?
I’m lucky enough to already have an art-related day job, so even though it’s usually awfully boring stuff, I’m always doodling and dabbling.  What started me down the crafty road was actually a co-worker who was helping her friend find some last-minute vendors for a show.  Once I did it, I was hooked! Never underestimate the euphoric effect of someone giving you money for your art…

Where do you work? What does your fantasy work space look like?
My studio is the spare room in my teensy-eensy fan apartment and it is crammed to the gills with stuff! My dream workspace would be at least twice as big with lots and lots of table space.  (I’m still using the 3-foot drafting table I got when I was 15!) Other dreams include having room for a light-box and actually organizing my hundreds of paint bottles.

We all have vending horror stories but has anything really really GOOD ever happened to you?
A lady bought one of my expensive original paintings and she paid in cash.  Bliss!

If you had to pick a superhero spokesman for Bees Knees Studio who would it be and why?
I had a hard time coming up with this one (which is really sad, because I have a pretty good comic book background).  It has been suggested that I send off a Cat Woman vibe, which is cool as long as we aren’t talking about the scene in the Halle Berry movie where she tries to groom herself like a cat.  I also considered Delirium from Sandman, because she has a pet fish on leash and does tend to babble on about weird stuff.  But, I have to say that I favor Totoro, even though he isn’t strictly speaking a superhero.  Totoro is a totally cute Japanese character that looks like a big round owl-bunny, wears a leaf for a hat, carries an umbrella and rides in a cat bus. I would be super stoked to have him for my spokesman even though all he would ever say would be “TotoROOOOOO.”

Working on your craft can be a solitary and sometimes lonely venture. What keeps you company?
Two very needy and very vocal cats.  And a sweet and helpful boyfriend.  And all the “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me!” streaming audio archives.

We all have dreams of money – but what would you do if you had the TIME?
Clean my house from top to bottom, organize my studio, and then MAKE MORE STUFF.

Crafting beverage of choice?
COFFEE (third runner-up for superhero spokesman would definitely be Too Much Coffee Man.)

What is the one craft tool you can not live without?
Well, technically speaking: a paintbrush.  I love my Winsor Newton Sceptre Gold #20 for big splooshy stuff and the #8 for itty bitty detail.  But, I also really should get a kickback from Ace Hardware for the amount of delicate surface painter’s tape that I buy.