#sparkchamber 010322 — Betse Frail
We made it to 2022! Woot! In a celebratory place, #sparkchamber welcomes artist + maker Betse Frail. Obsessed with embroidery and other fine handcrafts, Betse grew up in the northeast, earning a BFA in Fibers from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. “The program I completed was an intersection between ancient craft techniques, textile design, and contemporary art. It was very open-ended and I was allowed the freedom to direct my own practice. Here, I fixated on embroidery. I would say that I started to really practice the craft about four years ago, exploring and perfecting my technique while also studying the history.”
Betse has worked with notable artists, completed handwork for various fashion designers and costumers, and has shown her work both locally and internationally. “My advice is to remember that every opportunity is a learning experience. So far, I have had jobs as an artist assistant, a stitcher in a costume shop, and a craftsperson specializing in embellishments. Each one taught me about what I valued in a workplace, which I can in turn apply to conducting my own freelance work. I have also met so many people who have become mentors and collaborators to me.”
Now based in New York City, Betse balances art-life and work-life with intention and self-discovery. “I find it difficult to label myself as one type of artist – I’m a craftsperson, a sculptor, and an illustrator to name a few. However, embroidery is undoubtedly my specialty. Since graduating from school, I have turned my focus towards making detailed illustrations rendered in thread. I am interested in narratives and interiors and creating stories that people may or may not understand. That is my personal work. I also love making patches and small, fun illustrations, like beer and seltzer cans or Sailor Moon characters. The most important thing to me is that my pieces are beautifully made, but still have that handcrafted quality to them.”
Read the rest of the Boston Voyager interview from which these quotes were excerpted, and follow along on Instagram.
1.] Where do ideas come from?
It’s overwhelming because I think that different people find inspiration from different places. Whether conscious or unconscious, I feel like ideas come from other ideas. It makes me think of the tree falling in the forest question, kind of like, what were ideas like before we lived in societies like we do today? Ideas come from communications with others, and from media that we’re exposed to. Nature also serves as a source for ideas, being removed from the craze of everyday life and the influences that come with that.
I love color so much, and that part of my process is really intuitive. I will see materials when I’m out shopping, and I definitely gravitate towards certain palettes, sometimes bold colors, sometimes pastel colors. I really just go with the flow when determining what materials I want to pull together.
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
I’m from the northeast and love the seasons, but something happens to me over the summer. I call it reverse seasonal depression, where I really struggle to motivate myself to create anything because it’s so hot outside. I don’t fare well in the heat because I get tired and unfocused. But now that it’s winter I’m experiencing a creative burst. I have a few projects coming up and setting deadlines for myself allows me to push myself to do the work. Whenever I have lots of projects and lots of deadlines, I am suddenly really motivated to do the work. Maybe because I know that I have to do it.
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
A lot of my creative process revolves around my work schedule, which can be fairly inconsistent. I work in a café, so I’m either there at 6 am or starting later in the afternoon. I will find the time wherever I can. I’m still figuring out my process and figuring out what it truly is I want to pursue. In the meantime, I have to figure out this other job that I have to work around to do what I really want. I think that’s a reality for a lot of artists.
The tortoise and hare distinction *is* interesting because my work is really slow-going, embroidery, bead-work and any kind of sewing, all of it takes time but I’m also just a tenacious person and once I’m doing something, I hit the ground and running with it. I think you need both in balance.
I work hard and it’s one of those crafts that hasn’t always been valued. There’s a big crafts movement happening right now. It’s exciting, but the pace of social media and the pace of the world can make you feel like you aren’t creating things quickly enough. And then I remind myself that some of pieces can take 20 hours to create. Social media is a wonderful tool to showcase your work but can also play into “comparison-itis” and burnout.
4.] How do you know when you are done?
This is really about intuition. When I was in art school this was one of those questions that we’d be asked time and again. I feel like I’m the one who decides in my work but also with the knowledge that something I make and call finished in the moment, maybe a year or so down the line, I’ll revisit it and change it into something else. For example, my beaded butterflies, that’s a piece where I can say definitively that I am done — the beadwork is done — but I don’t know what’s next for it. I might make it into a purse but I’ll see. My vision for a piece can fluctuate. I think also having the power to say — okay, this is done, and you kind of feel it too, if something is finished or unfinished. Again, I get to decide. Growing up I didn’t have that type of confidence. I now know that I am not always right, but to make a decision in a moment is critical. I won’t sit with perfectionism and get blocked.
