Hi Everyone! You are probably wondering who that cute guy in the picture is... The Spring quarter has started this week and I was happy to see a friend and fellow etsy store owner in my first class. Her name is Alex and she makes awesome bat coffee cup cozies that each have their own personality! I wanted to tell more people about her adorable bats so I interviewed her. Here is what she has to say.
Hi Alex! Tell us a bit about yourself.
"My name is Alexandra Aiken. I am from Oakland, but currently live in Santa Cruz. I am going to the University of California, Santa Cruz for an Anthropology major and History of Art and Visual Culture minor. I LOVE bats! I volunteer at the Oakland Zoo with the Flying Foxes, and I also attended a training seminar on bat rehabilitation in Mineral Wells, Texas. I love all bats, they captured my heart when I was a young girl when an educational group came with live bats to teach us about their benefits to the environment. Apart from creating art, I am constantly reading and writing papers for my classes and watching new movies and old favorites."
What or who made you want to become an artist and who inspires you to create?
"My mom, she is my role model, important influence and friend. She taught me everything I know about art, recently she taught me to sew and is always helping me with helpful criticisms, new ideas, creating difficult items and is always there to support me. She is the most creative person in my life, she really inspires me :) I also love to create things, and since I love bats I decided to combine my passions."
What inspires a new bat?
"In terms of my creative process, I usually stumble across new fabric which inspires me to create something new and different. Most of the time I'm pretty inspired and motivated, but sometimes the spark isn't there and I know it's not a day to create LoL!"
Where can people find your work?
You can find my work on batgirl93@etsy.com and also fruitbatfrenzy.etsy.com which has beautiful raindrop and animal photography. Not much is listed yet, but I'm working on it!
Thanks so much Alex!
