My name is Caroline Fisermanis although I love to sell my art via my nickname Fizzy. I grew up in a town called Rugby in England where I studied art at A level and studied a foundation course in art also. I didn't pass either course as I left both of them half way through to study something else. Although I left my art studying behind it always haunted me and I began sculpting about 2-3 years ago just or the fun of it. I loved it so much I haven't been able to stop and I now love to create miniature dollhouse items and jewelry. I sold my first piece and it inspired me to make more so eventually I opened a shop here on etsy just to see how it would go. So far I am loving the results.
Pick 3 words to describe yourself.
3 words I would use to describe myself would be considerate, imaginative and observant.
Who is your favourite artist and why?
My favourite artist, wow this changes all the time for me. At the moment it is a wonderful artist called Amanda Clark who paints incredibly dreamy images of the countryside, hares, women with long dreamy hair, faces, the moon...etc all of her paintings have such wonderful use of colour and I could sit and look at them for hours. I bought one of her paintings recently and it is just stunning, i'm so proud to own such a lovely piece of art. She actually sells here on etsy and her shop is earthangelsarts.
Tell us about your shop.
My shop is called Fizzyclaret here on etsy and I also sell on eBay under the same name. I first started selling under the name Fizzyclaret 4 years ago and had to make the name up quickly as someone was filling out my details for me. Fizzy comes from my nickname and claret is the name of my wonderful 8 year old cat. I just blurted out Fizzyclaret and the name has now stuck lol.
Tell us about the inspirations for your creations.
I used to decorate old toys such as old and battered My Little Ponies and began sculpting flowers and other decorations to put on them. They turned out quite pretty and began to sell well. Then one day I decided to make a miniature castle teapot and discovered there was actually a demand for miniature teapots, so I made several more. I then started to make lots of different miniatures and have since built up a small following which I'm so proud of.
I'm inspired by nature, walks in the woods, I love patterned and textured things like old trees or a pretty mosaic table...etc. I find that most of my ideas hit me just as I'm drifting off to sleep. I'll get so many images go through my mind that sometimes I quickly have to turn the light on and grab a pen and paper to write my ideas down in case I don't remember them in the morning. My sculpting is a bit like an obsession to me.
What are your creative processes?
My work varies in how long each piece takes me to finish. I find sculpting trees takes me the longest and each piece takes me hours to complete. Most of my sculptures are finished with acrylic paint detailing to highlight certain effects. I don't often seal all my pieces as I look the raw look of the clay after it has been baked and I'm not keen on shiny glosses.
Choose 5 words that describe your work.
5 words that describe my work would be whimsical, colourful, miniature, dreamlike, ooak (one of a kind), hope that last one counts ;)
Do you have any favourite works?
My favourite pieces are my horse head brooches and pendants as I enjoy making them so much. I love the way the colours begin to work together and how the horse developes in front of my eyes.
Any tips you'd like to share with other sellers?
The tips that I would share with other sellers are not to get too disheartened if you don't make many sales in your first year. Stick with it and eventually you'll get there. Keep adding new items little and often, socialise by joining teams and participating in discussions, make treasuries, use other sites like pinterest, twitter or Facebook...etc there are so many ways to build your profile and get yourself noticed. I'm by no means an expert but the little I know about the web certainly helps to get my shop noticed.
Name 3 of your favourite shops.
My 3 favourite shops here on etsy are earthangelsarts for the beautiful paintings, 64tnt which sells beautiful miniature polymer clay dollhouse items and jennifermorrisbeads which has the most exquisite and delightful polymer clay jewelry that I've ever seen - a true inspiration.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Just a final note to say thank you to everyone who has bought from my shop or to anyone who has favourited my shop or my items. You have all helped a very shy person believe in herself :)
