Beauchamping: Simple Design for a Better World

Transcending self-judgement, or what getting away has to do with being fully present.

Etsy’s Handmade Portraits series of short films never ceases to stun, revealing candid and poetic glimpses of some of Etsy’s most remarkable makers. From a 91-year-old moccasin-maker preserving a dying Native American craft to a young photographer documenting modern queer life with a vintage Victorian camera, the portraits reveal the sheer humanity that powers these exceptional creators. And hardly do they get more deeply inspirational than the credo of California-based artist and designer Greg Beauchamp, a.k.a. Beauchamping.

My work is a reminder to myself of the things I need to work on in myself — all about positive, love, equality, and how we’re all the same.” ~ Greg Beaucham

It’s not easy making something and putting [it] out there, but that’s a step in getting over your own judgment of yourself, because that’s what prevents us from being creative and from living a full and honest life.” ~ Greg Beaucham

Beauchamp’s beautiful black-and-white prints capture simple but profound sentiments of kindness and optimism. They are created using a xylene transfer process — essentially, a screenprint without the screen — and the artwork is painstakingly hand-transferred inch by inch over an hour.

Beauchamp’s work is part Live Now, part Everything Is Going To Be OK, part something else entirely — and altogether a potent smile-inducer for your soul.

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Molly Landreth’s Tender Vintage Portraits of Modern Queer Life

What Victorian photography has to do with a watershed moment for modern democracy and human rights.

Late last Friday, the New York State Senate passed a marriage equality act, making New York the sixth and largest state to legalize same-sex marriage — a momentous occasion Mayor Bloomberg called “a historic triumph for equality and freedom.” To celebrate the occasion — though it’s utterly embarrassing we’re just doing that in 2011 — here’s a look at the wonderful work of photographer Molly Landreth, profiled in Etsy’s lovely Handmade Portraits series.

For the past five years, Landreth has been documenting queer and transgendered life using a vintage 4×5 large-format camera. Her tender, poetic portraits aim to redefine what it means to be queer today, exposing her subjects’ most vulnerable and human sides.

Real strength and real tenderness at the same time, in one frame, is something that I go back to a lot. In queer relationships, there [are] so many times when it’s so tender and soft but, also, you have to have so much strength to show yourself and to be who you are.” ~ Molly Landreth

Cooper, Oakland, CA, 2009

Rory and His Uncles, Brighton England

Simon and West, 9am Seattle, WA. 2007

Jo and Joann, Seattle, WA. 2007

Ronni and Jo, Seattle, WA. 2005

Michelle and Janis, Bellingham, WA. 2007

Cubby, Portland, OR. 2009

EJ Scott, Brighton, England. 2010

Meg and Renee, Seattle, WA. 2007

You can find Molly’s beautiful prints on Etsy.

HT @kvox

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Mabel Pike: Portrait of a 91-Year-Old Moccasin Maker

What ancient beadwork has to do with the blessings of the digital age.

91-year-old Tlingit Native elder Mabel Pike learned beading when she was six and her great-grandmother taught her how to sew moccasins in the 1920s. In 1926, after their village in Douglas, Alaska burned down, Mabel’s parents moved the family to Juneau, where Mabel and her sisters began making and selling handcrafted Native wares. Mabel eventually became a Tlingit master artist, going on to teach beadwork at Stanford and pass on the traditions of her clan’s culture.

In this lovely video portrait, part of Etsy’s Handmade Portraits series, Mabel talks about the traditional patterns of her culture, her deep passion for her craft and everything it stands for, and her hate for the word “abstract.” It exudes the same kind of bittersweet poeticism you might recall from these 7 short documentaries about dying crafts, but it’s also lined with Mabel’s steady, quiet optimism.

When I finish a pair of moccasins, I sure hate to part with them. I’m not in this for money-making. I do my sewing because that’s my life, it’s always been my life, from the day I was six years old.” ~ Mabel Pike

I just lose myself in my sewing. I don’t know how to describe it. You know, when I start beading, it’s like I’m so absorbed in what I’m doing, I forget everything. I’m sewing, and I’m creating, and I’m designing. And I just don’t know how to describe it. I just lose myself in it.” ~ Mabel Pike

The way Mabel describes her work — this state of total engagement, of complete immersion — encapsulates the state renowned psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined as “flow,” the true mark of creativity in action.

For your daily pause moment: It’s utterly remarkable that we live in an age when online platforms like Vimeo and Etsy and Twitter and WordPress are allowing us to not only learn about the fascinating cultural heritage of ancient traditions, but to also actively support these indigenous artists in ways that would’ve never been possible a mere decade ago.

To support Mabel’s work and that of other indigenous artists, do visit Alaksa Native Arts Foundation’s online shop.

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