Featured Artist- Monte from MyMixMix

I am so excited to kick off my blog feature series with this shop! The shop is called MyMixMix and its avatar caught my eye one day in the forums, and when I clicked to see the shop, the colors immediately sucked me in! Just see for yourself: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6819973

The owner of this lovely shop is named Monte and she is originally from Los Angeles, where she had a wholesale and retail business designing and making OOAK hand-woven clothing. She ended up moving to northern New Mexico fifteen years ago, partly because of it rich history of fiber and textile arts. Now she handspins her own yarn with a spinning wheel and uses this yarn for her creations. In her shop, you can find all sorts of beautiful handspun art yarns and knitted accessories, as well as some needle felted jewelry and vintage buttons. She compares spinning to "painting with fiber, especially when you are dyeing the fiber you use to spin with."

I asked Monte if she had a favorite reaction to her work and she says, "I really appreciate all reactions, negative as well as positive. I think that is the best way to grow in your work, because most artists work alone and without much feedback, so it is easy to become stale or uninspired, and sometimes even a negative reaction can really get you moving again and pushing your limits."

Monte says the goal for her shop is to simply make sales. She loves spinning yarn and making her creations from it, and says "sales give the inspiration and push to keep coming up with new and creative ideas...I don’t believe any artist or craftsman can continue to create in a vacuum."

Plenty of things are in store for MyMixMix. Monte recently started listed new items she calls Poquito skeins, which are a sampling of small handspun skeins in various colors for people who don't want a large supply of yarn for their projects. Monte is also working on some small wall hangings made from her handspun yarn and embellishing with different materials which she is hoping to introduce to her shop soon.

MyMixMix now includes free shipping on all products, along with a few items on sale for the summer. Be sure to stop by Monte's shop and have a good look at her yarns and accessories. I'm sure you will become entranced by all the colors like I was:)