The Gift of Creativity: Elizabeth Few
There’s a crispness in the air, family/friend/coworker celebrations loom, and holiday music is playing everywhere. Yes, we are officially deep into making your list and checking it twice season. To mix things up, in lieu of straight Gift Guides we asked a few Friends of Boketto about who they are… and from there teased out their favorite things from our shelves. All four lovely FOBs are popping-up in the shop over the next few weeks, we invite you to them all!
JOIN US
LEIZU by Elizabeth Few Pop-up
Thursday, December 7th
3:00-6:30pm
elizabethfewstudio.com
Meet Artist, Elizabeth Few
Describe what you make
I have always loved creating art using materials that have a story of their own and Leizu is an extension of that. I dye silk charmeuse with flowers and leaves and create pillowcases, kimonos, eye masks - all things that make the experience of home and sleep more luxurious and beautiful. I love anything layered and tactile and creating functional art that can enhance the delight and pleasure in a person’s daily life. That makes it so meaningful to me. I also make collages out of paper and fabric. I just finished a project that was very personal. I deconstructed my mother’s wedding dress, wrote a poem on the lining and cut the chiffon into hundreds of individual circles and pinned them over the poem. A lot of the work I do is about process and transformation and the beauty and resilience we can find there.
Share the most important thing you’ve designed to date
I feel like the Leizu pillowcases are import because they form a connection to people - and we all have such an intimate relationship with our pillowcase, since we sleep on them for 8 hours a night! I try to remember the significance of that when I am making them and set an intention to infuse them with loving energy. I often have people tell me it’s their favorite possession and on their desert island packing list. That makes me so happy! When I travel with friends, so often they have their pillowcases and eye masks in tow. I just love that. The silks are a functional art form and they are beautiful, but as for my art, I think the best thing I have done is a portrait of my ex- husband. It’s just full of powerful emotion. Someone once said they could feel both mine and his emotion in the work.
Describe the problem your work solves
When I first started making silk pillowcases in 2016, people did not know that sleeping on silk was so beneficial to the health of one's skin and hair. Silk is kind of miraculous. The cultivation of silk has a low environmental impact and it’s heavenly to the touch, so sleeping on it is very pleasurable. It’s anti-aging, helps your skin and hair retain their natural moisture. You don’t get bed head— all the things we now know. As I get older and struggle more with sleep (as many women do!) I feel like creating an environment that helps us attain better quality sleep is one of the most important things we can do for our physical and mental health. Wear an eye mask to block out light ( this is a big one!), spritz some calming essential oils on your pillowcase and give your body and spirit the rest that they desperately need.
Share what you have going on right now
Running a business, especially when it requires the labor intensity of creating a product by hand, is very intense. For years, I put my art and poetry on the back burner and it’s just caught up with me and started to make me feel incomplete. So I am working on creating a collection of art that I hope to finish in 2025 - and writing more poems. I am always designing my home, as it’s my sacred space and I love designing spaces with art and meaningful objects at the center of it all. My home is the ultimate creative project for me as it incorporates all the work that I do, but it’s also a place of refuge and a space that I want to share with the people that I care about. There is a lot of female energy! I have portraits of my ancestors, pieces of furniture that have been passed down through the generations and reinvented. I love honoring the past, while focusing on the present. Again, transformation.
What’s an object of affection you have in your studio
On my desk, I keep a picture of my daughter Marlowe and one of myself as a young girl. They serve as a reminder to honor both in my life and work and to always keep moving forward, and that what I create and do matters.
Where can we find you when you’re not working
I am always working haha. But I love to walk and spend time in nature. I live near the river so often walk around the James or the lakes at Byrd Park. I also love being in my bed with all the silks and a great book.
What’s something that you’re looking forward to
I am looking forward to my next trip to New York. I desperately need that creative and energetic infusion! Also, I am learning to love the holidays more. My daughter and I have established a lot of our own traditions and it’s so nice to have those moments and memories with her.
List your source(s) of creative inspiration
Every year I bring more spirituality into my life and work. When I spend time in nature, poems come to me. When I sit and pray or meditate, ideas and colors will come to me. I want to bring more light and expansion to my work— I am very curious about what is unknown and beyond our comprehension. I love women artists and read a lot of biographies! I read poetry every morning, especially Mary Oliver. I love Georgia O’Keefe and the incredibly powerful quilts of Gee’s Bend. I am pretty much moved by radical women whose lives are authentic and whose work is infused with truth and passion.
What’s a distraction you want to eliminate
My phone. It’s not the parallel universe I want to tap into!
Lightning Round
- Concrete or marble? Marble
- City or Country? Oh man… both!
- Remember or forget? Forget
- Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts
- Breakfast or Dinner? Dinner
Elizabeth’s Favorite Things
Deep contemplation, making art, and taking rest, (plus, time with Marlowe ;-) are values Elizabeth holds dear. Her top Boketto well-being items support a thoughtful life.
Tenderness Smokeless Incense by Bodha, Getting to Center by Marlee Grace, Charcoal Satin Eye Mask by Morihata, and Ikebana Organic Loose Tea by Leaves & Flowers + a Loose-Leaf Tea Infuser