May Artist Spotlight: Sondra Primeaux
Sondra Primeaux
How did you start doing art and what is your medium?I’ve been sewing most of my life, having learned as a little girl from my Grandma. In 2003, I was living in Fredericksburg, TX (I lived there a total of six years in between being an Austin resident since 1994) and had been playing around with blouse designs made from vintage/reused scarves. I was working at a popular clothing store there called Root and the owner suggested that I come up with a small line that I could showcase in an upcoming fashion show event that we were putting on at the store. I did and my small, handmade business took off from there. I’ve had a sales rep show my line at Dallas Market (pre-Etsy!), I’ve had an Etsy store, I’ve had pop-ups and have done outdoor markets, but now I mostly just sell on my site. It is a labor of love. How does reuse play a part in your art?Except for the occasional commission in which I may have to special order a particular fabric new, reuse fuels 100% of what I do. I’ve been collecting used and vintage fabric, trims and notions for twenty years and have a small studio in my backyard where I house it all. It plays the biggest part in my creation. I’m not sure if I would be a designer/seamstress without that element, that’s how much the joy of the hunt through places like Austin Creative Reuse and thrift stores means to me and my process. What compels you to donate to ACR?I was trying to think about when I first heard of Austin Creative Reuse and it was probably through April Kling Meyer who owned the fabulous Austin fabric store, Fabricker. I had bags and bags of scraps that I couldn’t bear to just toss and she mentioned ACR in a conversation we had once in her shop, pointing me to a contact person and location where I could drop them off. Since then, I’ve donated not only scraps but yardage of fabric I’ve picked up along the way but sometimes need to cull to make room for more. Because I’m so invested in reuse, I just think everyone should be reusing as much as they can. I’m just one person but I think that any and all small acts we do can be the thing to salvage our current environmental situation. Where can we find out more about your art?I have clothing items and handmade meditation pillows for sale in the Marketplace on my website, www.theunruffled.com. I am multi-passionate so my site covers all the things I do, including photography, art, writing and podcasting about creativity and recovery. I’ve recently launched a chance to work with me one-on-one as a creative mentor called Change Your Story and you can learn more about that on my website as well. Thank you for having me, I’m honored!Thank you Sondra for all you do to keep the ACR community growing!! 