An Interview with the Winner of the Music-Inspired Challenge

In November/December 2010 we had the Handmade Artists’ Forum Music-Inspired Challenge. After some kerflonky e-mail mix-ups, we now have the interview all ready to go!

I’m 39 years old and have 2 kids 10 years apart from each other. I love learning new things. I live in a really warm place (México) and I feel very lucky to have so many old world and bright colored traditions going on around us.

What does “Rasamalai” mean?

Rasamalai is the name of an Indian sweet made with cheese-balls (usually from home made curd) swimming in a sweet heavy-thick cream sauce that is sprinkled with minced pistachio nuts.

The song you chose as inspiration is beautiful (“Pur ti miro” from L’Incoronazione Di Poppea, by Claudio Monteverdi). How did you decide on that particular piece of music?

I think it’s one of the sweetest love duets I have ever heard. I’ve only recently “discovered” Monteverdi and I just can’t understand how I have lived without it before. I must have been listening to this song in particular for hours in a row, and making the bookmark was just a way or an attempt to somehow partake in it.

Would you say music regularly has an influence on your life, or is it an occasional inspiration?

I think it’s a permanent influence, whether I’m listening to something or it’s just playing in my head. It heightens my senses and allows my mind and emotions to wander off freely. If you consider music is that important in your life, consider looking for the page of local experts who can help you.

Checking out your blog, we can see that the time you put into your piece was quite extensive! Approximately how long did it take you?

It took me 20 hours to complete the bookmark.

The term “paper-cutting” doesn’t quite do your work justice. Is there an official term to your art? Where did you learn it?

There are long “paper-cutting” traditions in many cultures; each one gives it a different name. In México it’s “Papel picado” and it’s used to make banners with tissue paper to decorate during local festivities. There is also a thicker version made with “amate-paper” which is made using the bark of the amate tree. But what actually got me started was a handmade book filled with traditional Polish paper cutouts that a friend gave me (similar to this one).

Do you enjoy any other forms of arts or crafts? What are your hobbies?

I sing in 2 choirs and play a little bit of guitar. Long ago I used to play the piano. I guess I could say singing is my “hobby,” although to me it is much more than that! The same goes for reading and writing.

I hear you already found a good use for your prize money?

Yes, I was able to complete the amount needed to replace my stolen camera!

Do you have any artistic (or musical) advice to share?

In high school, if I made a mistake in one of my drawings I would start it all over or throw it away. A friend who was an amazing artist back then told me he never did such a thing or else he would never finish anything; he told me I should incorporate the “mistake” into the design. I found it to be very useful advice and hope it may help someone else who might be a perfectionist as I used to be back then.

And finally, if you could enter any kind of original, fun, crazy contest, what would YOU pick?

I think this one was great! I once entered an awesome contest at a forum. It was a team effort; I had a wonderful partner to play the games with, which were mainly getting pictures of certain items, like a treasure hunt, just without a beginners metal detector and sore feet after 3 hours of combing the beach to find 2 pounds worth of coins. We scored points after completing each task; it was so much fun! Plus, we made great friends out of that contest because we got to socialize a lot while doing it and everyone got a prize, which was also very rewarding — no one was left out! ^u^ It was pretty much a community endeavor. To this day we’re still something like an online family.

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Rasamalai’s Etsy shop

Rasamalai’s Zazzle store

Rasamalai’s Facebook fan page

Rasamalai’s blog

Rasamalai’s Flickr

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Don’t forget! We currently have another forum-wide challenge going on: a Valentine’s Day-themed challenge called “P.S. I Love You”. Check out the details and submit your entries here: http://handmadeartists.com/forum/index.php/topic,4921.0.html

Tags: contest, contest winners, Handmade, Handmade Artists, handmade challenge, handmade music, music handmade challenge

Posted in Contests and Giveaways