I was lucky enough to work with Sally during my stint at SapientNitro, though we would never meet face to face until at least a year or so later on a trip to Sydney. I wasn't aware of her awesome hidden talents until I actually met her. I found out she'd illustrated for Disney (WOW) and continued to illustrate & paint in her spare time (and like most of us she didn't have enough spare time to do enough painting). While we chatted she mentioned her other hobby, Millinery. She'd recently started selling her creations to friends and family. Fascinating indeed! I sort of half expected some sort of feathery creation but I was oh so wrong. They were cute and kitch tiny top hats with embellishments that were very specific in their placement. Not only fascinating, they where gorgeous and I immediately asked how I could get my hands on one. Well fast forward a couple of years and your have 'Sillier than Sally' and really I can let her speak for herself ...Now I can't quit my day job. I need every one of her clutches.
Name?:
Sally Walsh, aka Sillier Than Sally.
What's your day job?:
Designer and Artist at Sillier Than Sally Designs.
Specialists in all things arty farty - Wearable Art | Graphic Art | Mural Art | Canvas Art.
Sillier Than Sally wearable art is my new design range, that my lovely but nutty sister Cara and myself launched earlier this year. It is an exciting new venture all about embracing colour and your inner quirkiness. Our limited edition range consists of unique fun handmade clutches, screen printed tote bags, and a fun and flirty vintage style jewellery line.
A marvelous time is always had, coming up with new designs, sourcing vintage paraphernalia to create jewellery from and tracking down interesting new fabrics for our clutches. A lot of love and time goes into making the range. So far we have launched our range at designer markets and online, next on our list is boutique shops around Sydney....then we are thinking about going global, still working out some of the logistic for the last part.
What did you wanna be when you grew up?:
A stunt double in action/horse riding flicks, one of Disney's nine old men, a sought after, much travelled famous artist, a fashion designer extraordinary...mmm, can't remember the rest right now!
If you where a super hero what would your super hero name be?:
It is Sillier Than Sally.
What inspires you on a day to day basis?:
Where to start - My family and husband inspires me so, they are full of creativity and never ending support. Working with my sister and fellow designer Cara on a day to day bases is a huge source of inspiration, with that comes healthy doses of craziness, fun, and all round good energy. Depending on the day and what I am working on...it could be discovering a fab colour combination for a design I am working on... some stunning imagery while surfing the net, when I should be working... new quirky material prints.....or listening to a new album - Scissor Sisters "Magic Hour" has me up and dancing away, while painting commissioned canvas art at the same time.
Tell me a bit about your professional journey - how'd you get here?:
For my professional journey....I am pretty sure I took the winding scenic route! I have ventured down numerous different career paths over the years, like working backstage in catering, at Rock 'n' Roll events, I satisfied my curiosity in floristry, dabbled in the printing industry, had a blast working at Disney Studios, on feature films like Bambi 2 and Cinderella 3. I also took many long leisurely strolls overseas for work, at events like the Olympics, also just because I love travelling. Then I got serious for a bit, and went back to design school, then worked away in the adversing world in Graphic Design... which I still dabble in now.
All up these different ventures and side trips in my life have helped in some way to get me to where I am today, and to feel solid in what I do, as I have picked up so many different skills over the years... some certainly more useful then others though. I love learning new skills, and with our business "Sillier Than Sally" there is so much room to continually learn more, to push myself further, to discover new ways of doing things, to collaborate with other creative folk, to expect more of myself....and then of course to branch down some new interesting paths!
It feels right, where I am at the moment, it was a long time coming and the possibilities feel endless now that I am here, and that's bloody exciting!
Next on my professional (and major fun times) Journey, is travelling over to London to work at the Olympics (with a side trip through Ireland and Scotland to soak up some amazing countryside, of course). Then down through Africa, starting at Kenya, finishing at Cape Town....all the while working on a travelling sketch book and creating a series of art work to exhibit on my return to Sydney at the end of the year. It will be my first solo exhibition, so I have a slight case of the nerves about that!
If you had one piece of advice for aspiring creatives, what would it be?:
Each path is different, find the one that works for you.
What's been the most challenging part of your job?:
Actually making the decision to launch my own business, finding the right suppliers, and learning to manage money....I am not a big fan of paperwork.
What's your fav part of your job & fav piece of work you've done?
Favorite part of job - Working with my best friend/sister.
Seeing peoples faces light up when they come across our stall at markets. Our design range is very bright and quirky, so not necessarily for everyone... but our designs really connect with some, and the conversations and laughs that then flow from there are great. It inspires Cara and myself, and reinforces that we are on the right path.
Favorite piece of work - mmmm, I have a new favorite each week....so I will have to go with last weeks female art series I created, there are multimedia on wood panels. First time working on wood and I am in love with the process already!
What's your current facebook status?:
"Wellies and splashing in puddles = a great day all round!" ....the silver lining to lots of rain.
If you could have dinner with anyone (alive of dead) who would it be?:
Norman Lindsay (dead) - Amazing Australian artist. I have been armored with his work since I can remember, its so beautiful, light, sweet and evil all at the same time.
So an extremely quick dinner would be in order, so I could watch him work away in his studio, and pick his brain on watercolour techniques.