Webshopping with Sarah McNeil
Sarah McNeil creates beautiful zines and prints inspired by plants, animals and feelings. I’ve been following her work for many years and while her obsession with nature has remained, I’ve seen her style evolve from delicate pencil drawings, into the bold, neon coloured prints she does now. She prints everything herself with a risograph, and is part of Caldera Press, in Melbourne, Australia. Her work makes me feel peaceful and happy, and I think that’s a good combination of vibes for prints to bring forth when they’re hanging on your wall.
How and when did you start your webshop?
I started a shop in maybe 2007? I had just finished art school and didnt really know what I should be doing to make money!
All your products feature a heavy emphasis on the printing process. How do you feel your creative approach to printing is different from drawing?
I really like the technical element, it makes me feel calm when I get to sort out how I should be printing a thing. I like the colour and style constraints of using the risograph. I used to do a lot of pencil and watercolour drawings but now I have a riso my style is quite different to fit in with the process.
I remember those older drawings, they were beautiful but also somehow felt less confident and loose than what you do now. Do you think this shift came solely from your interaction with the Riso or were there other factors involved? Yeah I think I had a lot of anxiety and hang ups and my art sort of reflected that. Now I feel more confident and can create something that is less anxious looking. The immediacy of Riso printing has also really helped with making the process of creating work feel more natural as well.
What do you like the most about selling online? And what do you like the least?
I like that people all around the world can have my art. i do not like that sometimes postage is way more expensive than I thought it was going to be.
Do you have any crazy stories about your local post office?
Ooh like a week ago I made a new friend there who was posting things in cool hologram packaging. Also on the same day I posted something that I thought the postage was going to be $50 and it was $100 :(
I know you also table at festivals frequently. How do you like it in contrast to selling online?
Going to zine and book fairs is so great. I love meeting all the artists and trading zines and hanging out with everyone afterwards!!! I like it when someone looks and my work and I can see them get happier.
What new things can we expect to see soon on your webshop?
I just made a new zine called “Peach Spell” of funny made up spells that I put in my shop this week. I’ve been making a bunch of new big poem/drawing prints but I’m not sure if I’ll have them in my shop? Ashley and I have started our Caldera Press shop so well be selling work that we make and publish there as well as things by other artists that we love.
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