FEATURE FRIDAY: MEET KATIE FROM MOUNTINSPIRE
We want to introduce you to the talented and lovely artist, Katie! She runs an Etsy shop called MountInspire! A few years ago Bryana was making a trip to Colorado and her friend Emma suggested she should get in contact with Katie! She did and actually ended up taking photos of her and her boyfriend in the gorgeous landscape of The Garden of the Gods! You can check out the photos here: Riutta Images | Katie + Stephen.
Tell us about yourself and how you started your Etsy shop! My name is Katie, I am 26 years old and I am the artist behind MountInspire. Moving to Colorado in 2016, I knew I wanted to do something creative with my life. I started MountInspire while working part-time and had so much support from family and friends starting it up. I had no idea what direction I was going in with MountInspire, I was just creating things that inspired me. A year passed and I started learning how to work with metal and found my niche to the things I wanted to create and put into this world to share with others!
How long have you been creating things? I have always been an artist. I have been inspired my whole life by my creative father to do something with my life that I enjoy, creating art. Most forms of art I have experienced, I enjoy it all.
What is your favorite piece to create?I love upcycling silver spoons. Anything from a new coffee spoon to start your day to a bookmark for your book that you end your evening with. I find inspiring quotes and metal stamp them onto the spoons to inspire their next owner.
Where do you get inspiration from? By getting outdoors and just enjoying nature to find inspiration in the simplicity of it. We try to get outdoors every weekend to go camping and find inspiration. Quotes are a big play on inspiration as well for MountInspire. We are inspired by words as well!
What are some of your goals and dreams? My goal with MountInspire is to take a year traveling the country in our VW bus setting up at local markets and artisan shows in cities all over the country sharing all of our handcrafted goods inspired by traveling.
What is your connection to the Upper Peninsula? I attended Northern Michigan University for my BFA in Photography and spent four years in Marquette. I also spent a summer living in Houghton and working at The DT as a server.
Where can people find you and your work? My website and Etsy shop is: MountInspire.etsy.com. You can follow along with me on Instagram: @mountinspire.
We just want to thank Katie for letting us interview her! We love being able to share things people are passionate about and inspiring everyone that reads. We hope that this inspires you to share what you're passionate about!
ALSO, we are doing a giveaway with Katie over on Instagram! Make sure to head there and enter to win the beautiful “bloom with grace” vintage stamped spoon plant marker shown above!