Stacie Willoughby interview

For those of you that either visit this blog from time to time or tune in regularly to Tuckshop Community Radio , the chances are that you've probably heard me harking on about Santa Cruz artist Stacie Willoughby. A chance sighting of one of her posters whilst in Big Sur last year, eventually led to me posting a blog about her talents. Since then we've been in touch and rather amazingly, she was happy to talk to us about all things interesting, including an unusual take on a Cornish Pasty.


What album are you currently listening too? and have you read
anything interesting recently?

I listen to The Broads a lot, and SF Watercooler's new one that
isn't out yet is FANTASTIC....their first one is great too. I found this great
record called Buskers recently that's just all these buskers in England from awhile back....you guys have great buskers!! Other than that I've been listening to a lot of Swans and the later John Fahey stuff this week.

Am I right in thinking you live in Santa Cruz? When I briefly visited this Autumn I went to this amazing vegetarian burger place called Saturn, in fact I still remember that dinner with fondness, is there anything else that you would recommend people checking out?

I do live in Santa Cruz, I actually used to work at the Saturn,
first as a waitress and later as a baker...there are tons of great natural spots
around, that's where I spend most of my time. As far as businesses,
some of my favorites are Logos (used book/record store), Crepe Place
(restaurant that has a lot of shows), Pergolesi (cafe with shows), the
Bike Church (bike repair co-op), Bargain Barn (great bulk-thrift
place)...and there's always the Boardwalk on Cheap Night! There are a
million forest and beaches and places to hike and camp and picnic
and all that. The whole county is full of beautiful places, but they're
hard to list...you just have to explore...like the other day I went to see a
waterfall in Big Basin, the oldest California state park, for the first time.

I also checked out the Surf Museum and watched the guys surf at
steamer Lane, where there was this one crazy old bodyboarder who had a big
white beard and a crash helmet, he looked amazing...do you know him?

No idea. That's one thing I don't do here is surf....but I have
surfing friends, and anyway I certainly am familiar with a lot of strange
individuals. That's another thing about Santa Cruz....we have a lot of
unique and startling inhabitants....some of them are rad and some
of them are fucking annoying.

What are you currently working on?

I am about to paint a couple of surfboards, and I have the Bert Jansch
posters to do, and there are a couple of tentative art shows in the
works, as far as that goes. Just finished Folkyeah posters for Sir Richard
Bishop and Animal Collective. Oh and I'm doing t shirts for a really great
little mexican farmhouse restaurant out here.

Are there any artists you admire that you think we should all look
up?
The list is long and I always blank when asked this question, but I
was looking at my Tisnikar book earlier today and so I shall mention
him. He is awesome.

Have you ever eaten a Cornish Pasty?

No. Is that anything like haggis? I actually like haggis alright. It
sounds like it would involve bread.. is 'pasty' like our 'pastry'
here? As far as I know, pasties are things you put on your nipples. If
you're so inclined, I mean.

What is the most awe inspiring thing that you have seen in recent
weeks?

It would have to be Mono Lake from the top of a crater, with the
sky all alien and weird over the tufas there.

and have you ever seen a great white shark? or even a Blue whale?

No. and No. I've seen smaller whales though, and once I saw a
leopard shark.

Stacie Willoughby can be found not only in Santa Cruz, but also regularly sketching awesome posters for Folk Yeah. To view her incredible gallery of work, you can visit her myspace page by clicking here