This week Zibbet is delighted to introduce you to Susan Givens who runs two shops on Zibbet. You’ll find her at Moxy Fox Designs and Moxy Fox Books. If you spend time in the Zibbet Community Hub you may have had the pleasure of meeting her there.This fine artist, residing in Oregon is a positive member of Zibbet, always with a kind word for her fellow Zibbeters. Please enjoy the interview, leave Susan a comment, and then use the Share Tools so others can read it, too. Please spread the Zibbet Love!
Historically speaking, I was born in Denver six months before Pearl Harbor was bombed. My grandfather told my young pregnant mother that it was a terrible time to have a child. However, my life was filled with make believe, paper dolls, jacks, collecting illustrated playing cards, making mud pies, teaching school to my pre-school friends, and trying to hatch eggs in the sandbox. My brother and I loved going to the Saturday matinees, buying Eskimo Pies and walking ten blocks to the library.When I was 10, our family moved to the west coast. Two years at the University of Washington majoring in art were interrupted when my young college love and I married. We immediately spent a couple of years on Okinawa in the military and found the Japanese culture filled with amazing beauty. Our long awaited children arrived in the early 70s and I thrived on motherhood. When they were in their teens, I enrolled in the University of Puget Sound and graduated with honors in art and literature.
Being creative actually is what I do. It’s the engine for every activity. I owned a marketing consultant business for architects and other design business, ventured into ghostwriting, editing and finally opened my book- publishing business in Tacoma, Washington. When my husband retired, I began selling scarce and out-of-print books for several libraries on eBay. It wasn’t until we built a house with an art studio that I began to work on my art daily.It’s DNA. My father was an artist though not professional, and that gift was passed to me. Some people find it odd that I don’t have just one style, but so many things appeal to me. Faces are intriguing so portraits are a favorite subject. Edgy graphic work appeals to my perfectionism, abstracts to my love of the juxtaposition of color, and printmaking thrills me to my toes. Landscapes are next.My brain is visually oriented. In college I absorbed every subject by illustrating concepts in the book margins. I grasped history through the art of each era. So there aren’t one or two artists that I look up to, but artists in general and how they portrayed the world and time in which they lived.
Passion has a powerful energy. Piano jazz is undeniably a thread that has run through my life since childhood. Dad loved jazz and passionately loved my mother. They were a handsome couple and I can see the subtle sexuality in my artwork. It’s definitely the engine of survival for every living creature.Zibbet is well engineered, well designed and in its youth. I enjoy the look of the set up, the ease of adding images and key words, widgets and the attitude that allows me do things the way I like. With all of this, there is that superb feature that lets us sellers communicate with one another. That’s a keeper. My images look unclear. That’s distressing. Sellers take a great deal of time photographing their items. 
Even though I am sizing the photos to the required measurements, something isn’t working. It’s possible that I have overlooked a detail or two. Also, I find it difficult to locate the links to other sellers’ shops in the forums. Promotion is an evolving process. My business cards are a great tool. I give them out to everyone I meet and my husband does the same for me. I am on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and am designing a website. Of course I have a blog but it is outdated and needs work. Probably the most important endeavor is sending postcards to former buyers and sellers announcing new work. And not to be forgotten is giving my art away – getting it into the hands of others.I have been selling on the internet since 1993 and it’s a tough road. However, for me it’s mesmerizing. I hit the computer before breakfast. 
I’d say I log in about seven hours a day. Zibbet is young as I said before. It is such a benefit and an opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Best recommendations? Don’t strive for success; strive for helping others and perfecting your own creativity. And think broadly — boost the economy by buying from Zibbet sellers.healthy enough to live well into my 90s so that I can continue to create. My dream is to leave a substantial legacy of art to my children and grandchildren. When I die, I am hoping that I will be given an awesome studio and eons of time to create.Tags: Featured Zibbeters, Moxy Fox Designs
