I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Brittney Galloway of Sleepy Gallows Studio. Sleepy Gallows is represented by two sisters whose love for storytelling is magically displayed through their art. Learn below how this dynamic duo of women embrace their artistic history and seek to expand their vision for the future.
When did you first develop a love for art and who is your inspiration?
We started drawing when we were very young. I (Brittney) started drawing first, and Crystal colored a lot of my drawings, but it didn’t take her long to start drawing on her own. We are heavily influenced by animations, both western and eastern styles. Niroot Puttapipat, David Sala, and Naoko Takeuchi influence Crystal’s art a lot, as well as many other older classical artists. I’m influenced most by Lotte Reiniger and Kim Blanchette both are stop-motion animators that use paper cutouts. I too am an animator and I’m inspired by patterns and shapes and motion.
How long have you and your sister been in business?
We have been in business for roughly 2 years now. We started so we could make extra money to help pay off our loans and gain an internet presence while we build our portfolios in our desired fields (Illustration and Animation). But alas, we under estimated the marketing aspect of an online shop and took a short hiatus from Etsy, but managed to work on a few commissions.
How did you come up with the name Sleepy Gallows Studio?
Sleepy Gallows was coined by one of our roommates at the time. We were going by “2GallowaySisters” but we wanted a name that sounded better for an animation studio. Our biggest long term goal is to start an animation studio and make money off our true passion which is storytelling. We thought the name works because our last name is Galloway, and “Sleepy Gallows” has sort of a dreamy whimsical feeling to it. If you ask our dad he’ll say we chose it because we like to sleep a lot.
What is your most popular painting?
At the moment Crystal’s Tekken Print Series is getting a lot of attention. But of the actual paintings, the Arabian Nights gets a lot of attention. It was painted as a possible book cover for the timeless tell and to add to her portfolio while looking for book illustration jobs. Crystal noticed that most, if not all, other covers focused on the magic and fantasy of the tales. She decided to focus on the fact that Scheherazade was telling the tales and who she was telling them to. So, along with a different take on Arabian Nights, the piece has great value structure and color. It’s hard not to find it beautiful!
What is that you want your current and future customers to know about your Etsy shop?
This is a shop of our evolution as creators. Browsing through the listings you’ll notice many different visual styles and techniques from piece to piece. That’s because each one was either an experiment gone right– or a success after many failed attempts with inks, paints, pencil, and glue. The newer Tekken series explores color and shape in a way the other pieces don’t. The art related to For Peace, Love, and Harmony (a web series we are working on) helps us explore the characters and their personalities as we work out their stories. Our shop is about evolution, beauty, and love. We love what we do and we are constantly evolving while spreading beauty throughout the world.
Excellent post. I definitely appreciate this site.
Continue the good work!
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was curious what all is needed to get setup? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100 positive. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Hello and thanks for stopping by. In regards to starting your own blog, all you need is passion and drive to get started. If you believe in yourself and have a great work ethic, money is the least of your worries for a new blog setup. There are several free blog sites that will allow you space to begin your journey. Just do it.