Monday, March 3, 2014

In the studio with... Muse Belts


I am Karl Muse. I grew up in the Washington DC area in a family of artists. My father was an artistas well as my younger sister. I have traveled around after leaving home spending 2 years in Europe while in the military. After leaving the military I spent some time living in Comox Canada. I also lived in Florida for about 30 years. I recently moved to South America in the country of Peru. Why Peru? I met my wife on the internet at an online dating site. We instant messaged for almost a year before meeting. We fell in love. She came to the USA, where we got married. She was not able to find employment so she returned to Peru. We traveled back and forth to spend time with each other and it got expensive. I decided to pull up roots and move to Peru so we could be together and that is where I am today. I am loving the food and visiting the beaches and jungle here. 


Thrive: What got you started on this creative path and how long have you been at it?

Karl: My father was a huge influence on me in many ways. Artistically he encouraged me to look at things from different points of view. Growing up with a German mother I did not live in a traditional American household in some sense. Father was always working on drawings, paintings and showing me how to design furniture, table lamps and other things. He taught me to learn and do things with my own hands whether it was fixing my own motorcycle or building things. My mother was designing and making her own dresses or knitting something. Most of my working life was spent in the corporate world and I was not happy. Sitting in traffic I remember something my father gave me as a child. I decided to recreate that gift. I bought a piece of leather and made my first belt. I changed a couple things to improve it. I only have been making our belts since 2007 but I am having the time of my life. Our belts are in stores in 7 countries. We estimate that I have made about 5000+ belts.



T: What is your favorite thing about being a business owner? 

K: I think the most favorite thing about being a business is that I have much more control over my destiny. I feel that I have been given a special opportunity and it is totally up to me where I will go and how I will do it.

T: Explain your creative process.

K: I think my creative process happens spontaneously. For me ideas come to me at night, when I wake up to a thought or an idea. Ideas come to me when I am relaxing and exploring outside in nature. 

T: What keeps you motivated?

K: I could never say “I have to get motivated” That is not in me. I wake up to things on a list I need to get done so that I can move to the next level of my business. Being in my own business and knowing my destiny is up to me is my motivation. Getting orders out as quickly as possible as our stores are also owned by people just like me. They have ideas and dreams and they are waiting for me to do my part so they can fulfill there own goals and dreams. I often times pull away from my work bench and go on a hike or to an art gallery to clear my mind of distractions. 

T: When the sky is falling and work is overwhelming what do you do to relive stress?

K: I talk to God. I ask for forgiveness if I have offended him or my fellow man. I ask for wisdom. When I am totally stressed out this is what I do

T: What song are you listening to RIGHT now?

K: I cant say right now as to think about my personal life and putting it on paper requires me to turn things off. But I normally listen to Trance, Paul Oakenfold, DJ Tiesto,  Craig Armstrong, I listen to international music from South America, Africa and Japan

T: What was the last movie that you watched?

K: The Exotic Marigold Hotel


T: Favorite thing about your studio space?

K: The favorite thing about my work space is that it is the space I have that allows me to be free to create and make things that end up in some part of the world.

T: Whats the best advice that you have been given?

K: NEVER give up on your dreams.

Thanks Karl for taking to time to answer all our questions from so far away. Here at Thrive we just love the addition of Muse Belts in the shop. Would you like one of these unique items! They are a great price at $46.00 and we would be happy to help you find your size! 


No comments :

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...