Today we’d like to introduce you to Ottilie Murray.
Ottilie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started out as the little kid with the cool costumes at Halloween growing up. Eventually, I went to my first Dragon Con and stumbled across the Costuming Track and my whole nerdy little world view changed. I could express my love of fandoms and my creativity at the same time? I began Volunteering at the Dragon Con Costuming Track to learn as much as I could and pretty soon, I was competing and making things for myself and others, heck, I even got to meet Stan Lee in my Mysterio costume. I now compete professionally when I can, I do custom orders for costumes and props for conventions or film like the new web series The Campaign. I have even begun working in the puppetry field thanks to the amazing XPT (Xperimental Puppetry Theater) Program at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. Where I wrote, built and produced my first film; Ghoti and The Scary Cave with the most amazing group of volunteers in the program.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have gotten to learn the broad strokes and get pointed in the right direction by professionals and other costumers in the cosplay community but there’s even more to it if you want to learn the best and safest ways to make your craft. I’m very fortunate to be a Research Monster (I really wish I could put that on a business card.), so learning new things is exciting, the hard part is a matter of carving out the time in a busy week to just sit and learn. I haven’t gotten a formal education in the field that I’m in so I have supplemented what I know with everything I can get a hold of, from textbooks to MIT Open Corses. It can be frustrating but I just have to remind myself that going to school for what I do is an inevitable step in my journey, it’s a goal, not a setback.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Angry Plain Janes Workshop – what should we know?
Angry Plain Janes Workshop is a weird little production space, I have it geared up to do just about anything I could need to do, from sewing to painting even the occasional solder here and there depending on the demands of the projects I am working on. The major thing I do differently is I enjoying streaming my creative process whenever I can, I share a lot of my personal projects and even a small handful of fellow costumers love not only getting their custom orders made just for them but having the ability to watch the process as it happens. I’ve always loved watching and learning. This day and age we can do just that with the click of a button.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I find inspiration in everything around me, I have built costumes straight out of comic books because I love the artists styles or characters. I even find inspiration in up-cycling old discarded things like neckties or broken board game sets to make entire original costumes out of. I always keep an open mind because I never know what I’ll be building next.
Contact Info:
- Website: AngryPlainJanesWorkshop.com
- Instagram: @AngryPlainJane
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/AngryPlainJane
- Other: Twitch.tv/AngryPlainJanesWorkshop
Image Credit:
MarcusTaylorPhotography.com loewnauphotography.com
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
