Featured Artist Interview April 2016: Plum Batty

To find where Plum Batty sells their wares visit them on their artist page on HAB. 

Interview with Carole Eggum of Plum Batty:

At what age did you discover your love of Halloween?

I was quite small when I got very excited about Halloween. Probably because first, I loved candy ( and still do), nut mostly because it was an exciting night when we could dress up and run around our little town of 400 residents and Trick or Treat. At school we were allowed to wear our costumes and out parents didn’t have to worry about taking us out because every one knew everyone else and if you were misbehaving, you could bet your parents would hear about it immediately.

What is your fondest Halloween memory?

I don’t know if I have one in particular, probably the Halloweens when I was older and knew what it was all about. I loved the decorations and the stories. I was brought up in the 50’s and 60’s, along with my sister, Sheila and the Halloweens weren’t as involved then as they are now. I don’t remember our house being decorated; just that we got to wear costumes and run around like crazy people. A bunch of us would get together and go to tall the houses and maybe, play a few tricks. We were all good kids and did;t get into too much trouble.

How do you celebrate Halloween?

Now I go all all out, I love to decorate the house and the yard. Unfortunately where I live there aren;t many kids that come to the house but that doesn’t stop me from decorating the place up. My grandson does come trick or treating and of course gets the whole bowl of candy with his parents anticipating going through the his bag later. I’m not into horror movies but I love to watch all the Food Network shows about Halloween and anything that has to do with the holiday.

When did you start creating in your medium and what training have you had?

I really didn’t get into creating Halloween/Spooky art until just a couple of years ago when I retired. I have a degree in Art so wanted to put that degree to good use, so my creations tend to involve watercolors and sculpting. I like to try my hand at different things and Sheila is particularly good at sculpting and is trying her hand at sugar skull sculptures. My sister never really got involved in Halloween, she does the more contemporary and whimsical art.

What was the inspiration to create what you create and when did you know you wanted to create Halloween?

Anything that involves Halloween is an inspiration; I love old graveyards, the sugar skulls and Day of the Dead. Nothing too scary but that has and edge to it or that spookiness that could give someone the shivers.