Interview with the artists - Tovi Sorga and Corrie de Vries

By N Valentine Studio

Featured artists - Tovi Sorga and Corrie de Vries from Beautiful Skin, London

This is a team of two very talented non-SATeam artists. Being an avid Mac user I was looking for skins for my iPhone last year. What a wonderful selection this shop has! Beautiful artwork and useful, too!
I'm always attracted to floral prints, but their bird patterns are so unique, I'm drawn to them, too. My current favorite cuff is this one, really fun birds on a wire!


My favorite iPhone skin is this owl/floral creation!


How long have you been working in your medium?
I have been working with leather for a number of years now, probably about 10.

What drew you to this medium?
I love leather, the flexibility of it, the fact that it is a natural product and that as an accessory it moulds to the object you are encasing and that it ages beautifully with time.


What is your favorite thing about your art?
We love the fact that we are using a natural product to give innovative technology beautiful skin.


What's your favorite piece?
Our latest favorite, it changes from week to week, is our new brogue leather case collection.


What's the hardest piece you've ever made?
The beauty of our products is the simplicity which by no means indicates that there is no skill involved as the pieces have a number of processes to them, so take time, patience and craftsmanship to make. The hardest part of what we do is coming up with new designs often and that people who buy our products will like.

What's the one favorite tool you cannot live without?
My trusty chisel. It's a basic tool, but one that makes perfect corners for all our products and I couldn't do without it, it's loud, too!

What's your favorite thing about your workspace or studio?
The fact that it's at home! This means that I don't have to travel very far to go to work everyday and it has everything I need.

What is your other craft?
We are super busy with producing our leather accessories for our shops that I don't get much time for anything else. If I'm not making orders then I spend my time perfecting our technique and our products - they can always be better!


Who or what inspires you?
Various things inspire me. As we live in London there is a wealth of innovative arts happening all the time, so myself and my wife will often take Friday afternoons and the weekends to check out the latest gallery exhibitions, fashion stores and performance arts.

What's your favorite inspirational saying?
No one ever said it was going to be easy!

What's one thing you've never done you always wanted to do?
Set up a boutique winery and make beautiful wine - preferably in New Zealand.

Click the pictures for more information on the pieces!

The SATeam blog features artisan handmade creations by the etsy starving artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com.