Today we’d like to introduce you to Georgia Sparling.
Georgia, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’m sure a stack of old Martha Stewart Living magazines I got at a rummage sale when I was a kid contributed to this, but I’ve long looked at things I see in stores and thought, “I can make that.” I’ve always tried to figure out how to create beautiful things in just about any genre, and if I could find someone to teach me how to make it, I was all ears.
My grandmother taught me to sew, sometimes over the phone while I puzzled out a pattern. A man from my church taught me how to make stained glass windows. My mom taught me to bake. My uncle let me use his camera, and I became enamored with film. And writing was something I always just did.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am chiefly a writer and photographer, and I share that through The Misc., a biannual magazine I started in 2017. Misc. is short for miscellany, and as the title suggests, it’s full of everything — 48 pages of food, travel, unremembered histories and inventions, profiles of unusual occupations, photo essays, short stories, books, humor, and my favorite, a two-page spread of pithy facts. I do much of the writing and photography and all of the layout, but I incorporate other voices as often as I can. It helps to have creative friends!
A few years ago I was working as a newspaper journalist and helping someone with a magazine project on the side. I felt stifled by everyone else’s restrictions and the scope and voice of those publications, which were great just confining for me personally. That’s when the germ of The Misc. started to form. I had so many pictures and stories I loved that didn’t fit in any one place, and that I didn’t know how to get out there, so I started making list and putting things on the page. It was so freeing, and every time I came back to the project, I just felt so energized creatively.
I hope other people read my magazine and learn something new, laugh out loud at least twice, and that they start to view others with more wonder because there are unexpected stories and beauty all over the place. I’m cribbing this idea, but I want The Misc to encourage empathy by giving the reader another person’s perspective. It’s simultaneously lighthearted, without being void of meaning, which I think we can all use these days.
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Connecting with other artists has been hard for me because I often feel like I don’t have the lingo and that I’m dabbling but not mastering in any one thing. I do love highlighting other people’s work, so the magazine has been an excuse to tap into creative friends and people I’ve met with a story idea. My advice would be to stay connected to the people who interest you. I often wait for people to reach out, and that might never happen. Best to get their number and reach out and make a connection like a grown up.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Glad you asked! The Magazine is available for purchase in print and pdf (digital) format at https://www.themiscmag.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.themiscmag.com/
- Email: themiscmagazine@gmail.com
- Instagram: themiscmagazine
Image Credit:
Mia Tengco
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