"The Coco Bird"-Motive von Lucy Muss bei EchtPost

Please introduce yourself! 
My name is Lucy Muss, I’m 38 and from the UK. I was born in the north of England (Birmingham), studied at Cambridge then lived until recently in East London. I moved to Berlin with my half-French Husband, filmmaker Louis, a year and a half ago – we wanted an adventure at a time when life felt a bit serious, boring even. He had lived here before and it felt like the perfect relaxed European city, much less stressful than London, more easygoing and a good place to resettle for a while as we both can work from anywhere. Also it meant we didn’t have to send our kids to school so young. I actually speak, French and Spanish but my German is only very basic! My kids (Otto 6 and Cato 3) are, however fluent after a only year in Kita! We love Berlin and are very settled here already!

What is your „profession“? 
I worked as a journalist straight out of university and then started making films with my best friend… I did that for around 12 years. We wrote, directed, acted, filmed, everything. It’s an exciting but frustrating world and the deeper we got into it the less hands-on it was. Getting funding, and succeeding in such a world was very tough. I went back to basics after my second child and started cutting and gluing, sticking and making things with my hands again, it made me very happy! I am not trained at all, just taught myself a bit of photoshop. Now I have my little Coco Bird Shop! I’m lucky that I can develop my projects and look after my kids – my day ends at 3 when I pick them up and that’s a very important choice I made.

What is the Coco Bird and when did you develop it? 
The Coco Bird came from a need to be hands-on creatively again, as I said before. I started making cards from the old French comics that Louis used to read. I loved the faded vintage colours. People liked them and a few people, like my sister-in-law and parents encouraged me to make it into something bigger. And so it grew. I just could not stop. Making the cards became like a kind of therapy. I love it. I was lucky to get stocked by quite a few London shops and it grew from there.

Where is it possible to see and buy your work?
My Etsy shop needs to be updated as my collection has all been renewed but it’s a good place to start. I am also stocked in London and soon in Berlin, you can email me on my facebook page to find out where!

Describe in which way you create the cards and what technique you use.
It’s a very basic process. I find bits of inspiring paper, be it scraps of wallpaper, vintage book covers, old maps (I love maps! the colours and symbols and details amaze me, I really find them beautiful) or instruction manuals, or lined old school paper, the edging of an old kids book, anything really; I love faded muted colours especially, or coded material. And I weave that into an outfit or something for a little bird, or animal. I will make a little jacket or dress from the ‘fabric’ pattern. There is a lot of mess all over my desk at the end. I cut and stick and re-cut and re-stick, and then I scan the image and clean up all the glue stains in Photoshop. The more I do by hand the better the outcome; I don’t love the look of purely Photoshopped characters.

What is inspiring you?
My son Otto is a huge inspiration – he is constantly making, inventing and creating things from nothing. I love what he draws and makes from the things he finds. I also prefer to find and use what I find. I have a big inspiration box of all my little findings. If Otto doesn’t like a card, I can tell it’s not working, but if it makes him smile I know I’m on to something good. I think everything around me, buildings, graffiti, trees and the shapes of nature, the change of seasons and the shapes of words and text is inspiring. Also the things I find, in random places. There is always something out there to discover.

Do you focus on the Coco Bird or do you have any other projects?
I do have another project brewing with a friend. We have designed what we feel is a real gap in the market for kids. Weather proof, durable but cool and affordable trousers… they are to be made from the same waxed cotton of English waxed jackets, an incredible fabric that ages beautifully, can withstand extreme weather, lasts and is waterproof, 100 recyclable and will be made in Europe. No more cold trousers with patches on the knees! Unlike other ethical/eco wear though, the trousers will be very cool and classic. We launch in September but the blog will be up and running on our website soon. I think the designs from Coco Bird will feed back into this project when we maybe move into other clothing later on…

What do you like about cards? You often write cards to friends and family?
I like the old-fashioned tradition of putting pen to paper. I still have a diary to write in and will never switch to google calendars, I also have a diary for both kids with the things they say and do all hand written in there. I love sending a thought in a card and I send loads, sadly I don’t receive so many, but those I do receive I cherish. I know cards have become a luxury in this age though, but like books and newspapers, I really hope they don’t die out!

Falls Lucy mal keinen Stift zur Hand haben sollte, kann sie ihre Karten ab sofort ganz einfach über EchtPost verschicken :-) und das könnt ihr natürlich auch! Vielen Dank für die Einblicke in dein Leben, Lucy – wir freuen uns, dass du bei EchtPost dabei bist und schon jetzt auf viele weitere Coco Bird Motive!