interview

Jayla gentry
Interview with an artist

1.Question:
What events in your early child life made you interested in the arts?
Answer: Well I was born in Spencer ,Massachusetts. I was introduced to hard work very soon in my childhood. I spent my childhood and early adult years in Massachusetts where I apprenticed in a textile factory and then for a master mechanic. My father operated a gristmill and sawmill. In 1835 I was apprenticed to a manufacturer of cotton machinery in Lowell, Massachusetts. Two years later I worked briefly in a machine shop in Cambridge, then apprenticed myself in Boston to a maker of watches and scientific instruments.

I loved to design and of course I worked around machines my whole life. I was always taught "The efficient way is the way".So by 1844 I began trying to build a workable model sewing machine. I have always loved machinery ,I’ve worked around it my whole life. So I would just say my father owning a factory with machines opened my eyes to the art of machinery.



2.Question:What role did mentors play in helping you develop the interest and talents you have as a artist?
Answer: My father played a very important role in me becoming what I am today. Of course with out him I wouldn't have had the skills to create the machine. I worked closely with him as a child. I looked up to him so much. He sent me to school and always told me I could be what ever I wanted to be.

He supported me financially. By 1845 I had a family. I had quit my job and was struggling to make the machine work. I needed time, time to make it more efficient. My father supported me and my family ,while I worked full time on my invention.

3.Question:What was the world or art like in your particular art field when you entered?
Answer: The world of art was very difficult when I entered. There were so many people trying to create sewing machines it was ridiculous. If I had a thought for everyone who was trying to create the machine I would be a Genius. I struggled at first. I had my first model it was decent. I traveled to England to try to sell it. Things went so bad there I had to pawn my model for money to return to the United States.
When I returned I discovered that several manufacturers were developing a market in America for sewing machines. This infringed my patent. In a lawsuit that lasted from 1849 to 1854, I finally was vindicated to my claims to originality and priority and was able to extract a license fee for each machine produced by his rivals. I began receiving 4,000 a week in royalties. After this everything became easier.

4.Question: How did the major economic ,cultural, and political situations of your time impact your work?
Answer: Economically I had it rough until I start receiving royalties. My machines weren't as efficient as I wanted them to be at first. I couldn't afford the right pieces ,because everything was so expensive. I began using my own brand of needles which I acquired from my fathers factory from scrap metal.

I am a Christian man and technically all my life my family is suppose to work to support there families .Inventing a machine was out of the picture for me to be doing . I had to quit my job to work on the invention and not very man people from my church respected me for this. Eventually I began not attending church, because everybody thought I had gone mad.

5.Question: What were your major accomplishment and methods you used in your art?
Answer: Some of major accomplishments were helping people. When I was growing up my mom had to sew and make all of our clothing from scratch. This took a lot of time. At 250 stitches a minute, my lockstitch mechanism out stitched the output of five hand sewers. Women could have more time to rest rather than spending hours on hand sewing.

Some methods used in creating my machine was gathering the best material. I figured with the best materials it would be he best machine. Also I traveled. I traveled to France to look at other models and compare my model to theirs. I studied every inch of the machine and learned how everything worked. My overall method was to out smart everyone who was making machines at the same time as me.

6.Question: What were the key opportunities you had that led to the turning points of your life and art?
Answer: I was often sick in my thirties , and was put on bed rest. I had lots of time to work on inventions. I created over 40 prototypes. When I could no longer work to support my family I was inspired to create this machine. I felt like I had to do it. After all my brother Amasa Bemis Howe was an inventor.

After my second child was born I began working extremely hard. I went blind at a early age, ha .I think it was from working with all those needles. But when my baby girl was born I looked into her eyes and I think I became the most motivated man on Earth.
Also a key opportunity was when I began receiving royalties. My bank account was booming I had all the resources time, space, labor. I became happier as a individual. And yes I do believe when your happier you work better. My work became above average.

7.Question:What personal choices did you make to become successful?
Answer: A personal choice I made to become successful was letting my family down. I missed most of my sons childhood. But I needed the time .My success took years. If I could I wouldn’t take them back though. I believe everything happens for a reason. I even put my life on the line .My doctor ordered me to stay in the bad he told my wife walking could kill me. I thought I was so close to finishing the machine but it turned out the bobbing was broke and couldn’t be fixed.

Also one of the most major choices I took to be successful was my decision to travel to Europe .At the time it wasn’t common to travel to a different continent . I admit I was scared ,different laws different people. I was very familiar with my hometown my great grandfather John Howe had been the first white man to claim Sudbury, Ma.

8.Question: What hardships or road blocks did you have to overcome to become an artist?
Answer: I came over so many hardships. Being the first to create the machine I had people constantly lying saying I copied them. People broke in my home to try to discover prototypes. I had to use my fathers money to go to court and sue Isaac Singer. He had created a machine where his needle when up and down instead of side to side like mine. He was ordered to pay me fifteen thousand dollars in back royalties

Also a hardship I came over was getting the machine correct ! I made so many prototypes that often when I came back to show people models they didn’t believe I did it. Many companies wouldn’t let me set up my machine, they laughed and said I was a waist of time. Until you make it as an artist you go through so many hardships. My health wasn’t very good and I stressed so much I had to be put on medication.

9.Question :What kind of limitations did you run into as both a artist and a person?
Answer: I ran into lots of physical limitations. I was always sick and on bed rest. I had to push myself twice as hard to do something that was considered easy to others. Examples I had a hard time carrying my machines. My vision and back gave out in my early forties, this held me back a lot.

Also limitations when I first began to work on the machine was money. I couldn’t afford materials need to construct the machine. I couldn’t even feed my family. People always told me I couldn’t do it but I knew it was only a matter of time. Time was my biggest limitation! I was in a race In time. I knew I had to hurry and construct the machine before others or they would be credited.

1.Question:What personal stories best illustrate how you became successful in the arts?

Answer: I became successful by being the best. I worked hard. I gave it my all, and everything paid off. People influenced me like my father and brother ,I love them for that. When I was younger I was pushed to work my hardest.

I remember going to public school. Before school one day my father asked me to bring the metal from the barn house to the shed. I asked him” Why do I have to go to school and work?” He said” son do all you can do in life, never stop just because.” I took this with me for the rest of my life and I believe this quote was the key to my success.

Sources:
1.http://www.bookrags.com/biography/elias-howe/
2.http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm
3.http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventors/a/Elias_Howe.htm
4.http://www.history.rochester.edu/Scientific_American/mystery/howe.htm
5.http://www.history.rochester.edu/Scientific_American/mystery/howe.htm
6.http://www.walthowe.com/howegenealogy/gp2312.html
7.http://www.answers.com/topic/elias-howe
8.http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/206.html
9.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Howe
10.http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/sewing_machine.htm
11.http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-elias-howe-and-isaac-singer-famous-for