Alisa Toninato is a metal designer and owner of FeLion Studios in Madison, WI. She's also one of eleven honorees whose work was featured at American Made. We caught up with Toninato today to get her reaction to the event and find out what inspires her to be a maker.
What has been your favorite part of American Made?
It has been thrilling. There's such a stunning amount of talent here, it's like the best curated open maker fair. The camaraderie between the honorees is stellar. I've been gleaning so much from everyone's creative businesses, getting such great feedback and a bounce-back of energy. It has been what I would call a really high-octane, high-volume event. Decisions are made really fast, and it's a great energy.
How did you get your start in iron working?
I got introduced to iron working during undergrad at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, but I had to work find a community of people who were doing this. I found a group in Minneapolis, and they helped me to network and find people all over the Midwest.
What is your favorite part of being a maker?
The control. I have to have that freedom and control over ideas. I have to put my hands in it because that's how I problem solve. I'm driven by a passion to build my own empire and really live it. In a way, that's why I relate to Martha [Stewart]. She is very involved in every part of her enterprise from the magazines to the products and every else, and I get that. You need to do that to be the best at what you do.
When did you know you wanted to be a maker?
I was in the first or second grade, and for art our teacher gave us a bunch of Play-Doh for a sculpting project. We were making dinosaurs. Then it was time for recess, and everyone ran out and I asked the teacher if I could bring the Play-Doh with me to recess. She said okay, but I had to promise to bring it back. And I remember the other kids were playing, and I was just sitting on the wall working with the Play-Doh and working it with my hands. And it was just hot as heck outside, and I noticed how the heat made it easier to work the material, stretching it and fanning it out. And kids starting coming up to me, and I was like, "Tell me what you want me to make!" And they would yell out things, like a giraffe or something, and I would make it. I'm sure they weren't great or anything, but I could make them and I just felt like I picked it up really quickly and just got it. And I remember thinking, "I wonder if this is a job?" And I knew it had to be an artist or something, and even though I didn't really understand what that meant, I knew it was what I wanted to do. Because if I could just make stuff all day? That would keep me alive.
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