Maybe it's all the rain that forces people indoors to devote their time to creative tasks, or maybe it's just the boundless bounties of coffee, but Seattle's been pumping out some pretty amazing Readers of the Week lately — including the newest member to the ROTW club, Natalia Czajkiewicz. This 24-year-old illustrator was kind enough to share with us where she gets her inspiration from, the meaning behind those crazy dreams where your teeth fall out, and her secret love for Beyoncé. 

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Grateful, nostalgic, hopeful.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

I love drawing faces and hands, so I get inspired a lot by people’s expressions or body language. You can understand so much about someone by what is right on their face. I am hugely inspired by the women in my life and [by] women in general. I love looking at fashion magazines and old photographs. 

What's the meaning behind your website's name, "lost teeth"?

My mother told me when I was young that if you have a dream where your teeth fall out, or you lose them, it means someone close to you is going to die. I don’t think this is only Polish folklore because I have heard other cultures have this belief as well. It’s happened to a few people I know and it happened to me in a reverse way, where I had the dream after I lost someone. I guess to me that event changed my whole life, and that dream stayed with me. So in a way it’s about remembering those people that are gone. 

You've illustrated for Minus the Bear. What's that all about?

Living in Seattle everyone is in a band and there is so much creative energy. I have done t-shirts and concert posters for a few different bands in the NW. With Minus The Bear, I drew a picture for them and they turned it into a t-shirt. 

What's the process like getting work commissioned or trying to be featured in galleries?

There is usually a submission process; each place is a little different. The last gallery show I was a part of was in LA at Tinlark Gallery, which I got asked to be a part of because they found me on the internet. That rarely happens. Usually you have to seek it out and really put yourself out there. In Seattle, I work with an amazing curator named Laurie Kearney of Ghost Gallery, and [I] do a lot of gallery shows through her.

Where do you like to shop, eat, and people watch in Seattle?

Seattle is a great city; there is such an awesome creative community and so many inspiring things going on. But I feel like it has this dark side to it because a lot of people get so down because of the weather. I struggle a lot to stay positive and productive when it rains for days straight and is dark so much in the winter. You just start to feel damp and cold and it just wears on you. But in the summer, it’s magic. I have so many restaurants I love here: Umi [Sake House] for sushi, La Carta De Oaxaca for Mexican, Carmelita’s is my fave vegan place. I like to shop at Sugartown Vintage and 20Twenty in Ballard. The Anne Bonny is a really cool shop. There is a beach in Ballard called Golden Gardens [Park] that I like to frequent.

You have Beyoncé's song "Halo" on your Myspace page. What's with that?

That song is funny to me because my son's name is Halo. When that single came out, I think it was right around Christmas time, it was on heavy rotation in our home. I would run around the house singing it to my son, I think it embarrassed him. Also I saw Antony and the Johnsons play here recently and they covered "Dangerously In Love" by Beyoncé and it was the most amazing thing.

Do you have any advice to give our other VZ readers who would like to be illustrators?

Dripbook.com is a great site for networking with artists and a great place to show your work. I think that the best thing you can do is being sincere, having a website, and just contact as many people as possible you would like to work for or with. Draw what you love and in great amounts. 

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Check out Natalia via these websites:

www.lostteeth.net

www.lostteeth.etsy.com

www.lostteeth.blogspot.com

http://www.dripbook.com/lostteeth