Ink on Paper Source X People I've Loved

Ink on Paper Source is a collaborative collection from independent artists who inspire us. Discover their creative voices, translated into stationery and wedding invitations exclusively at Paper Source.

Carissa Potter is an artist, author, and the founder of the gift line People I’ve Loved. Her journey to jumpstart her business began unexpectedly, when she got fired from her job working a gallery in San Francisco. “I was living for free in the living room of a 64-year-old man, not a relative, in a one-bedroom apartment in the Tenderloin. It was a dream, until it wasn't. It was right after the 2008 economic crash, and it was hard to find a job. Or maybe it was the universe telling me I needed to do something new. I did go to grad school for printmaking and performance art, so there's that. My parents supported me by telling me it was OK to take out $100K in loans to live my dream. But it worked out!” Carissa said. 

Today, she lives in Oakland with her partner and daughter and is practicing the messy art of loving people exactly as they are. She is currently working on her 5th book. “I draw my inspiration from relationships. I think there's a deep human longing to live in community. I'm a meaning-seeking, relational being who loves and feels deeply. I'm also an anxious person who has depressive episodes, constantly asking myself, why is my happy life so sad? I think I need to make sense of the world to keep going. That's where I get my inspiration- the hard parts of life, and then, as cheesy as it sounds, the joy we can see in contrast.”

She described her design style as rapid. “I like to communicate a feeling or a moment with whatever I have on hand. I'm scrappy, and drawings and images seem like the easiest way for me to process things. I don't worry about the accuracy of the rendering. I'm interested in the energetic transfer of the feeling of being human, in whatever state you're in.” “My creative process depends on the project and the day. A lot of it is noticing what I'm feeling and what my body needs and then working out how I'd define that on paper. Sometimes its project based. Someone will say, "I need XYZ," and I try not to overthink it. I just show up and have faith that something will come.”

“These days I do almost all my drawing in Adobe Fresco. I love doing things IRL with clay or paint, and that's a real treat. Making something and crafting with people I love is one of the highest delights imaginable for me, and this is a real reminder that I need to make time to do it more.”

For her Ink on Paper Source Collection, she created custom stationery, journals, and notepads. “As a die-hard Paper Source fan, it's kind of surreal. It makes me feel like a real artist, whatever that means. I think my mom was really proud. I am too, but I'm trying to get more comfortable talking about my successes and that feeling. It's been so trained out of me that it's hard to access.” She shared that her inspiration came from her home life. “My kid, who feels like a collaborator, loves cats. She is a cat: cats have to be approached on their own terms. You have to regulate yourself before holding them. They always have somewhere else to be. There's also fruit, water, and the feeling of being comfortable at home in your own skin. You got this.”

“I'm proud that I've been able to keep People I've Loved going in some form for 16 years. I'm proud that I can keep myself regulated most of the time so I can be kind. I'm so in love with my kid, and with the people I get the joy of being around.”

To explore the Ink on Paper Source People I've Loved collection, click here, check out the website, and follow the brand on social.