27 | November | 2012 | |jonnita condra|

In case you are unfamiliar with her artistry, Tacarra Sutton, bka, Spifster, is the go to person, here in Chicago. Her designs are not only trendy, but come from a unique perspective of inspiration. Check out the interview.

How did you get the name Spifster.
In high school, I was known as spiffy. I didn’t want to do spiffie, with an E at the end of it- that was kind of corny. I saw a lot of people using spif in their name, and I never wanted a trademark issue. So, I was like, let me do Spifster, the one that actually spifs things.

How do feel about French manicures.
I love French manicures. French manicures will always be classic…if done the right way.

You have become a traveling nail artist.
I decided, I could go out and travel. People would hit me up on Tumblr, like I know you’re from Chicago, but have you thought about coming to Washington, DC. or coming to New York. With that, people from Atlanta hit me up the most.

What inspires your designs.
Any and everything. I love angles- the natural geometry of things. That inspires me. So like, signs outside. Anything inspires me. Colors, sounds. A person would inspire.

What’s the best nail polish to use.
The best top coat to me, is Seche. I’m really liking Essie lately. I just like their formula, the way it lays on the nail, the brush is pretty cool, and they have been c

Any known competitors.
I have known pretend competitors. I have people that think I [am competing with them]. I used to have a problem with [people replicating my work]. I used to see it as biting, instead of inspiration.

Did you have any formal training in graphic artistry.
The only school I ever did was a few semesters at Harold Washington [College], and that was just for general classes. I did one graphic design class there, but it was something I already knew. I’m a self- taught graphic designer. I went to Dudley’s [Beauty College] for nail school.

Your work has been on NecoleBitchie.com and in Jet magazine. Did you ever think you would get to that point.
Never, never, never, in any way. Especially, since nails were not what I sought out to do. I used to bite my nails. So to go from chronic nail biter to nail god, is like d**n, that’s pretty cool.

What celebrity’s nails have you done.
NecoleBitchie, Jennifer Hudson, Chrisette Michele, and Adrienne Bailon. I’ve done a lot of notable bloggers, AfroBella and Gabifresh. I’ve done a few background singers’ nails for Alicia Keys and Musiq Soulchild.

Are there any nail trends you want to see disappear.
Crackle. I never liked crackle. Every other trend is kind of cool, like the Louboutin nail, with the red on the bottom. The caviar thing is cool.

Do you want your own shop eventually, and would you hire people.
Eventually. Yes and no [to hiring people]. I definitely want my own studio space, where I can do my other art- jewelry, graphics, maybe I can get into my canvas art soon. I’ll probably have specialty clients come into that studio. I do want to have a salon in a sense- a bigger studio, because I want to keep the artistic thing. My dream is to find this team of dope artists that have their own notable style, and they can just do nails.

Spif does more than just nails, she has expanded her brand into a jewelry collection, VO.

Interviewed by Jonnita Condra