Bohemian Sanctuary: At Home With Laura Mazurek

Nestled among the peaks and valleys of Texas Hill Country, surrounded by oak trees and wildflowers and farmland, Laura Mazurek has created her own little sanctuary. Here, in a house just outside the tiny town of Bandera, is where the Bohemian Collective was formed. What started as a website has now ventured into print format – a place to celebrate bohemian style and soulful living through editorial shoots, décor, art, and more. But even more so, it’s a community of creative and inspiring women who want to share their passions, and invite others to do so as well. Laura is such a kind and gentle spirit, and her eye for beauty comes through in what she surrounds herself with. Family mementos, pieces of nature, handmade wall hangings, and vintage finds fill every nook and cranny in a way that isn’t cluttered, but cozy. Every object is carefully placed, artifacts from a life spent loving and dreaming and creating. Take a look and get to know more about Laura below – plus find out how you can win a copy of the newest issue of Bohemian Collective magazine, out today!

Where do you live, and what do you love most about it?

I love living in the hill country. You couldn’t pay me to live in the city. I love the bugs harmonzing at night, I love to be able to walk outside and see the stars, I love being surrounded by nature and wildlife, I love that we are right by a river with a beautiful secluded area, I love the feeling of freedom that comes with not being surrounded by a lot of people in a busy neighborhood.

Describe The Bohemian Collective to someone who may not be familiar.

The Bohemian Collective is a site for the dreamers, makers, creatives and soul seekers. It started as a place for me to share artisans I admire through creative lookbooks, but has turned into so much more. There are now a handful of contributors who post every month on several topics including bohemian fashion, sacred nesting, soulful living, health and healing, metaphysical realms, etc. Topics are always evolving and growing. It’s turned into a community of like-minded, free spirited folk, with a goal of inspiring creativity, love, and hope.

You recently launched a print magazine as well – what made you decide to venture into print?

Since the conception of the website, a part of me always wanted to have our lookbooks in print, or even create a whole lifestyle magazine. It took me about 4 years to finally realize I should just try! Three months later, our first issue was available in print. We live in such a digital world, which has a lot of advantages, but also creates a lot of disconnect. I still love physically reading books instead of downloading them onto a kindle. I also still buy vinyl and CDs instead of just downloading from iTunes. Not that I never do, but I completely prefer the tangible. There is something that gets lost in translation in digital.

You’ve had your Etsy shop, Roots & Feathers, for some time now. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out and thinking about opening a shop?

Be yourself. Don’t look out to others to see what you should create or what is selling. Create from your heart, and do it because you LOVE to do it, not because you think you should because it’s what everyone else is doing.

When are you happiest? Describe it in terms of the senses: what are you hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching?

Laying in the bathtub. Walking in Nature. Playing with my animals. Taking drives in the country with my husband. Sitting by a campfire with a whiskey-ginger in hand. Dancing around my living room. In the depths of creating something. Taking photographs. Thrifting. Feeding the deer. Sitting in a river. Digging my hands in the dirt. Having a heart to heart conversation with someone. Listening to Steve Earle.

If you could invite anyone to dinner, dead or alive, who would you invite and what would be for dinner?

Before anyone else, it would be my parents, who are both gone, and I wouldn’t have a care in the world what we ate as long as I could hang out with them.

If you could travel back in time or into the future, what year would you visit and why?

If I had a chance, I’d love visit every past and future century and culture to really feel the deep change that occurs within 100 years, and to experience life on this planet during each century and each way of living.

You’re an extremely creative person; what helps you feel inspired, and what do you do when you’re feeling blocked creatively?

Thank you!! A lot of times inspiration just sinks into my body out of nowhere. It’s more of a feeling that washes over me to create something. When those moods strike, there is no stopping me. Other times, I need some time out to regain my creativity, which usually means unplugging for a while and getting out in nature. Get out of the house, take a drive, go to the river, lay in the backyard, walk through the woods, talk to the animals… That always seems to reset me. That, or a long bath.

What are your top 3 most listened to albums?

This changes all the time, and is so hard to just list 3…

Currently:

Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band - The Mountain (that one never changes)

Ray LaMontagne – God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise

Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

Favorite book?

Currently, Wild Creative, and Wild Feminine by Tami Lynn Kent

But one I’ll go back to time and time again is Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Describe your style in three words:

Bohemian, casual, artisan.

What do you find most challenging and most rewarding about your line of work?

My biggest challenge lately is knowing where to put my focus each day. I am currently juggling creating the second issue of the Bohemian Collective magazine, co-owning Skyline Fever, a handmade screen-printed clothing company, with my husband James, and my jewelry business, Roots & Feathers, which has taken a back stage presence for the last 6 months or so.

The biggest reward is the connections made through the work I do, especially with the Bohemian Collective and the magazine. I get to work with some of the most talented folks, and often they end up becoming really great friends through the process too. It’s extremely rewarding.

What are you currently working on? Do you have any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

Currently working on issue two of the magazine, the spring/summer issue. Actually, by the time this is on the site, it should be completed and available! So excited now that I am on the home stretch. I’m also working on a lot of new designs for Skyline Fever, and will be re-introducing some more hand drawn ones again. James and I are very excited to have teamed up with our favorite coffee geeks over at La Colombe, so if you are a fan of coffee, or watch the show Dangerous Grounds on the Travel Channel, be on the lookout for an exclusive Skyline Fever tee! Since we are unsure of the air date, it may have already happened by the time this interview goes live, but you’ll be able to find them on the La Colombe site.

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to the younger you, when you were just getting started with Roots & Feathers?

To know that you can’t always be everything to everyone. And that that is okay. To always look within for guidance, and to know that there is always time to grow, change things, or even let go of things, and that is not failure. To not let your work life override your personal life. (Still working on that one). Enjoy the process and the journey, and don’t just focus on the end goal or the sale.

One thing most people don’t know about you:

My favorite holiday is Halloween, and I love horror movies. Texas Chainsaw Masacre and House of 1,000 Corpses are two of my favorites!

Be sure to check out Bohemian Collective, and follow along on Instagram.

Laura is kindly giving away three copies of the Bohemian Collective magazine! To enter for your chance to win, simply leave a comment below and be sure to enter your email address in the comment form. We’ll choose three winners at random next week!

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