This month I introduce to you Andrea, from 'AZ Pictured'.
Andrea is a talented photographer, which I found on Madeit. She creates the most gorgeous dog silhouettes!
Here, Andrea shares about her craft and her work on Madeit.
Enjoy!
Tell us a bit about az pictured.
az pictured is me. Andrea. Married to my
soul mate and Mum to two boys who are well on their way to outgrow me. Our
house is perched between beautiful Lake Macquarie and the ocean. We have a dog,
Lilly, and her and I stick together, being the only girls in the house and all.
az pictured was born a bit over four years
ago when I found myself doing a lot of portrait photography and digital
restorations for family, and friends, and friends of friends, and mates of
friend’s cousins. Things took over in such a way that it
became apparent that it all needed to be done ‘properly’.
What do you like most about being a
handmade designer/creator?
I have always been a visual person. Drawing
and painting and creating got me through my childhood and teens and has stuck
with me always. I sold my artwork at markets and art fairs and had the fortune
to also exhibit my work. Creating and thinking in colour calms me down and has
altogether a meditative effect on me. I feel I forget to breathe when I haven’t
created something, anything in a while.
Why did you choose photography?
I’m not sure I chose photography. Probably
rather the other way around: photography chose me. My parents had insisted on a
solid education and after finishing business school I spent all my money
travelling. That’s when photography began. It was just there. And it never let
me go.
The digital age was a revelation. Film
photography was great but the freedom and ease of digital photography is just
wonderful.
My photography is diverse, I guess the
rebel in me doesn’t want to be pinned down on one area alone.
Apart from documenting people’s lives and
creating memories for them, and digitally restorating old or damaged
photographs (my great, great passion) I find myself more and more using
photography and digital post-production
to achieve a vision I have in my head.
What is next? Do you have any new
products/designs/ideas planned?
When I spent many days as a stall holder at
local markets, promoting az pictured, I realized that showing off photobooks
with my photography and digital restoration work whilst selling my services was
not enough to draw people in. I needed products.
Being involved with the local dog club, the
dog silhouettes were almost a natural progression. I pride myself of having
created all my silhouettes from a real-life dog, no online downloads here. My
collection is constantly expanding, and I’m always on the lookout for that
missing breed.
Madeit came into my life just at the right
time. I like that it’s big enough but not ginormous, and that it’s focusing on
Australia. Setting up my store helped me enormously to wrap my head around the
whole concept of having to have products, how to go about producing them, and
how to hopefully be able to find my own little niche. Previous custom orders,
like acrylic blocks and greeting cards, have now permanently made it into my
product catalogue.
A totally new product is in its last
testing phase and shall be revealed soon.
The support from Madeit headquarters and
fellow Madeit sellers has been great, and it is just wonderful that Jen from
Tupsy Turvy Designs has chosen my little world to be featured on her blog.
Thank you Jen.
... and a big thank you to Andrea, for kindly answering my questions.
To visit AZ Pictured's store, please click here.
Thanks again,
~ Jen.
P.S
- If you have enjoyed reading about other handcrafters and want to know
more about Tupsy Turvy Designs, why not become a 'Golden
Ticket Member'? It is FREE and membership entitles you to regular updates, exclusive sales, discounts and opportunities. Simply click here and enter your email address. Easy! I look forward to sharing more ideas with you soon ...
