Introducing Fellow Madeit Seller - Andrea - from 'AZ Pictured'

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 ...