Featured shop: ImagineStudio

Tale of the lost necklace

OliviA

The story of an untold Love

COUCOU....I see you...

I am so very honored to introduce ImagineStudio (http://ImagineStudio.etsy.com) etsy shop, which features Art Prints, Collage and Photographic Digital Art. I am a big fan of Lyse's work and love every single piece in her amazingly imaginative shop. You can, literally, spend hours browsing her shop's pages and every time discovering something new in every artwork. I love her ability to communicate feelings and emotions as well as subtle movements and expressions of her subjects. Truly amazing! It was a difficult decision to try to choose just a few pieces for this feature, I wanted to show them all! I can only describe her work in one and only way: Imagination at its BEST!

Thank you so very much, Lyse, for taking the time to answer a few questions about your etsy business: ImagineStudio.

Q. How did you hear about Etsy?
A. In December 2007, I was looking for a venue to sell my work online. I had been working on an e-commerce website and was finding it very difficult to get it completed and running smoothly. On a Saturday morning, I picked out the newspaper La Presse from Montreal and with a good cup of coffee began reading arts and entertainment section. There was a wonderful article written on Etsy and the amazing things one could find to purchase awesome Christmas gifts. This is where I found Etsy and in February 2008 I open up shop and I am still in love with it all.

Q. What made you decide to sell on Etsy?
A. I was impressed by the quality and diversity of the artworks and crafts being sold were amazing. I loved the fact that everything was handmade and that sellers and buyers were from all parts of the world. I found the Etsy site was professional looking and easy to use. I liked the autonomy it allowed me to have in maintaining my own shop and all the different opportunities it offered for to showcase my work.

Q. How did you originally get into art (specifically collage and photographic digital art)?
A. Through more than 30 years, my one constant expression in art has been Collage, and for the past five years I have been working on transferring this art form into the digital world. Layers upon layers of thoughts, emotions and research have been turned into transparencies, textures, colours, depth, emotions, portraitures, etc. This virtual digital world of seemingly endless possibilities has given me a new take on my artwork, allowing me to pursue even further my undying need to produce lyrical, evocative and sometimes provocative images.

Q. What motivates and inspires you to create?
A. Creativity is definitely a passion with me. In that sense, my artwork is neither a job nor a hobby but a need. The ideas just keep coming and I continuously strive to bring them to life. Everything about life seems to inspire me. I am always in awe with nature’s extraordinary creative force and beauty. I have a love of nature, music, travelling, best friends, family, laughter and all the joys that life has to offer. And then there are life’s tribulations…I’m I strong believer in the concepts of empowerment, resilience and the possibility of transforming one’s life.

Q. What are your interests outside etsy?
A. My family and my artwork are the most important interests outside my working full time for one of the largest homeless shelters for men and women in Canada. I need my daily dose of artistic creation to balance out the hard realities I work with on a daily bases. It is as if all the emotions that I cannot really permit myself to fully live during the day…oozes out in the evenings and the weekends when I sit down and let my heart and soul be cradled by something more powerful than anything else, apart from love, which to me is creativity.

Q. What is your best advice for new etsy sellers?
A. Do what you love and love what you do. When posting in forums always respect others and walk away from those who do not respect you. Try to market and promote your shop outside of Etsy….there is just so much they can offer and there comes a time where you need to branch out. Makes your shop as professional looking as possible and get involved in shop critiques…they can be extremely helpful.

Believe in yourself and in your product…but do not be afraid to explore and evolve in your craft. Have fun…enjoy and work really hard.

Thank you very much, Lyse, for this wonderful interview! I hope many people find a lot of inspiration in your artworks as I do!