ellyolsen

Friday Finds... EllyOlsen


This is my 20th interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy!

It's Friday! So that means a lovely interview for today!
It's not often I find new artists to Etsy that happen to be photographers. The hot topic in terms of catagory always seems to fall within jewelry making and crafts! As much as it's wonderful to find talents in all faucets of one's field of speciality, I always hope to find the odd new painter, illustrator or photographer because I think these are the catagories that probably struggle to gain a voice on Etsy the most with it being such a vastly craftbased scene. It's just always so nice to find something that you yourself take pride in as your own primary talent because of the familiarity when it comes to talking about it with eachother. I guess it's the same kind of feeling when talking to anyone that specialises in the same thing you do yourself, and not wholly restricted to the new talents! Yet as you know it's the new talents I like to give a heads up, mainly because we all have to fight that battle starting out on Etsy, and most of the time we don't even realise that promotion is the key to getting noticed!
So today I want to focus on the photographic talents of seller EllyOlsen a nature photographer and what I'd have to describe as a fine art photographer, as her work is absolutely stunning! Visiting her store is like entering a virtual botanical gardensm, everything looking so crisp, bright, fragrant and colorful. Even some of her more abstract pieces take you into another world full of texture, surrealism and absolute beauty. Definitely check out her store... and read on for her interview :)


(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)







-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) Elly Olson, 26, New Berlin, WI. Random fact: I'm super short standing at only 5 ft tall. This past summer I started embracing my height and wore flats for the first time :) Now I am constantly wearing sneakers and all kinds of shoes and sandals with no extra height!


-- What is your business about then? My business is about photography prints and I'm going to be adding handmade magnets, keychains and necklaces as well.


-- How did Etsy come into your life? A coworker and his wife have an Etsy shop and their stuff is amazing. I don't care about making a profit on Etsy, I just figure that maybe someone else will like my photos as much as I do and will want to put it up in their home :)


-- Are you working a day job too? Yes, I work full time at the corporate office for a large department store chain. I work in their marketing department.


-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? I'd say I have always been an "artist". As a young girl we didn't have much money, but my dad said if ever I wanted something that was art-related, he'd purchase it for me. My dad is very artistic and I think that's where I get it from. I've always been into photography from the time I had my first camera. I think when I started taking more trips is when I really 'unleashed' because I wanted to make sure I was capturing our travels as much as possible so when I returned home I would always have those photos to remember our time away.

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? Just seeing beautiful things in nature. I really take in my surroundings and embrace all that there is to see wherever I go. I remember being in Lake Tahoe and along a hiking trail me and my husband climbed these huge boulders to look over the lake and it was just nice to take all the beauty in with him. You realize how much there is in life to explore.


-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Photography, Nature, Colorful

-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? I get up at 6am to start my work day and arrive home around 4:30pm. I check my Etsy throughout my workday and also when I get home. I find things to 'heart' and also play around in the forums. I make dinner for my husband and myself and we catch up on tv shows we like to watch together. I'm usually on my laptop off and on throughout the night messing with my photographs. I really like enhancing them in post-processing software by adding textures and adding filters.

-- What's your favorite material and techniques to work with? Of course my Nikon DSLR camera :) I currently have 2 lenses that I switch out, but am pondering getting myself a true macro lens. I also love developing my pictures using Lightroom and a little bit of Photoshop if need be.

-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? I would love to build up my library of images and in a couple of years do some street fairs. I also have my photographs displayed at an Art Gallery shop and am curious to see how that goes for me. Other than that, I will continue taking pictures because that is what I love to do!

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? I love being outdoors no matter what I'm doing. I enjoy going out on our boat during the summer months and our snowmobiles during winter months :) We also try and plan a couple trips throughout the year and check out some place different each time.

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? I really only search for supplies. I find most of my favorites though by using the pounce feature.

-- Any last words? I hope everyone fancies my shop and finds something beautiful there that they could see hung in their own homes :)