Artist spotlight: Brittany Wood

November 23, 2011



Today I'm lucky enough to feature the up'n'coming new photographer / artist Brittany Wood from the blog, Little Lady and Landon. Brittany has an amazing eye for dreamy photography and as if that wasn't enough also makes beautiful charcoal portraits. We're guaranteed to be seeing big things from this lady in the future! Every time I look on her blog I'm blown away by her photos and get the urge to pack everything up and move to the U.S because her photos from where she lives looks so idyllic. So once your done reading this make sure you go over to her Etsy store and her blog to check out more of her work.

Tell us a little about your background - what led you in to the creative field?
I discovered my love for art when I was a junior in high school. I was in an art class and my teacher assigned us our first big project. That night I found myself up until 4AM with color pencils and water color spread all around me. Before I knew it my art was put in the county's museum for a contest… I really didn't know I had any kind of art talent in me before that… it just came out of no where! (If you want to see my first piece it’s on my   website under illustrations- the very bottom left)

Do you ever get overwhelmed/confused with so having both photography AND illustration projects on the go at once?
Honestly I think having both photography and illustration keeps me balanced and helps me be more productive.  My mind is always jumping from one idea to another and I guess I work that way too. My husband will come home to me photographing food, while in the middle of drawing a charcoal, editing a photo shoot, and finishing off making a book. I love it!

Do you think that confidence is strongly linked to being successful in the creative industry?
I think that confidence is greatly linked to being successful in the creative industry.  I always have a fear of no one liking my work, wanting to buy my charcoals, or wanting me to photograph them; but I realized I would never really know unless I put myself out there.  

How do you manage to stop your style becoming stagnant when you work alone? Is there ever a fear you'll turn into a reclusive hermit?
The Internet is such a great tool of inspiration to my work. I am able to easily access early photographer’s work from 40 years ago and am constantly inspired by other artist’s work all from my computer.  
And about turning into a reclusive hermit… well I've always been an independent person and need my alone time so being alone doesn’t really bother me too much. I do think it's healthy to get out of the house, get some fresh air, and converse with friends every now and then though. 

What do you think your biggest challenge is to the success of your business? 
Since I just graduated and just barely started my business, the biggest challenge for me is the actual start of my business. The branding, building your clientele, the designing of everything… it all takes a lot of time and thought process.  I’m still in the process of finishing everything and I am constantly rethinking and re-changing. 

Did you always know what your "style" was or did you have an a-ha moment where it seemed to suddenly make sense?No I didn’t always know what my exact style was but I have always been interested in the same things and have noticed a reoccurring theme throughout my work but never had a ‘style.’ My a-ha moment came to me when I was stressed out during finals week in college. I decided to take a break from studying and relieve some stress by drawing and painting.  That night I created 8 pieces that are still some of my favorite. It was when I was honestly creating to create and not over-analyzing every line I was drawing. 

Have you ever had to deal with creative burnout? Any tips?YES! I have had a complete creative burnout before, a whole year and a half burnout!  When I first discovered my talent I felt a weight of expectations put on me and my work and felt like all eyes were on me waiting to create more.  I felt like my new art had to live up to my best work and it was all just too much pressure for me (it also didn’t help I was going through some other huge life decisions.) I don’t necessarily remember how I got out of it but looking back a few tips would be:
Constantly be looking/searching for other artist’s work to be inspired by. 
If you can find it, reading artist’s theories on art really opens my eyes and helps me to really think deeper about concept, meaning, and technique.  
Sometimes collaborating with other artists allows you to share ideas and forces you to create and helps you get out of the black hole!  
What are your top 5 places/people you go to for inspiration?
-John Galliano’s fashion runway shows they are more than amazing!  
-For photography inspiration I always turn back to the early photographers and their work; Julia Margaret Cameron has always been a favorite.  
-As silly as it seems Martha Stewart and The Food Network always encourage me to get in the kitchen and bake!... and then photograph the food afterwards of course.
-Kime Buzzelli is one of my favorite new-age artists.  Love everything she does.
-Magazines! I have books and boxes filled with magazine clippings that I have been cutting out for awhile now.  Always searching/looking through those bring back all of my ideas I had for photography/art.

What are your favorite medias to work with?Charcoal! I’ve always loved it over everything else. In my opinion it is the most fun to work with.  You end up with black hands and a messy desk, I love the carefree feeling of it.  And film is amazing too.  Since I’ve moved away from the university I can’t really develop it anymore, but there was something so healing about being in the darkroom for hours upon hours. 

What can we expect to see from you and your blog/work in the future?I plan to create more: 
-Charcoal/Nupastel fashion girls
-India ink/gouache work
-Different series for children’s rooms and around the house, 
-And hopefully some styled fashion photo shoots!

1 comments:

  1. what a lovely interiew. she is one talented lady.

    p.s. you have a lovely blog.

    Reese
    http://rambleswithreese.etsy.com
    http://rambleswithreese.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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