FEATURED ETSY ARTIST - SheShoots, Photography by Marie DeLean

This photo just takes my breath away....Marie has certainly captured the magic of this lovely flower!! I'm happy to welcome Marie DeLean and her wonderful photography. Marie's shop on Etsy is called She Shoots. Let's hear what Marie has to say about herself and her wonderful art.

What led you to start creating your art/craft?

I've been slowly meandering toward a career in photography since I was a young child. Funny thing, though, how life can redirect you. Despite my love for creating art, I went to business school and embarked on a career in corporate marketing. Almost ten years ago I knew I needed a break, so I quit my job and started to take photography classes. I absolutely loved it! Once again, though, life redirected me with pregnancies and babies. Now that my sons are four and six, I find I have a bit more time for myself, and photography is how I spend that time.

How did you decide what medium you wanted to work with?

It's hard to explain how photography grabbed me, but I feel like it chose me, not the other way around. When I started in photography, I was doing all dark-room work; there is something so magical about being in a dark-room and watching your work appear before your eyes. The dark-room was quiet and soothing to me. The process of getting a print exactly the way I wanted it was therapeutic in so many ways. Now I work with digital, but I still love the creative process of composition, color, contrast, tone, etc.

What aspect of creating your art/craft do you find the most enjoyable?

I love coming home with my camera after a shoot, plugging it into the computer, and seeing what I got. I always have an idea of what I have on the camera, but I never know until I see the photos on my screen if I have a "THAT'S IT!" shot.

If you had to choose a fruit OR a vegetable, to describe your art/craft, what would you choose, and why?

Ah, art as fruit, art as vegetable, let's see. Truly, I see my art more as gelato: rich, bright, satisfying!

If you had to choose one other medium in which to display your “creativity”, what would that be, and why?

Painting. I'm not good at it, but I love that it's all about composition and color. If not painting, maybe making jewelry. I love sparkly things.

What message, if any, do you want to convey with your art/craft?

I want my photography to convey beauty, and the abstraction of beauty. I love to get right inside a flower or a scene and show the viewer the world inside. So often we walk right past something that has an entire universe right inside it.

What advice do you have for other artists/crafters?

Create what you love. Don't try to make what the masses want unless that's what you truly want to make. Be true to what calls out to you.

Marie, I'd say your photography definitely "conveys beauty and the abstraction if beauty"....it is TRULY magical! Thanks for taking the time to share your delightful photography out here on DZFANTASY. I hope everyone takes the time to visit SheShoots to see more of this delightful artist's work. More of Marie's work can also be seen on her Flickr site via the link below.

FLICKR