Whether you're a budding artist, aspiring designer, home renovator or simply want to support locally made goods, Cooper Interiors blog has something for you. In our creative Q&A sessions we chat to Kiwi artists, architects, designers, shop owners, bloggers and photographers about their careers, inspiration and much more. Follow us on Pinterest and Blog Lovin' for live blog updates and endless inspiration!
Can you tell us a bit about your background? Have you always been creative?
Since I can remember I've always been a creative type, I knew the 9-5 just wasn't for me, I'm a very visual person in all aspects of life & love anything to do with 'creating'. Photography wasn't something I thought I'd end up doing but I'm so glad I can now happily call it my profession. I absolutely love my job and every minute I spend doing it.
I started out working on a health/food blog while studying photography and used my blog as a starting point while trying to decide which direction of photography I wanted to pursue. My husband and I married in 2013 and, as cliché as it sounds, after experiencing what wedding photography was like - the love, laughter, happiness, capturing the connections between people and having creative freedom - I knew from that moment that's what I wanted to do. From there I studied countless hours of creative live videos and learnt from some great colleagues including our own wedding photographer, who is now a close friend and regular partner in crime!
It goes without saying that I'm a nature lover and love working with natural light as a photographer. After becoming a new mum I wanted to create a botanical print as a personal project and get the creative juices flowing, so to speak. After sharing my creation with some friends and family and being overwhelmed with their positive feedback I thought "why not give it a go!?" as combining nature and photography is totally my jam and that's how Dark Fleur was born.
What is your favourite print you've ever created and why? It would have to be the peonies - I'm obsessed! When these come into season I have to have some as they're so incredibly beautiful and because I can't always have them fresh on the coffee table or desk I wanted to capture them and all their beauty. I created two similar prints of white peonies called Elegance & White Light and they also happen to be two of the most popular in the Dark + Lovely collection.
Which part of your creative process has been most challenging and how did you overcome this challenge? It would be my frustrating side of being a perfectionist, taking an abundant amount of images and having to cull it down to one. Also I guess the editing side to these prints was challenging - I wanted them to have a slightly desaturated/neutral look that was versatile once hung up with different coloured walls and spaces so finding the right balance when editing was a struggle but, like most things, it's all about trial and error to create the perfect final product.
Do you currently have plans for any future collections in the works?
Yes, of course, it's called Dark Fleur but I'm very keen to get all up in nature's face and see what else it has to offer to my lenses! I have just released a few personal prints from around the beautiful Queenstown area - it's a place I know we would really like to call home one day and it just felt right to do a collection from and share my love of the area! Other than that I'm currently working on another botanical collection so watch this space!
What does your work place look like? My workspace is from home with my little folk (August and Dakota) keeping me very busy amongst the beautiful chaos. I'd describe the space as light, Nordic/boho surrounded by my prints, ukulele, macrame and some kind of botanical goodness on my desk.
And finally, Who is your favourite NZ creative and why? I think I have a few too many to list but if I had to name a couple... it would have to be a photographer I've always looked up to, Danelle Bohane. She's one talented photographer, to say the least, and I've always been drawn to her work and so inspired by the way she uses light and the way she captures people. I was so honoured and very lucky to have had a mentoring session with her a couple of years ago and it was one of the best things I think I could have done for my career. My work instantly improved, & I became more confident in what I was doing and where I was heading with my work. More specifically for Dark Fleur, it was another photographer, Stacey Weaver, who is an amazing botanical fine art photographer - I stumbled across her work via Alex and corban's blog and loved her prints - who inspired my creations.
All imagery is credited to photographer, Kirsty Stone. To explore more beautiful imagery and find contact details you can follow Kirsty on Instagram here or Like her on Facebook here.
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