Featured artist: Robin from LittleBirdTreasures

For this weeks feature I bring you Robin from LittleBirdTreasures who is an amazing photographer and a jewelry maker.  She has two separate shops photography and jewelry.  Please read and enjoy this heartfelt interview and of course Robin's creations.



1.  Tell us as little or as much as you like about yourself.

I’m a divorced mom of two daughters, ages 17 and 27. My “baby” is a senior this year and will be graduating high school next spring. My oldest is married and has three little girls ages 4 years, 2 years, and 3 mths. So we’re a family of a lot of girls! I’m a registered nurse by profession, but have always needed a creative outlet of some sort. I’ve been artistic for as long as I can remember. In fact, when I was in the 5th grade, I received a letter from President Gerald Ford and the Bicentennial Committee and got my picture on the front page of the local newspaper for a picture I drew of our school during its Bicentennial Parade. My mother was a professional photographer and owned her own studio. Back then, she wanted me to take up photography so that I could one day take over her business. Back then though, I wasn’t interested in photography. It wasn’t until after she died in 2002 of cancer, that I was bitten hard by the photography bug. When I was recovering from my first back surgery and beginning to go a little stir crazy because I couldn’t get out and take pictures, I decided to learn to make jewelry. As I’ve said, I NEED to have a creative outlet of some sort, so when I was forced to rest and recover after surgery, I discovered jewelry making and found that I had a passion for that as well.

Robin

2.  What do you sell?
I’m currently selling my photographic art prints and custom designed jewelry on Etsy.

3.  What type of photography do you specialize in (for example, photojournalism, action photography, fashion photography, art photography, travel photography, portraiture photography)?  Why does that type of photography interest you?  In regards to jewelry, why handmade?
I think my favorite type of photography would have to be photojournalism because I love watching people and capturing moments in time that happen in an instant. A friend of mine, who I met at the hospital while taking care of his mother, is a photographer for the International Red Cross. He gets to travel all over the world and take pictures of people in war torn and natural disaster ravaged areas. That would be my dream job!! To capture an individual’s emotion in a picture isn’t an easy thing to do, but when you do capture it...it can be very profound. Every person has a story to tell and if you can capture that, it’s a real honor. I was an oncology nurse (cancer) before I injured my back and I had started a project called “The Light Within” that was going to feature interviews and photos of people with cancer because those are some of the strongest people I’ve ever met. Cancer patients have an inner strength and spirit about them, that is not usually present in ordinary, healthy people. I wanted to try and capture that as a way of inspiring other people either with cancer or those who have known or do know, someone with cancer. The project was put on the back burner for awhile since I’ve been recovering from my three back surgeries. I plan to get back to it as soon as I am able.

4.  Where does your inspiration come from and/or your inspiration in life?
I think my inspiration mainly comes from people in general and of course the beauty of nature that God has provided for us. People are interesting to me. And of course, nature provides us with endless possibilities for being creative.

5.  Besides from photography what else do you do?  Do you have a full time job?
Yes, as I mentioned above, I’m a registered nurse. I used to work in the hospital with cancer patients, but since I injured my back 2 years ago and have had to undergo three surgeries, I’m no longer able to work in patient care. Now I work in the Quality Dept at the hospital, which is a division of Risk Management. I review cases where there have been problems or whenever a patient dies, to make sure that the hospital, the doctors, and the nurses, did everything right.

6.  When did you start thinking you were an artist? 
Gosh, I think that probably started when I was just a little girl! I always used to draw pictures and leave them on my parent’s pillows every night. I’d draw pictures of our family or of frogs and mushrooms and butterflies. But I always drew pictures! For as long as I can remember, I’ve been doing something creative.

 

7.  Who has been most influential in your work?  
I would definitely have to say my mother. She was a very creative person as well and I think she’s probably the one who got me started. Since I’ve taken up photography, I shared some of my work with her old partner, Cathy. She told me that if she didn’t know better, she’d think my mom had taken those pictures. My style is so similar to my mother’s style even though I was never interested in photography while she was alive. I’ve always felt like she was guiding me. 

8.  Where would you like to be in five years?
In a perfect world, I’d be doing my photography full time. I’d have my own studio in a separate building in my backyard with a different type of wall on each of the four walls so I could use them as backdrops for outdoor photography. On the inside, I’d want high ceilings and a lot of natural light. I’d have a separate space on the inside of the house for my jewelry studio and I’d spend every single day doing the things that I love.

9.  Is there anything you'd like to try doing that you haven't done? Crafts, sports, life in general?  Well with the photography, I’d like to travel internationally and just take thousands of pictures in a foreign country! As for the jewelry making, I’m really interested in trying my hand at making my own clay beads. I’ve researched it some and even bought some clay, but I have a long way to go before I learn how to actually do it.

    

10.  Besides online where else do you sell?
It’s pretty much been just through word of mouth. I haven’t really promoted myself, though I’ve been told that I should. I get photography business from people passing my name to their friends and so on. I also participate in our annual Employee Craft Fair at the hospital, that’s actually happening on October 20-21. I sell both my jewelry and my photography there and I usually do pretty well. I always seem to have a ton of custom business for awhile after the craft fair when people see my work.

ways to contact you:

photography

jewelry

facebook 

website

(this is mainly my customer website where if I do a photo shoot for someone, they can come here to order their prints)

email- robinrains@att.net

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