andreapratt

Whew, we made it. Sure their were some causalities and some folk'll never be the same, but its over and we can all breath a sign of relief. Another Christmas behind us, we have a whole year to recoup, regroup and recharge, although depending on what you did and how much you did of it, you might feel like you need at least two years before your ready to do it again. I've been there, believe me. All said and done , however, this year was very calm for us and blessedly quite. We went nowhere and no one came to us, ahhhhhhh. I hope for most of you things were similar and Santa baby brought you every and all of the baubles, bangles, things, rings, toys, boys, trinkets, gizmos and gadgets that your hearts desired.

With that out of the way I'm going to try to ease you back into the grind with a showcase of the extremely gifted artwork of Andrea Pratt. Be it with acrylic paint, collage elements, mixed media drawings or digital photography she's know for using just about anything and everything not nailed down in her creative process. By her own account even the bathroom walls aren't safe when the muse has her.

She was kind enough to answer a few questions for me a short while ago so without further ado I present them to you now.

1. How long have you been doing what you do?

I have been working as a freelance artist since 2001 with a year’s recess to earn some money. I have two kids so it’s never been full-time, much as I’d like it to be. I sell in bricks-and-mortar galleries as well as online.

2. Are there any other places people can see your work that you would like to tell us about? website, blog, myspace etc?

Besides Etsy I have a website at http://andreapratt.com and a blog at http://didrooglie.blogspot.com I love blogging and have been doing it for 2 ½ years now.

3. I see that you've been selling on Etsy for a while now, do you have any tips or advice on how to run a successful shop?

Having a blog with a regular readership was what launched me and still fuels some of my sales. Since I started on Etsy I’ve learned to work the system a little, participating on Forums or Treasury now and then, and have found that spreading out my listings (e.g. one per day for three days instead of three at once) is the best way to gain exposure. It does take time and some work. Though I'm never as active on Etsy as many other sellers are, sometimes I’ll take a break from Etsy for a few months to focus on other stuff and when I do that my profile definitely falls.

4. Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere! My biggest problem is not finding inspiration but focusing it. There are a million things I want to try and creative avenues I want to explore.

5. How did feel when you made your first sale?

Like I could get addicted to this!

6. Whats your favorite Etsy shop?

My favorite high-selling shop is tartx.etsy.com and the shop I most want to buy something from is mvsculpture.etsy.com but I could list dozens more!

Many thanks to Andrea for agreeing to this interview, and thanks are in order to all of you for taking the time out of your busy days to join me here. I appreciate all the positive feedback that I've been receiving and can't you tell how much fun this had turned out to be. It makes a huge difference knowing that there are so many of you out there who acknowledge the work that I'm putting into this project. As long as you keep reading and enjoying I'll keep writing and delighting.