-Who is the person behind the inspirational art of LadyartTalk?
A mixed media artist fascinated by whimsical art and mixed media collage art – my name is Stanka! Besides my biggest passion, which is creating mixed media paintings, I love photography and the very inspiring art of creating delicious food.

How did you get into mixed media and art in general?
Design, the manufacturing of different things, the redesigning of clothes from old materials – this was always a part of my life. Since I can remember, I was always painting and coloring anything I could get into my hands.
Later, as a teen, I collected articles and images from various magazines, to use those ideas for revamping old furniture and clothes. However, university education and my profession brought me to entirely different areas like economy and sociology. A part of me was still waiting for the opportunity to create, and when I took the decision to do what I like most, everything became clear, and the next steps followed naturally.

- How did you come up with your brand name?
This wasn't easy at all! Of course I wanted to have something unique – but somehow most of the good names were taken. However, I understood that my main audiences are women, so I wanted to include the word 'lady'. The words 'art' and 'talk' describe my direction and philosophy. And after a couple of hours of brainstorming with my husband, I came down to this sequence, which I think reflects very well what I do.

- How did you start this passion for mixed media collages?
I always had a passion for changing things into something else, and mixed media collage art opened up a new possibility to express this motion. The fact that I could add 'objects' to my paintings was a complete new idea for me. Since until then, a painting was a painting, a collage was a collage, a drawing was a drawing, and so on. But now I have the opportunity to combine everything into one work. And it still excites me as much as on the first day!

- What does it take to make one mixed media collage?
I never really know! It depends on how smooth everything goes. Sometimes I have an idea which materializes quickly, sometimes it emerges slowly. Quick means 'a few hours', slow means 'even weeks'. Sometimes I start with the background and I built the story on that basis; sometimes I start with a drawing and develop a collage around it. Another time, I have an inspirational quote which I want to use, so I take that as an inspiration for the rest of the painting. In fact, there is no fixed concept – which I like very much! It gives me my freedom to express myself differently every time. The materials vary from old book pages, musical sheets, paper or fabric lace, buttons, stamps, postcards to magazine pages and stencils. The colors are mostly acrylic, although I also use watersoluble ink pencils, and graphite pencils. All my work is made on canvas – some on wood panel.

What do you sell in your shop?
My main focus is to sell fine art print reproductions, sometimes called giclee prints, of my whimsical art. The simple reason behind this is that I can offer copies of my originals for a much cheaper price, and on top of that one can choose a huge range of different sizes, which otherwise wouldn't be possible. The next two main categories are compact mirrors and a wide range of jewelry, which includes inspirational rings, pendants, and earrings.

How do you make reproductions of your work?
More than 10 years ago, I started my journey into digital photography of which I make great use of right now. I shoot all photos myself, be it for reproductions or for the products like jewelry and pocket mirrors, except for the ones where I actually wear the jewelry - those are made by my husband. Once having them digital, I use them for making prints, which are all made on a HP Designjet Z3100 Photo. On the same printer, I also prepare the images for mirrors and all jewelry. I print everything on HP matte litho-realistic paper 270 g/m², which is a high-quality archival matte paper. This is the reason why everything looks crispy and crystal clear with colors which are identical to the originals. The final products look really good, and the paper has this thick, texturous feel which makes it seem like actual paint!

Thank you!
Stanka

My other Etsy shops: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AtelierStanka
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PhotoBackdropsStudio