Interview with TheForestFaery @ Etsy

Tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Taylor Lynn, but you can call me Taylor or even Tay. I’m an overgrown hobbit attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a closet it my dormitory that leads to Narnia, where I’m queen. "TheForestFaery" is just a pseudonym so the White Witch, RingWraiths and Death Eaters don't find me.

Of course, you muggles would just know me as a fourteen year old homeschooled vegan pursuing my dream of becoming a best-selling novelist. I love reading, writing, history, English and Language Arts, interesting words, blogging and taking photos, and someday (someday soon, I’m sure!) you’ll be able to walk into any bookstore and buy my novels. Until then, you can buy my photography and some handmade items in my Etsy shop, TheForestFaery!

Where does your inspiration come from?
My inspiration comes mostly from nature, and from fantasy. For instance, after watching the new Alice in Wonderland movie, I went outside to lock up our goats and chickens for the night. It had just rained, the air was cool and the sun was setting. When I came inside I got ready for bed, sat down with a notepad and pen and wrote down ideas for photos that had popped into my head out of nowhere while I was outside, still caught up in Wonderland with the soundtrack running through my head. It was rather fun! So if you ever want to give me photo inspiration, make me watch a good fantasy movie and then send me outside.

Who or what has been most influential in your craft?
My camera(s). Or whatever camera(s) are available at the time. Oh, we’ve been through so much together. They never complain when I kneel, squat, stretch, reach or lie on my belly/back in the grass to catch a good shot. They don’t mind getting up close and personal with mushrooms and toads. My dear camera(s), I couldn’t have captured those shots without you!

What does handmade mean to you?
That someone sat down and put something together using their own skill, own imagination and own two hands. (Or own two feet. Whatever works.) The small imperfections don’t matter, because they show that a human made it, not a robot. Handmade means that gifts are better quality and more meaningful, and handmade also means more personal.

When did you know you were an artist?
Can I tell you a secret? Before TheForestFaery, I had an Etsy shop called abenevolentbookworm. I sold bookmarks, and my shop FAILED. Why? Because while I’ve done crafts my whole life, I’m very fickle and don’t have much stamina for them. Knitting, quilting, scrapbooking, collage-making: been there, done that. I was once slightly obsessed with each one; now I do them occasionally, if at all. So even though I sold a few bookmarks, I got bored of making them and closed down abenevolentbookworm.

However, ever since I was a little kid I’ve known I wanted to be a writer. And in 2008 I discovered how fun photography is. So I’m creative, just not in the way many Etsians are – my creativity is expressed in writing and photography rather than handmade items, which is why TheForestFaery is all about photography. To keep it stocked up, all I have to do is relist and occasionally go outside to snap a new picture! No long-term stamina necessary.

How would you describe your creative process?
Step 1: The mood strikes. “I feel like taking pictures!” I think.

Step 2: I turn on the camera and no doubt have to switch the rechargeable batteries. Once that’s done, I’m good to go.

Step 3: I go outside and wander through my yard and my Grampa’s next door. If I see a photo opportunity I stop, drop and roll, or whatever it is that’s necessary to capture said photo.

Step 4: I import photos onto my laptop. Then I eliminate the bad ones, save the good ones, and they proceed to sit around for days or weeks in my computer until I get around to listing them.

Of course, sometimes this entire process is skipped if I walk by a window and see a totally amazing photo opportunity. Then I tear through the house, find the camera, burst outside barefoot or in someone else’s shoes, and proceed to snap ten or twenty photos of the same thing from different angles, provided the opportunity hasn't passed by already. True story.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
If I was in a serious mood, I’d say Anne Frank so that I could see what it was really like for her in the Secret Annex.

But if I was in a random mood, I’d say Kate from the TV show “Lost” so that I could tell Sawyer not to fall in love with ‘me’ because ‘I’ will just end up being a complete jerk and using him.

Or Alice Cullen, because she is simply the most awesome character in the Twilight Saga. I’m starting Team Alice, who’s with me?!

Do you have a strange talent not many know of?
I wish I could say yes, but… no, not really.
That’s not to say I’m normal, though. I’m not really what you’d call “normal”, I don’t really try to be, and I don’t really want to be. Because the way I see it, where’s the fun in being like everyone else?

Visit TheForestFaery
Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/TheForestFaery
Blog: www.dreamsoffae.blogspot.com