We are absolutely delighted to welcome Andrea Smith to our RO world, and we can't wait to introduce you to her gorgeous artwork in our latest collaboration! Andrea is a talented illustrator, surface designer, and mother of two based in Sydney.
We were immediately struck by Andrea's choice of bold colours, pattern, texture and detail. We know her gorgeous designs will surprise and delight, and we can't wait to share the first collaborative pieces with you this weekend!
We sat down with Andrea to discuss her creative process, inspiration and our upcoming collaboration below.
RO: Tell us a little bit about yourself?
AS: I create vibrant handmade collages that are assembled from my collection of hand painted papers. I’ve studied both fashion and design and worked for a variety of clients from home decor to editorial and textile prints.
I am inspired by the colours of the Australian landscape, particularly the flora and fauna. Our unique animals and beautiful wildflowers feature heavily in my work. Bold colours, pattern, texture & detail are important elements that inspire me. I also take inspiration from traditional folk art. The decorative element combined with the storytelling inspires my own practice.
RO: We are so thrilled for this collaboration. What product are you most excited to see your designs on?
AS: I’m SO excited about our collaboration as well. I love all the products, but I’m thrilled to see my designs on the jigsaw puzzles. We really got into jigsaws as a family during lockdown so I can’t wait to do these with my son.
RO: Use three words to describe your art.
AS: Colourful, detailed, bold.
RO: Is there a particular impression or feeling that you want to leave people with when they view your pieces?
AS: Happiness! I want to showcase the beauty in the world and hope my art leaves the viewer with a smile and brings some joy to their day.
RO: As an artist, have you ever struggled with inspiration and creativity? If so, how did you get that spark back?
AS: I’ve struggled with finding inspiration and creativity during times of burn out or even recently since having my second baby. I find things that help get the spark back are making time for personal projects. When I am flat out working on client jobs, I find it easy to forget to work on art just for the fun of it, so focusing on doing what I love really helps get the inspiration flowing again. I find being in nature is also really inspiring and I often come up with new ideas while out on a walk. Short courses have also helped me get the spark back by learning a new skill or technique.
RO: Tell us something we’d never guess about you?
AS: I have a fear of magpies. I think it comes from being swooped too many times as a kid. It still doesn’t stop me from loving them though and they are one of my favourite birds to draw.
RO: We love talented and amazing women (like yourself) here at RO. What’s the best and worst thing about working for yourself?
AS: The best thing is being able to be flexible with my work time and getting to collaborate with amazing brands such as yourself.
Currently as I have a new baby the worst things are the juggle and often having to work weekends and late nights to meet deadlines.
RO: As an artist who is skilled in both digital and traditional art, do you have a preference for either or do you use both a physical and digital medium during your creative process?
AS: I tend to use both traditional and digital mediums in my creative process. The majority of my work starts out as a hand cut paper collage. It’s a technique that involves painting all the paper to create colour and texture and then cutting, layering, and glueing the elements by hand to create the artwork.
I love working with paper collage as it gives you the freedom to move elements around and create happy accidents along the way. I also love the tactile element the texture from the hand painted paper creates. This gives the artwork a lovely warmth and dimension. I then scan my artwork into the computer and finish it off in photoshop so that it can be used for lots of different purposes like print or on products.
View a short video of Andrea's creative process below!
Thanks so much for chatting with us Andrea, it has been an absolute pleasure collaborating and I have truly enjoyed getting to know you better. If you want to see more and shop the RO x Andrea Smith collection, click here (launching Saturday 23rd April).
CONNECT WITH ANDREA:
Instagram - @andreasmith_illustration
Website - AndreaSmithShoppe