Fact: In my line of work—writing, styling, editing—I get to work with some pretty incredible women. One superstar I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with a ton in the last 12 months is photographer Joyelle West, whose work has been featured by on Homepolish, Curbed.com, and on the cover of the Boston Globe Magazine. She’s done travel photography and weddings, which is how we met (I was the editor of Boston Weddings magazine and a contributor to New England Travel for a few years), but these days she's almost entirely focused on interiors. Joyelle is the sole photographer for my upcoming book, which means we spend a lot of time crouched behind a lens together.
Image credit: Joyelle West
Image credit: Joyelle West
Joyelle recently decided to start a series called “Inspiring Women” on her blog, Cloud and Day, and for the first installment, she asked me to answer a few questions about my work in this creative field. I was thrilled to oblige. A few nuggets I shared:
On staying inspired:
I’m lucky to get to visit other cities when collaborating with celebrities and bloggers on decor projects …. Going to the big trade shows for my industry, like High Point Market in North Carolina, always fills me with ideas, too. And when I’m traveling, I make a point to visit local restaurants and decor shops and take in aesthetic experiences that are different from what I see every day.
On shooting for my book:
[A]ll of the homes we photographed were styled by the homeowner and/or me; not a single one was put together by a trained interior designer, so they were living, breathing examples of what I’m encouraging readers to do. I’m urging people to embrace their innate design leanings, start putting things together using tips and tricks I’ve learned over time, and to stop treating decorating as this precious, pretentious thing. Anyone can do it, and it’s such an amazing way to express yourself.
Head over to Joyelle’s blog, cloudandday.com, to read the complete feature and to check out her amazing portfolio of interior photography. And if you have any other questions about my job, my weird and circuitous career path, or my book, shoot 'em over via the comment section!
