artist portrait

artist portrait :: emilie tromp of lief design

emilie and i live lives that brush up very close to one another -- mutual friends, shared spaces -- but rarely intersect. each time that they do intersect, i'm inspired and moved by her, both her quality of person, and the beauty of what she creates. she's in inevitable artist, an unavoidable creative, and also a genuine lover of people. 

her company, lief design, specializes in hand-lettering and stationary pieces, using letterpress and screen-printing. she utilizes textured materials like linen and wood paper, and bases her color palette in whites and natural tones, with muted colors adding accent.

emilie the talent behind my simple and sweet logo. it fits so naturally on my website and with my images, and i believe that's because she was able to see the essence of my work and build something that would match it. 

today, i finally got to return her favor. i went to her studio to photograph her work for her website portfolio and shop (the images i took aren't up there yet). but i asked her if i could also to make an environmental portrait of her in the space where she does her creative work. thankfully, she agreed. and we chatted about creative process and life in general as i peeked around at all the intricacies of her studio, snapping as i went. there's so much going on in the space, yet every object seems purposeful in its placement, chosen because it inspires. it was absolutely inspiring to just walk around in that room. and then to get a small glimpse at some of her creative process, after enjoying the end results of it for so long, felt like a real privilege. 

so, here it is : emilie at work.