PRESs.

Sweet Etsy Goodness Interview - Photo By MADA

I am so happy to introduce to you a talented lady who responded to my open invitation to be interviewed for my humble blog. I do hope that more people will come forward, especially those who also showed an interest :)  I'm nosey you see and I LOVE to share the beauty of other people, their arts and crafts and their gorgeous souls. So this Friday let's focus on.....

Magdalena Sienkiewicz lives in Szklarska Poręba; a tiny city in the South of Poland, squeezed between two mountain chains: Giant Mountains (Karkonosze) and Izera Mountains (Izerskie). She refers to this as her 'magic place' :) It sounds like heaven to me too and my goodness it looks it too!

* Shop names are so important and personal; where did you get yours from?

PhotoByMada? Well, when I was a little girl my younger brother couldn't pronounce my name - Magda - so he came up with this word Mada, which I started using on the Internet as my nickname. 

It is part of my other shop name MADEbyMADA .. so logically I called my Photography shop PhotoByMADA. I think, it’s easy to remember.

I wanted to have this Magdalena.Sienkiewicz Photography as a name, lol… but I know it is hard to remember, pronounce and write. And all my friends kept asking why it was not PhotoByMADA ? So I followed their opinion :)

* Where do you find that you get your inspiration from?

Few years ago I travelled a lot ... that was very inspiring and had great impact on who I am today.

And honestly I live in the most beautiful place in the word :), IMHO lol ... When you are surrounded by this kind of beauty all your life it must be reflected in your work. 

I studied history of art, too, but contemporary art is what I really love. So I think it all got mixed in my head and made me look at the world my own special way

* How do you keep up your motivation?

Ugh! Hard question. Having an Etsy shop was the biggest motivation in my life ! When you can see people all over the world liking what you do, it is overwhelming motivation. I experienced that with my jewelry shop. 

Now I hope for the same with PhotoByMADA ;). But I am more afraid and insecure this time ... Probably because pictures were always very personal to me. But when I get even one "like" after posting a new picture on my Facebook page, this is the motivation that keeps me going.

* Does Art enhance your life? 

Absolutely! 

I love art ... through art I can see what people feel and think, how they see the world.. Simply, who they are. I love this kind of dialogue. It is quite common with photographers lol .. but I was very shy :P so I could hide behind my camera, taking pictures of other people. I can communicate without words. 

* Can we have one pearl of wisdom you have learnt along the way?

Never give up your dreams.

And always try to improve your skills. And love yourself. I noticed when I treat myself with love and respect other people do the same. And even during the darkest moments I think: Every cloud has a silver lining.

* Are you a member of any teams on Etsy - does this help?

I am in too many!

Of course it helps. I can't imagine my existence on Etsy without teams. Teams are vibrant, full of experience. Very helpful. Not only to promote your work. But also to get know other people. 

People are the best inspiration for me. If I can see someone is doing something impossible, I start to think, hmm maybe I can do it too? 

I must admit I felt very lonely with my specific attitude towards life until I found Etsy and all those people from around the world who turned out to be quite like me.

* How do you feel about your life right now?

Unsteadily, lol.

I still hope that I can make my living doing what I love and spread this love all over the world. But times are hard. "These are hard times for dreamers" but honestly I think any time is hard for dreamers. So I am full of hope and my hands are full of work. And it just needs to pay off some day :)