Featured Artist + Shop: Laura of le animalé

I am here to introduce Laura from le animalé! She has one of the most unique shops on the etsy block and I am so excited I can show off her work to all of you! She makes a ton of these cute little animals totems that are sure to brighten your day! Read along to find out more about her and her shop.

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Getting to know Laura:

1. Tell us a little background about you and your shop!

I'm Laura and I make the cute little animals of le animalé.  I grew up in a coastal town in North Carolina.  As a little girl I always thoroughly enjoyed the outdoors (well, I still do) and I really, really loved animals (well, I still do that too).  I loved reading about them and discovering new ones and drawing them and pretending to have them as my pets.  From then until now my background is full of creative ventures (from music to painting to photography), but I've recently settled into the miniature sculptures and artwork I make for le animalé.  

2. What is your inspiration behind le animalé?

Simple! - animals and all of their quirky, cute, humorous, endearing antics!  Last year as I was thinking that a miniature zoo would be the most awesome thing ever, I just decided to make one.  Now I'm sharing my miniature zoo with the world so everyone can have any and every little animal they've ever dreamed of.  No chores or cleanup necessary, just cute little animals to brighten your day.

3. Starting a handmade shop is a huge responsibility, what do you recommend for someone thinking about opening their own?

Well, you set your own pace it ends up being as much or as little responsibility as you want it to be.  But with that said, you get out of it what you put into it, and if you're considering starting a handmade shop in order to make a living, you need to be willing to put in a lot.  A lot of time, a lot of research, a lot of work.  But it's very rewarding and so worth it to be able to share your creations with the world, know that your products make people happy, and make your living doing something you are truly passionate about.

4. What should we look forward to from le animalé?

My brand new website will be done soon!  With the new website comes new photos and new products, so there is a lot to look forward to with that launch within the next month.  PLUS, my 1 year anniversary is coming up in May, and I will be doing a lot to celebrate it (giveaways, special products, and more!)  Keep your eyes peeled for exciting new le animalé goodness!

5. What is one of your quirks?

This one may go against my typical right-brained thinking (or maybe it doesn't) but whenever I see a group of numbers I think of different ways they can work together or be combined.  For instance, if I see 3681 on a license plate I'll think, "3 plus 6 is 9 minus 1 is 8", and so on.

Now check out some of the animal sculptures she creates!

These are some of my favorite of her collection. Be sure to check out her shop for more!

Thank you Laura for dropping by Simply, Melissa Ashley & letting me interview you! The Featured Artist blog posts have been created to showcase some of my favorite artists floating around. None of these posts are sponsored by the artists featured, unless otherwise noted. I just love to spread the love of handmade local artists!