In the last year or so, I have not had much opportunities for taking photographs, at least not the kind that I like doing, which is landscape photography. I still do a lot of photography, but it’s for product presentation. I live in the suburbs and don’t find many places inspiring here. I have limited mobility, as I don’t drive. The pandemic has stopped most travel, and I don’t get out much any more. I don’t see things getting back to normal any time soon.

©2021 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

I have a huge back catalog of photos I’ve never published from over the years. I’ve been going back to them to rework them in new ways. Really playing with them, more than i the past. My photography style has always been to keep things as natural as possible. I always try to frame my images in camera as precisely as possible. I am playing with elements like exploring different cropping, re-colouring them using transparent overlays, and recently, making them in GIF animations. It’s a brought a new way of looking of working and re-imagining my photography.

©2021 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

I’ve also been focusing more on my silk scarf painting. I developed my own process for applying colour in a way that is similar to tie-dye, but its final result is more like water colour in overall effect. I enjoy working with colour.

My background was originally in fashion design in university, so textile design is an area of great interest to me. There was actually not much focus on surface design when I was studying fashion in school. There was more of an emphasis on creating textile designs on a computer for mass produced printing, and no hand work techniques were taught like dyeing and screen printing. I had to learn these things on my own. I was always very interested in surface design, as I love printed fabrics. I did a lot of my own silk screen printing when I was in high school. I actually want to get back into doing screen printing, but I can’t find the equipment I had, it’s stashed somewhere and I can’t find it! I might have to buy new stuff, which is kind of costly when you add everything up.

©2021 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

I’m getting ready to try some new ideas with some techniques I researched. I’m planning to use my photographs in print design for textile items. I’m excited to try something new, while incorporating my older works. I’m looking forward to the warmer weather. Winter always seems less productive because of the cold.

If you want to see more of my silk scarves, they are posted on Etsy for sale. They are all one-off unique items, as they can never be reproduced to be the same again.

©2021 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.