BridBird

Bridget Farmer of Bridbird has a healthy obsession with, you guessed it, birds. You can find her scribble gesture etchings of birds, as well as vibrant Gocco screen prints, and brooches in her store, and be sure to check out her blog to keep up with what Bridget is working on.

All of Bridget’s etchings are based off of her life drawings. “All my work is drawn from life, birds, people (I like drawing musicians) buildings, and other everyday things I see around me.” She uses copper plate acid etching, which gives very fine lines. Every print off of a copper plate etching has to be inked, which gives slight variations in each print.

Bridget has moved around quite a bit in her life. She was born in England, but moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland when she was four. She went to college in Edinburgh, Scotland, and now lives in Melbourne, Australia. “I first came here to visit friends just over 2 years ago. I've always been a bit of a bird lover so when I arrived in this new country I was blown away by all the birds I had never seen before. New species, new variations, new bird song, I loved it. I then met my boyfriend, who is Australian, and a visit, initially going to last 5 months, has turn into 2 1/2 years and me applying for permanent residency!”

In Edinburgh, she got her degree for jewelry and silver smithing. In Melbourne she completed her Masters of Fine Art, and Printmaking, which is where she focuses now. Bridget sells her work in shops and galleries in Melbourne, and has stalls in several markets. “I find going to the market of great benefit for, apart from selling, promotional work. I have got most of my shop and gallery contacts from being seen at art and craft markets.”

Her Etsy site gives Bridget an internet base which allows her to show people all of the different things that she offers. “I found the promotional side of etsy daunting to start with, I still consider myself a bit of a newbie, although I've been on since October. It was a bit slow to start with, but my advice is keep going with it. Give out business cards at markets, have your etsy name on your packaging, and do lots of talking in the forums. It can be exhausting, but fun and rewarding when finally your work starts to take off and be noticed.”