Randi Grace Nilsberg - Fine Art Photographer with too Many Ideas to Settle with One Style

Randi Grace Nilsberg

Horten, Norway

Mediums: Photography and digital art

Style: Various

Favorite Quotes: “A Camera didn’t make a great picture any more than a typewriter wrote a great novel.” – Peter Adams
”Saying a camera takes nice pictures is like saying a guitar plays nice melodies.” -  Angelino Pan y Vino

Favorite Books: The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown, Labyrinth – Kate Mosse, The Shadow of the Sun – Ryszard Kapuscinski

Favorite Movies: The Green Mile, Scent of a Woman

 

Procrastination © Randi Grace Nilsberg - I made this abstract while procrastinating writing a job application.  Ingredients: oil, paint, water, mirror and light.

 

I can’t say that I have developed my own style.  I doubt that you can look at a photo I took and immediately know that it was taken by me.  I try out different ideas and techniques, but as soon as I feel that I master them, I want to move on to something else.

Please tell us about your first experience creating.

When I was little the best Christmas gifts I could get were coloring books, crayons, modeling clay or anything that encouraged my creativity.  For many years drawing was one of my favorite things to do.  When I was 9 my parents took my brother and me on a trip to England to see my grandparents.  Someone gave me a Diana plastic-bodied camera, and I took my very first photos, but it wasn’t until several years later that my interest in photography was fully awakened.  This happened after I had seen a beautiful photo in National Geographic Magazine of a tree with a snow covered apple.

 

 

Message in a Bottle © Randi Grace Nilsberg - Still-life with textures.

 

What music do you like to have playing while creating art?

I usually keep the radio on, so I listen to all kinds of music when I create.  Sometimes I work in total silence or outside with natural sounds around me.

 

If you have a job besides being an artist, can you tell us about it?

I have had many different jobs through the years, among others, working at a photo lab, advertising company and even electronic companies, but I have had a small photography business on the side for many years. At the moment I’m self-employed and work only with photography.  I also have a modest blog.

 

Misty Morning © Randi Grace Nilsberg - This is a photo from a morning walk by the canal in Horten, Norway.

 

What are you trying to convey to viewers through your art?

I hope to show the viewer something extraordinary or beautiful in everyday things and also to let them have a pleasant escape from reality for a moment.  I think my art would be a good investment for hospitals and institutions as well as any home or office.

 

Tell us about your creative process, from the beginning of a typical piece to its completion:

Sometimes I shoot whatever catches my eye.  Sometimes I think about an idea for a while and do some planning beforehand.  After the image is captured I either leave it as it is or enhance it in Photoshop by adding textures, text or combining several images into a greeting card or collage.

 

What things inspire you to create art?

Ideas and inspiration are everywhere.  Music, light and shadows, TV, books, nature, other artists and just about anything can inspire me to create.  Ideas often appear out of nowhere.

 

Solitude © Randi Grace Nilsberg - A single bougainvillea flower with added textures.

 

Have you sold any of your artworks? How?

I have sold hundreds of greeting cards through a fundraising project for my kids’ school, and also online.  A few pieces have been sold to friends and family.

 

How do you promote your art on the internet?

Through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Houzz and all the online channels I can find. 

 

Influences

There are so many great photographers and artists out there that inspire me that it’s hard to pick one.  I often find myself using their work to make something completely different.

 

Please recommend another artist you admire, and tell us a little about them:

One of my favorite artists is Paul Lovering who is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.  His way of capturing a person’s soul in his portraits is stunning.

 

Windy © Randi Grace Nilsberg - I shot this windmill on a trip to Oklahoma.  Textures are added to the photo using Photoshop.

 

Tell us something interesting in your life.

In the spring of 2003 I woke up one morning and just knew that I had to go to Africa. This funny feeling told me that I had a job to do there. I love travelling, so Africa would definitely be a future destination, but this wasn’t the time, so I pushed away the thoughts. 

A couple of months later my daughter was chosen along with 5 other 6th graders for an exchange program with a school in Tanzania. In September five African kids came to Norway, and since I was working for a photo lab I managed to get disposable cameras and prints for all the kids in the exchange program. 

In November I went to Tanzania as a parents’ representative with the Norwegian group.  In my suitcase I had the African kids’ enlarged photos for an exhibition at their school.  So that was my job.  Back in Norway we had an exhibition with the Norwegian kids’ photos. 

 

Do you have an embarrassing moment in your life?

I do my best to repress such memories.  So far I’ve succeeded quite well in doing so. 

 

If you could live your life over again, would there be anything you would do differently?

I would listen to my heart about being a photographer and not listen to those who told me how hard it would be and that I should get a real job.

 

What plans do you have for the future?

Create more and never give up on making a living from working with what I love.

 

Do you have any good advice for emerging artists?

You can become whatever you want if you want it enough.  Make sure you have a specific goalspecific goal and stay focused on reaching it!  Don’t let life or people tell you that you can’t!

 

Randi Grace Nilsberg - Fine Art Photographer with too Many Ideas to Settle with One Style

Horten, Norway
 
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