Off to majestic New Zealand we went to interview Faye Kilday. Faye is an artist and poet. She wrote her very first poem when she was five years old and her first poem was published in a national newspaper when she was sixteen.

Faye enjoys Through the Viewfinder (TtV) photography which is a photographic technique in which a photograph is shot with one camera through the viewfinder of a second camera.

Please enjoy the interview, leave Faye a comment, and then use the Share Tools so others can read it, too. Please spread the Zibbet Love!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

   I live in Northland, New Zealand. I moved here in March 2011 after the devastating February earthquake in my hometown of Christchurch. I have ADD, Asperger’s and anxiety disorder, so all the aftershocks were too much for my poor nerves to cope with. I live with my beautiful little house rabbit, Honey, who travelled up from Christchurch with me.

2. Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?

   Gosh, most of the things I love to do are creative! My interests (there’s many of them!) include: crochet, papier mache, polymer clay work, jewellery making, loom knitting, soap making, paper marbling and paper making. I have taught myself so many wonderful crafts over the years… a good side to having ADD and Asperger’s is that I hyper-focus when I’m interested in something until I can do it very well. Sadly, the bad side is that I then move on to a new interest instead of staying with one interest and taking it to new heights. But I am a well-crafted lady I also like to go for walks down to the water and watch the yachts sail by. But I usually take my camera, so that also becomes a creative activity. I love to eat chocolate… now that’s not creative!

3. What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?

   My need to be creative. If I’m not creating regularly I feel empty and sad. I like inspiring others, which I do through my poetry. I love the land and nature which inspire my photography. I love colour and movement which inspire my abstract paintings. The feel of my materials inspires me, especially paint and clay.

4. Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?

   I admire anyone who has succeeded despite having a disability, whether physical or mental. I know how much extra effort and courage it takes to follow your heart when you have big personal challenges to deal with too. And success doesn’t have to be something that makes you rich and famous… sometimes the little things are the biggest achievements of all. When I had agoraphobia, just going outside to check the mail was a huge achievement!

5. What other passions do you have in your life?

   I love rabbits! I am very passionate about my own rabbit, Honey. He’s my fur baby. I like to help rabbit charities around the world and I sponsor a rabbit called Bumper from www.adopt-a-rabbit.org. They run the Rabbit Sanctuary in South Carolina, USA, where rescued and unwanted rabbits have a home for life. I also like helping and inspiring others with Autism Spectrum Disorder as I know how hard life can be when you have it.

6. What do you like most about Zibbet?

   I like how easy it is to list products here. I also like the friendly community.

7. What ‘new’ things would you like to see added to Zibbet?

   I would love a guest shopping cart. I would like my customers to be taken back to my shop if they remove an item from their cart. And I would like to be able to sell my products in New Zealand Dollars.

8. How do you promote your work?

   With much difficulty! Having Asperger’s (high-functioning autism) means I find social situations to be confusing and difficult. I even find this online sometimes. I do have a twitter account, which I use to promote my products. But I don’t like Facebook as I had a bad experience on there a few years ago. I hand out business cards where I can and I sell my products in a few shops in New Zealand and include my website details on the back of my products. I sell my poetry books and eBooks through Amazon and itunes and I have my poetry website listed in my books.

9. How would you recommend other Zibbeters make the most of Zibbet.com?

   Get involved with the community (advice I need to heed myself!).

10. In the future I’d like to be…

    Happy, calm, settled, with peace of mind! I have felt drawn to create tools for spiritual insight and have been working on rune sets, so I think that will be the direction my shop will head in the future. I take one day at a time and go in the direction I feel drawn to.

Tags: Faye Kilday, featured zibbeter