Through a maker’s eyes
Illustrator and designer Seeta Roy invites us into her creative world, where her younger days influence her style as an artist today.
Hello, who are you?
I am Seeta and I am a self-taught illustrator from Australia, currently based in Port Macquarie which is a coastal regional town of New South Wales.
Tell us about your creative journey. When did you start illustrations?
My creative journey started when I was born, basically! I have been drawing my whole life but I I didn’t really think of it as a career until I was in my late twenties. I illustrated a bit on the side as I worked full-time, but now, only recently in my mid-thirties, decided to take it seriously as a profession. I am fully self-taught so it’s been quite a slow journey.
A lot of your designs are flora and fauna. Why is this?
I have always drawn animals and had such a love and passion for them, especially as a child. Everything was animals. All my toys were animals, I was obsessed with Disney movies that were just animals (The Lion King especially) and a lot of my influences as an artist now are from my 10-year-old self. It’s who I tap into for creative inspiration.
Flowers are a new thing. I love flowers, but when I started drawing them somehow they just unlocked inside me. I am still trying to figure out the reason I draw them, other than that they are beautiful and I love beautiful and delicate yet strong things.
What is your creative process? How do you get to a finished piece?
There’s a lot of laying down and staring at nothing in my creative process. I am a planner and everything I do is planned. In no way am I a “just sit and draw your feelings” person. There’s a lot of thinking, I have to have the piece finished in my head before I even start. Sometimes it looks a bit different to how I planned but it’s pretty close to the mark.
What do your days look like at the moment?
I wish I could say my day is just drawing 24/7 but I can’t sit down for long. I am always up and about running errands. I am trying to do yoga and exercise in the morning before I work, then I sit and make a list for the day of what I am going to do, and then I just do it, in between finding some errand to do. I hate spending ages on something so I like to just get it done. I am trying to slow down. A piece is finished when it’s fulfilled the plan I had for it in my head. Or sometimes it’s just a feeling, like ‘Okay, this is done now’.
Do you have a favourite piece that you’ve created?
My favourite piece would be my Ibis scarf. I love it and I would love to do more silk scarves in the future.
Describe your workspace for us. Where does all the creativity happen?
My creative space where I work is a small room in my house overlooking my back garden. It has a great view of the bird bath. It’s pretty standard. It’s not some Instagram influencer pad with hanging plants and whatever else. It’s usually a mess with books and scraps of paper. My true creative space is in my garden.
Port Macquarie, Australia
