Christine Shields Photography: 2012

I recently took some bio photos for one of my best friends Austie Eckley. I can honestly say she is one of the greatest people I have ever had in my life. I have been so lucky to meet so many wonderful, amazing people through my profession. I am truly grateful to have connected with this loving and positive woman. When you find someone special they are encouraging, supportive and up lifting, Austie does all these things for me. She makes me want to be a better person, artist and gives me courage to believe in myself and what I do. I am so happy to have her as a friend and colleague. Austie is incredibly creative and innovative as a veil designer and makeup artist. I have always admired her (even before I had met her) for her ability, originality and outlook. Please enjoy these photos of my beautiful friend and a little Q&A I did with her.

What inspires you? I am inspired by so many different things... I think the biggest thing that inspires me is my work space and my mood. I love to listen to music while I work and have to be in the mood to create new pieces. I am also inspired by all of my brides different personal styles when they custom design a piece. How do you come up with your veil designs? I love to let my designs come to me naturally. I think its so important to try as best you can to create pieces that don't look like another designer's work. If you are not original with your designs you are not designing. I also love finishing each piece with a vintage name. My favorite of course is the Eleanor which is my daughter's name. What did you do first? makeup and hair or designing head pieces? I actually started in Makeup about 10 years ago. When I started working in weddings I would always wish I could design the brides veil to go along with the hair and makeup that I was doing. I feel that my veils and headpieces are an extension of my hair and makeup. My favorite part of my job is getting to not only do the brides hair and makeup but also to custom design her headpiece. What are the things in life that bring you joy? My faith in Christ is who brings me Joy every day. Because of him I have the most incredibly loving husband and such a smart and beautiful little girl. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be? I would love to go to Greece and hopefully one day my husband and I will be able to. What would you do while you where there? I would relax in the sun with a glass of wine Who is your dream client? I don't know if I necessarily have a dream client. I love letting God work through me in my business by blessing women when I feel that I am supposed to. I would say my dream clients are women that feel my work has blessed them in some way. Who is your favorite local artist? This is a hard one for me because I LOVE Holly Stalder, Kate Towers, and miss Claire La Faye. I do have to say I admire and respect Myra Callan from Twiggs and Honey so much. Her designs are stunning and she hand makes all of her pieces as apposed to going out and buying pre maid materials. Its hard to argue the fact that she is one of the best! What is your favorite era? I love the 20's-60's. I especially love the 50's and early 60's because Audrey Hepburn was such an incredible fashion icon. If you had to describe style in three words, what would they be? unique, feminine, contemporary.