Copyright © 2014 Foto Macro - All Rights Reserved

Meet our blogger of the week, Angie Lilly. She is a true nature fan. She comes from an artistic family background and is herself, stuffed with talent. She likes to call herself a creative person, but to be more specific about her art, one can say, she is a fantastic photographer, a poet and above all a nature lover, as you can see in her works.

'Foto Macro' subtitled as 'nature (close-up)' is one of her blogs, which features a collection of wonderful nature photographs clicked by her. She captures the scenic beauty of nature very well. Her other blog, 'Poetic Pussy Cats' showcases her other love interest, cats! There are some cute and interesting photographs of cats alongside some poems composed by Angie on this blog.

Read on for the exclusive interview with Angie to know more about her and how she nurtured her love for nature:

1. Hi Angie! Please introduce yourself to our readers.

I guess it would start off with saying that I am an artist, a creative person. I guess I always have been. I began writing fiction and poetry when I was in the seventh grade. I come from a family of artists. My great-grandfather was a published poet, my grandmother was a piano teacher, my father was a painter and he also worked with chalk pastels, and my mother is a painter and she also dabbles in crafts. While both my parents gave me creativity, it is my mother who I credit with my love for nature, as she instilled in me a respect for the plants and animals of this planet from a very early age.  I have always had an appreciation for nature and for seeing the beauty in things not necessarily beautiful, but it was not until 2008, when I got my first "good" camera, that I was able to begin using photography as a creative outlet.  With the support and encouragement of my life partner, Scott, I have discovered the photographer inside me.  I also share my life with five house cats who are also, each in their own right, artistic Muses for some of my poetry and photography.

2. Tell us about your blogs "Foto Macro" and "Poetic Pussy Cats."

"Foto Macro" and "Poetic Pussy Cats" are two of my three Tumblr blogs.

"Foto Macro" is an outlet where I share my love for the macro photography I enjoy taking of the natural world around me.  The premise of this blog is to share a photo a day of the natural world, hence the tagline "nature {close-up}."  I sometimes share milestones in my macro photography career on this blog as well, but the majority of it is simply a daily post of single photos. I don't delve into my personal life on this blog very often and I don't write blog posts per se on this blog. It is more of a photographic journey of the natural world as I see it through the lens of my camera.

"Poetic Pussy Cats" is where I am able to share three of my passions in one place: poetry, photography, and cats.  Cats have been an important part of my life since I was born. There has literally never been a time in my life when I have not had a cat. The most cats I've had at once is 13, but I am currently down to five.  They are my children of choice, my fur babies.  Poetry, as I mentioned before, has been a passion of mine since the seventh grade.  I actually have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English specializing in Creative Writing.   And, as I mentioned before, photography of the natural world is a great passion of mine as well. So, to me, it only made sense to start a blog where I shared all three.  On this blog I share photos that I have taken of my cats, poetry I've written that has been inspired by my cats, as well as more personal stories and information regarding my life with my cats, both past and present.

Copyright © 2014 Foto Macro - All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2014 Poetic Pussy Cats - All Rights Reserved

Honestly, I don't think that the two blogs are that different. They actually have more in common with each other than it may seem. I feel that both are different sides of the same coin.  To me, they are both ways for me to share my photography and love of nature. One, "Poetic Pussy Cats," just focuses solely on cats and stretches itself a bit to incorporate my poetry.  But both display my love of macro photography and nature. Even my poetry has been called "macro poetry," because it tends to focus on very small snapshots of my life experiences with my cats.  That said, "Poetic Pussy Cats" is a more personal blog and more diverse than "Foto Macro"; however, I do think they have quite a bit in common with each other, creatively speaking.  It is not hard at all for me to manage both because both come from my heart.

4. You seem really attached to cats. How many cats do you own? Can you tell us something about them?

I am very attached to cats. Cats have been a constant in my life since birth. To me, cats represent unconditional love. Unconditional love is something that is hard to get from family and friends, and humans in general. But with cats, it is always there. They speak to me on an entirely different level than humans. I actually prefer the company of my cats to a lot of human interaction. I'm not sure what that says about me but I think that is a high compliment for cats. I currently have five house cats. They range in age from almost 9 years old to nearly 17 years old.  Four of my fur babies (Piggy, Gus, Meeko, and Oats) are siblings that we rescued from a feral cat colony that used to live in the backyard of our old home. We bottle raised them from before the time their eyes were open.   Our fifth cat, Marilyn, is our oldest. She was also a rescue. All of the cats that I have ever owned have been rescues with the exception of one.  My cats bring me and my partner tons of laughter, love, and joy.

Copyright © 2014 Poetic Pussy Cats - All Rights Reserved

Thank you! I often say that I have always had a photographer's eye, inherited from my mother, but it wasn't until 2008 that I was able to actually start to capture the images I wanted.  In 2008, I was able to afford my first, decent, digital camera. I have not looked back since then.  I am currently on my third camera since 2008.  Back in 2008, I started to really notice the world around me through my camera's lens. That camera had a "macro" setting. That setting changed my life, literally. When I go for a photo shoot today, what I'm really doing is meditating. I lose myself in the world around me. One of my favorite things to do is to get down in the dirt like a bug. That may sound a little crazy, but, from that vantage point, I see things completely differently than I do from above. Some of my favorite shots are taken in this way.

I have had no training in photography at all. Everything is completely self-taught through experience, which means a lot of trial and error (mostly error).  For every photo that I post on either of my blogs, there can be hundreds that did not make the cut.  It can be quite tedious to get what I consider the "perfect" shot.  I am rarely 100% satisfied with any photo I take. My partner says that I am my own worst critic when it comes to everything and I definitely agree with him there.

Copyright © 2014 Foto Macro - All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2014 Foto Macro - All Rights Reserved

What would I like to be labeled as, a poet or photographer? That is tough. I think above all I would prefer to just be called an artist or creative. That may sound hoity-toity or even conceited, but I certainly do not intend it to be that way. I can't call myself one or the other because I truly am both equally. I do take more photos than write poems, but both are equally important to my creative endeavors. I have been a writer much longer than a photographer. I have been a writer since the age of 12 but a photographer only since the age of 35.  Both bring me great pleasure and one inspires the other.

Here is a poem titled "Morning Ritual" by Angie from her blog, 'Poetic Pussy Cats':

Sleek fur slides in and settles on my naked lap.
Just showered, still damp,
I curse the dark hairs now clinging to my thighs,
while smilingly stroking the purring mass.
It stretches and turns,
looks at me,
squinting pure narcissistic bliss.
The morning sun splaying across shiny black fur,
warming both it and me,
literally and spiritually.
I suppose a few stray puffs won’t dirty me after all.

Copyright © 2014 Poetic Pussy Cats - All Rights Reserved

I have been very lucky to have received a lot of compliments, critiques, feedback, etc. from the followers of my blogs and fans of my work. I cherish all of them so much. I often use the phrase "it means more to me than you could ever know" when thanking people who take the time to give me such feedback. That may sound cliché but I've never spoken truer words. I think the biggest compliment that I have ever received has come more than once from more than one person: your work speaks to my experience.  If a photo I take or a poem that I write can truly speak to another person's life, make them feel something good or bad, create any emotion, then my job is done. For isn't that the whole purpose of art? To elicit an emotional response from the viewer?  For me, it is.

8. What other photographers and bloggers do you look up to?

I don't really follow other photographers' blogs per se. I do follow a couple of bloggers who speak to the environmental and animal-rights activist side of my personality.  I also have personal friends who blog. While they have photography on their blogs, I don't know that any of them would consider themselves photographers in the artistic sense.  I do enjoy following a variety of photographers on Instagram. I don't know if they would be comfortable with me sharing their account/blog names here though. Plus, I don't want to just mention a couple and risk hurting the feelings of the others. I hope that is okay!

9. How do you promote your blogs?

I primarily promote my blogs via all of my social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, etc.  For my "Foto Macro" blog specifically, I also have a Facebook page where I cross-post photos, as well as more personal updates.  I occasionally even post things from my "Poetic Pussy Cats" blog on that Facebook page.  I also have friends who share some of my work via their social media accounts, one fellow poet who often writes comment poems in response to my photography when it speaks to him personally, and my partner shares my work on his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts.

10. What tips would you like to pass on to budding photographers and bloggers?

The number one tip I would like to pass on regarding both blogging and photography, and poetry to an extent, is to do it for yourself. I don't have a lot of followers on my blogs. I don't get as much feedback as I would like. For someone who has as much social media presence as I do personally, I could let this get me down. But I don't.  I write my poems and I take my photos and I share them on my blogs, etc. for myself. I want to start a conversation with people about my art but, if that doesn't happen, I'm okay with it. The main goal for me is to have a creative outlet. With my blogs, I reach this goal every day. Do I want to go further? Would I love to be published as a writer and photographer? Of course! And little by little these things are happening. I just have to keep being patient. Patience pays off in so many ways. In the past year, I've had three of my photos published for a nonprofit organization that I am passionate about. It's a start! And I'm excited!  And now, here I am being featured on your fantastic website as the "blogger of the week." Patience pays off!  As long as you keep the passion in your art and you do it for yourself and not with any grand ulterior motive, you will be happy and you will succeed.  Don't set yourself up to fail by setting unrealistic goals from the beginning.  The Internet is full of artists. The Internet is full of bloggers. I am but a drop in a gigantic ocean of buckets. But I am getting some attention. It's all really the luck of the draw, so enjoy the ride. I know I am!

Thank you so much Angie for doing this interview. It was so good to know more about you and your blogs. We wish you all the best for the future.

Stay tuned to E-junkie for more information.