We recently connected with Haley Nelson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Haley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’ve always felt that an artist should shake things up to rediscover themselves and to reimagine their world through a new lens. This change in perspective ignites my imagination like pouring gas on a dull fire— the roar and sudden whoosh of hot air on your skin is almost overwhelming, but you suddenly feel very alive.

My most meaningful project is a recent one where I can let my imagination wander without the pressure of arriving at an idea to meet a deadline. My food blog, called Gray Duck Bakes (grayduckbakes.co), is my love letter to the two mediums I love most— photography and food.

Because I’m doing this project solely for myself, I can let my mind wander without the pressure of arriving at an idea just to meet an unnecessarily tight deadline. I can experiment, fail, have happy accidents and enjoy the process while doing it.

Haley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Before I became a photographer and a product designer by trade, I was a line cook. I loved my job though I quickly realized that it wasn’t something I could do forever because it’s extremely hard on a person’s body. I had a passion for food, though, that was clear.

Fast forward to my first job out of college where I was working as a graphic designer in the Marketing Tech industry. During that time, I was lucky enough to open my own photography business, Haley Frost Creative, where I focused primarily on wedding photography. I hustled hard as a part-time wedding photographer and, after many successful years serving that industry, I made the decision to step back to focus on something new— to shake things up. My goal was to rediscover my passion for art through my two favorite mediums— photography and food.

Today, I work as a Senior Product Designer in the Financial Tech Industry. My food blog, Gray Duck Bakes, is my passion project where I go back to my roots in the kitchen to explore kick-a$$ comfort food, dazzling sugar cookies, and experiment with classic recipes to get the best tips & tricks. Each recipe presents a new technical and styling challenge— and that’s my favorite part.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

This time around, my goal is to rediscover my creativity through my two favorite mediums, food and photography. Paired together, these two forms of art collide and create a wealth of technical challenges to work through as well as endless styling possibilities. I love challenges and thinking through the process of each recipe, making a plan of attack before I dive in.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is transforming an incoherent idea into a finished piece. The process to get there is always messy and full of failures, but it’s a process that promotes tremendous growth and resilience by the artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: grayduckbakes.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grayduckbakes/

Image Credits
Haley Nelson @grayduckbakes | @haleyfrostcreative