Athena Drakopoulou Handicrafts: Beautiful World of Vintage Items

Athena Drakopoulou

Athena Drakopoulou lives and works in Athens, Greece. She has studied graphic design, but never worked as a designer. Her professional career includes visual merchandising and window dressing, scenography, puppet making, art teaching to children and theatrical games with children and youngsters with special needs. Athena has just opened her store in Athens dealing in handmade jewellery and decorative objects. We are glad that we could take an interview with Athena Drakopoulou. Wish you a pleasant reading and viewing of Athena Drakopoulou handicrafts.

AP: Athena, I’m happy to see you here and I hope you will like our questions we’ve prepared for you. Please tell me about your first steps you made in art?

Athena: As far as I can remember, I have always tried to express my thoughts, feelings and ideas through some form of visual art, whether it was painting or crafting. My first works, similar in form to what I am still creating, came about, through experimenting with various materials and techniques during my studies and were crafted for personal use. For the past two years, I have invested most of my time to developing my skills further, combining different materials and techniques enabling myself to fully commit to my work and open my store.

Athena Drakopoulou’s Store

AP: Opening a store of handmade items is an amazing idea. My congratulations to you! Do you have any formal education in design or were you self-taught?

Athena: Studying graphic design was my starting point in finding ways to properly express my ideas. For the past years I have taken many seminars in a wide variety of subjects such as puppet and shadow theater figure making, jewellery making, vitraux, photography and scenography.

AP: Wow, you tried yourself in so many areas. By the way, what genre are your works?

Athena: I have always been interested in objects that have their own history. Most of the items I create are unique and I aim for each one to have a story to tell.

AP: Sounds very intriguing. And how would you describe your items?

Athena: They are certainly unique but, I wouldn’t call them unusual, since they are crafted out of everyday materials which are familiar to everyone. They are also items that can be of everyday use to everyone.

AP: What kind of equipment and techniques do you use to create your handmade items?

Athena: The base of my work can actually be any given item, varying from a bottle cap to furniture. The materials I use are usually paper, lace, fabric, wood, metal and semi-precious stones, old magazines and generally anything vintage.

AP: I would say you have a very exquisite taste. Athena, would you consider yourself as an expert in design?

Athena: I constantly try to develop my technique and skills and come up with new ideas. I try to view everything around me as a potential item to work on and I’m always looking for new materials.

AP: Could you please share your success formula in your activity?

Athena: What I’m always after, is giving my full attention and effort to every single thing I create, regardless of what it may be. I’m trying to work with low cost or discarded items of high aesthetic value, so that my final product can be accessible to anyone. Since my store has very recently opened, I have given all of my attention to making it known to the public, so this has left me with little time to participate in any form of exhibition.

AP: Is there someone who supports you in your creativity?

Athena: Both my family and friends have always been supportive and encouraging. I’m always happy to have their feedback concerning my work whether its praise or objections and I’m really thankful for it.

AP: Would like to wish something to your readers?

Athena: I wish everybody creative, colorful and happy life!

Athena thank you so much for sharing such interesting story! We wish you prosperity, continued inspiration and creative ideas. If you would like to learn more about Athena Drakopoulou handicrafts, feel free to visit her Facebook page. If you’ve got any comments, feel free to leave them below the interview.