Lali Mayster

My name is Lali and I design personalized creations made from your memories and cherished photographs. 

Whether I’m creating a first year milestone design, an engagement gift, or a golden wedding anniversary canvas, each and every piece represents an eagerly anticipated celebration of lives lived, and happy memories made.

I’d sit for hours, re-living feelings, and losing myself in the pages.  All that changed in my early twenties when my entire life’s worth of albums was stolen (along with a jewelry box) in a house move.  There’s literally nothing left of the first twenty or so years of my life.

Losing all of your photographs does something to you emotionally; perhaps it makes you reminisce more about the past, or long for the moments you know you’ll never get back like your earliest childhood memories.  In my mind’s eye, I can still see each page of my baby album so clearly.  Some stand out more than others like the very first page; I can remember everything about the way my mom was holding me, the color and folds in her hospital gown, her hairstyle…I know that someday these memories will fade, and though I hope they never will, I’ll still never have a baby picture to show my son what his mama looked like as a baby girl. 

I’ve been obsessed with photos ever since; taking them, restoring them, and showcasing them.  

I can’t stress this enough, your pictures are such a gift.

I wish everyone knew how lucky they are to have such precious pieces of their past to look back on, and I love helping people use their photos to create stunning works of art.
 
My designs begin with your memories.  

Besides creating custom print work, I also work with pictures taken using regular digital cameras, as well as had-to-be-there moments snapped on iPhones, or scanned images from yesteryear, recovered from dusty attics and well-thumbed family albums.  I feel so privileged to be trusted with peoples’ memories, and its wonderful to be a part of giving forgotten photos a new lease of life. 

It’s important to me that each image be treated with the upmost respect.  

Before I begin, I digitally correct and enhance every image you send me, using the same editing processes I use in my professional re-touching work.  I correct underexposure, the odd red eye, and poor color saturation; it’s a lengthy process but ultimately so rewarding, and ensures your final design is as beautiful as can be. 

Unlike many pictorial artists, I place each photograph individually, to create a bespoke design that ensures each and every photo in the piece is showcased in the best way possible. 

I put a lot of heart into creating each design.  

I know that the people who buy my work have spent a lot of time looking for the perfect gift, sifted through hundreds of photos to find exactly the right images, and more often than not, they have commissioned me months before the event the artwork will be a gift for.  

I feel a huge sense of responsibility as I create each piece, all the while imagining the look on the face of the recipient as they tear the paper off and reveal their canvas, as well as the imagining how wonderful the gift giver will feel to have chosen a gift that’ll bring so much joy to their loved one.