LORENA SIMINOVICH
Occupation: Artist Website: Lorena Siminovich & Petit Collage Biography: Lorena Siminovich (born in Buenos Aires) is a San Francisco based artist, and illustrator. She owns Petit Collage, a company offering affordable modern art for children. With a background in graphic design, and an extensive career as an art director, she became interested in design for children five years ago when she moved from Buenos Aires to New York. She then became responsible for art direction and product development for mudpuppy, an award winning company that designs toys for kids, whose products can be found in museum stores across the country. It was also in NY that she began her illustration career. Her illustrations clients include Citibank, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, Gymboree and Ikea, among others. Lorena has written and illustrated several children's books, the first one to be released in 2008. What do you do and how did you start? I own a company called Petit Collage that sells handmade modern wall decor. I license...I also have a career as an illustrator. How old were...
HOPE WALLACE
Occupation: Owner, Artist and Designer Website: http://www.paperrelics.com">Paper Relics Biography:Hope Wallace is a collage artist and designer who works out of her home studio in the outskirts of Baltimore. Hope’s designs are sold throughout the country in boutiques and on her website. Her work has been featured in several major magazines including Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Magazine and Somerset Studio’s Legacy Magazine. She also has written articles and provided artwork for other national publications. She loves working with antique papers and images that evoke a bygone era. What do you do and how did you start? I am a collage artist and designer who runs my own online shop. I sell my own greeting card line, collage prints, ephemera and design services. I first got started when a friend took me to her rubber stamp club and I found a piece of vintage sheet music on the table. I grabbed it and spent the whole night cutting it up and using it in little collages -- I never even touched a rubber stamp or ink...
JILL BLISS
Occupation: Artist and Designer Website: portfolio and shopping Biography: jill bliss draws, sews and makes things in her studio everyday. her studio is nestled in between two majestic redwood trees and an ancient cherry tree, one hour north of san francisco. jill's small company, blissen, collaborates with others to make beautiful, useful and thoughtful items in limited editions from reused materials. What do you do and how did you start? i draw with colored pens, and sew with various sewing machines! my favorite materials are paper and fabric, though occassionally other types of materials sneak their way into the limited edition stationery and fabric accessories i make. How old were you when you realised you wanted to do and how old were you when you actually began? ever since i was small i wanted to be a grown up, draw or make things all day, have a dog and live by a beach and a redwood forest. i have 3 out of 4 of those things now, almost there! What steps did you take...
TERA LEIGH
Occupation: Designer and Author Website: Tera Leigh Biography: Tera Leigh is the author of The Complete Book of Decorative Painting (North Light Books). She is spokesperson (and co-developer) of the Paintability line of painting products, and the Robert Simmons Sapphire brush line. She also writes columns for four painting magazines, and has had her designs published in many craft and home decor magazines. What do you do and how did you start? My first book, The Complete Book of Decorative Painting, was released in October 2001. I currently write columns for PaintWorks and Decorative Artist's Workbook, and will be adding columns in Quick and Easy Painting and Tole World magazines. I also freelance for many other magazines. I committed myself to becoming an artist in 1999. My first creative goals were to create a product line and write a reference book to make it easier for people to learn how to paint. I have a real passion for creativity and I want to create products that encourage people to use and explore their own...
SARAH LUGG
Occupation: Artist Website: Sarah Lugg Biography: Sarah is an English artist who works in mixed media. She was brought up in the beautiful countryside in the south of England, spending her weekends and most of her holidays with her Grandparents on the Isle of Wight. These formative years of beach combing have greatly influenced Sarah's work today. How did you begin? After graduating in graphic design she spent her early twenties working as a designer for Sir Terence Conran, then moved onto freelance work which enabled Sarah to spend more time working on her collages and paintings. It wasn't until 1995 that Sarah became a full time artist exhibiting twice a year in New York at the Gift Fair and having gallery shows back in England. The demand for Sarah's originals lead to her and her husband publishing a series of limited edition prints. A combination of this and the publicity she has attracted, including being Artist in Residence for Victoria magazine has lead to an ever expanding licensing program of Sarah's images Worldwide....
SHARYN SOWELL
Occupation: Paper Artist Website: Sharyn Sowell Biography: Sharyn Sowell loves paper, scissors and old printing presses. She uses all three to design beautiful hand cut paper that is sold as original wall art and used as a basis for stationery, greeting cards, posters, and all sorts of other interesting products from fabric to garden gates, dinnerware and stickers. What do you do and how did you start? I cut paper freehand and use it for all kinds of interesting things- framed artwork, garden gates, candles, stationery & greeting cards, and more. I also print my own work and reproduce vintage pieces on an antique printing press in my studio. I started cutting paper when I needed to amuse my two wiggly toddler sons in a rowboat on an afternoon fishing trip. I had no idea that it would turn into such a huge part of my life. How old were you when you realized what you wanted to do and when you actually began? This is the second career of my adult life, but...
KERI SMITH
Occupation: Artist and Writer Website: Keri Smith Biography: Keri Smith is an award winning illustrator and writer living in Canada. She has a wide following of clients in North America, Europe, and Japan. Most recently Forbes, The Boston Globe, Better Homes and Gardens, Ford Motor Co,, The Body Shop, The Washington Post, Teen People Magazine, Yahoo, Bon-Appetit, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Canadian Airlines, Utne Reader, and The Canadian Opera Company. She currently resides in a "magic cottage" outside of Toronto, painting, illustrating, creating, writing, reading, and living out loud. What do you do and how did you start? How old were you when you realised you wanted to do what you're currently doing and how old were you when you actually began. What jobs did you have before you went out on your own? I think I knew what I wanted to do when I was nine years old. We were reading a book called "Jacob Two-two Meets the Hooded fang" by Mordecai Richler, illustrated by Fritz Wegner. I loved the illustrations and...
KATHERINE DUNN
Occupation: Artist Website: Katherine Dunn Biography: Although she received her BA in Art with an emphasis in ceramics, Katherine did not start painting until her late 30's. When she did, she chose to work independently as a freelance illustrator for 9 years, working with national clients from her home base in Minneapolis. But she knew she would eventually go the gallery route, and that yearning became more powerful after a Minneapolis gallery invited her to do a solo show in 2001. At the same time, her heart and soul were for some reason pulling her West, and she moved to Portland, Oregon in 2002 where she eventually met her husband, a landscaper. They now live on Apifera Farm in the Willamette Valley where they farm 3000 lavender plants, and raise sheep. She is grateful to be living out her dreams and internal myths.. Her work is shown in Oregon, Santa Barbara and Santa Fe. She also has a variety of print and card lines. How did you start? I was always a free spirit....
KATHY CANO-MURILLO
Occupation: Artist and Writer Website: Crafty Chica Biography: I'm a self taught artist who tries to have no boundaries or limits!! I have a full time Chicano art business, I'm a newspaper movie and craft columnist and I'm an author of artsy craft books. I do tv segments on DIY stuff every Friday on the local news. And I'm a mom! What do you do and how did you start? After being thwarted by teachers in art and music during my grade school years I grew up believing I had no artistic talent whatsoever. But I was always the girl who was asked to "make the posters". It wasn't until I met my husband that I began to dabble in crafts. I was the manager of his band (we were just friends then) and he inspired me to make stuff and sell my wares at his gigs - to keep me from dancing with cute guys bet! During the first set, I felt like an idiot because no one bought anything. As the night...
JULIE VALENTINE
Occupation: Artist and Designer Website: Divine Goddess Designs Biography: Divine Goddess was born out of my innate need to have fun and play. I've also been profoundly inspired by artists like Andrea Smith, Shiloh McCloud and Christina Lopp-daring, succulent women who know what they like and aren't afraid to trust their instincts and live. The women in my work are both soft and sensuous and bold and beautiful. They are amalgamations of people I know who exude the kind of strength and brilliance that just can't be contained. What do you do? I create vibrantly colorful and bold images of real women in their true goddess nature. I capture the essence of what I admire most about women and what shines forth that they may not see. I create acrylic on canvas and watercolor originals and a full line of gift items from the original artwork. My product line includes lush velvet pillows, lavender sachets, goddess gazing mirrors, wish candles, and women's apparel. How did you start? I worked as a manager in web...