Meet the Artist Behind Edmonston Studios
BIO
In the course of my 25+ years of practice multidisciplinary artist, I create in many disciplines such as illustration, painting, sculpting, and scale miniature design, and more. I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Visual Communications and have sold creative works of art in various forms worldwide over the last few decades through various outlets.
Edmonston Studios has been representative of my passion and love for art. My favorite artist is Picasso simply because his form of expression was like no other. I strongly value the "dare to be different" theory in the creative process. I have worked for Explus Inc., Universal Studios Orlando, The Nassal Company, Loudoun Country Day School, Montverde Academy, and Meltzer Group. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and two adult children, working on my art, baking, playing strategy board games, and quiet time at the beach. I have a great sense of humor and love for life. I am humbly grateful for all who share in my passion and love for art. Thank you taking the time to learn more about me and Edmonston Studios.
Edmonston Studios has been representative of my passion and love for art. My favorite artist is Picasso simply because his form of expression was like no other. I strongly value the "dare to be different" theory in the creative process. I have worked for Explus Inc., Universal Studios Orlando, The Nassal Company, Loudoun Country Day School, Montverde Academy, and Meltzer Group. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and two adult children, working on my art, baking, playing strategy board games, and quiet time at the beach. I have a great sense of humor and love for life. I am humbly grateful for all who share in my passion and love for art. Thank you taking the time to learn more about me and Edmonston Studios.
What does "Artist in the Raw" mean?
As an artist, I practice my art as an "Artist in the Raw". The short meaning is when creating miniatures I do not use patterns, prints, molds, or stamps and freehand draw my colored pencils, ink and watercolor illustrations.
The more emotional definition for "Artist in the Raw" is that my personal passion for creating as a maker is so strong, I intentionally challenge myself to create with authenticity and forego the concept of mass production of products which devalues the originality of an artistic piece and minimizes my passion as a artisan maker.
A Little More Back Story
MINIATURES
When I was a little girl, my Dad started building a doll house for me. I was one of 4 and the only girl in my family. My heart was in Tonka trucks and football. It was not uncommon for one to lift the hat off the many fancy dolls my mother insisted on purchasing for me to discover they adorned fabulous new haircuts. Fast forward to my late 20's and yes, my father was still working on the doll house but suddenly it was in the making for my nieces. I started dabbling in scale miniature painting at this time and found a passion I never knew I had. I spent many years creating these mini works, participating in shows and taking joy in the creative process in a restricted space. Over the years my passion for miniatures continued to blossom. In the mid-2010's I started selling my miniatures in a local artisan shop. Oh, that reminds me, update, at this point I am in my late 40's and yes, my father was still working on the doll house and it had gone from making it for my nieces, to making it for my daughter, to now just working on it a lifetime. It was also at this time I took great interest in the personal challenge to create miniatures without prints, molds, stamps or patterns. In a search to maintain true artistry in my craft and expanding the creative process to include far more than just paintings, I started crafting miniatures with full artisanship in mind. My goal as I dive full time into my artistry is to greatly expand my miniature artisan offerings while I continue to offer vintage and up cycled miniature pieces as well. My workshop is sectioned into my miniatures craftsman areas of woodworking, painting, sculpting, and fabricating.
ILLUSTRATION
I am the ultimate doodler. I still remember Grotto, the little caveman character and my goofy little alien creatures I created when I was in middle school who adorned every notebook alongside the logos and symbols of the many rock bands of the time (Van Hallen, Journey, ZZ Top REO, etc). Who can resist adorable unique characters! Done with the rat race of corporate life and 60 hours work weeks, in the late 90's early 2000's I returned to school to complete my BFA so I could go into teaching while I raised my children. My BFA was in visual communications. It was here I found the perfect match for my illustration and the digital world. My passion for original hand drawn illustrations supersedes my passion for graphic illustration. Modern digital graphics allow me to create incredible hand illustrated drawings using colored pencil and convert them to digital images that maintains the unique look of hand drawn art allowing production on beautiful papery products.