Tell me 5 things everyone should know about you
1. I have a super family including a son and daughter. Both of my kids have a knack for coming up with great designs and ideas for my Zazzle Store. A great help when I occasionally suffer from artist’s block!
2. My favorite holiday is Halloween. I love anything spooky and related to Halloween. I even have a handful of Halloween decorations that I leave up all year round.
3. I have a passion for Genealogy and been researching my family history for quite a number of years.
4. I also have a love for History (goes with the above) which was my major in college. However I have never worked in that field. My past jobs have included Data Analyst, Business Manager, Engraver and now Artist/Designer.
5. I just adore all animals and have two dogs and a cat. I can’t even kill bugs in the house—I scoop them up and put them outside!
Do you have any formal art or computer training?
A little formal art training—I took some art classes in college. The rest has been self taught plus a little bit of natural talent I suspect. My grandmother and both her parents were wonderful artists and I am fortunate to still have many of their works of art. Because of that I was always encouraged to create from the time I was a small child. The computer stuff I learned over the years at various jobs and much of that has been self taught also.
What programs do you use to make your designs?
Mostly my hands! My artwork is created in a couple of different mediums. I can’t seem to pick a favorite so I switch back and forth depending on the subject I am doing. I most often use color pencils and acrylic paints. I do use Photoshop Elements for editing and also for enhancing some of the vintage illustrations that I use from my collection.
What is the best advice you received since starting zazzle?
I have learned so much from all the great people in the forums. I would have to say writing good complete descriptions and making good use of tags has been the best advice. It is something that I am continuously working on to improve.
If you were watching TV and saw an actor in a sitcom wearing your shirt/your poster or card was in the set what would you do?
Fall off the chair!!! Seriously I would probably jump up and down then scream for my daughter to come see. She is one of my best critics and always has a great sense of what designs will do well.
If you could send any 1 pair of shoes from someone else's zazzle shop to a 3rd world country as a gift which shoes would you choose and why?
I chose these Freedom shoes from Bascom Digital Art. Besides the fact they are very cool shoes with a great design, I like the message they represent of Freedom. I see this as freedom from oppression, hunger, pain, poverty and other terrible things many people in this world suffer from every day.
List your shops:
artbymar's Store at Zazzle
Pick three designs to be featured:
Here are three of my favorite designs. The magnet is from my collection of vintage images and I love her because she is so spooky. The notecard and stamp are from my original works of art. I am quite proud of the parrot as I usually do not do realism. The original is hanging in my family room. I love to do skulls and love Day of the Dead art—it fits in with my love of genealogy—celebrating your ancestors who have passed on.
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