I'm Andy Swartz, the artist and owner of skullgarden.net and this Etsy shop. My work is inspired by scientific illustration, nature, symbiotic relationships, inner space exploration, and world mythologies and folklore. I'm mostly self taught and have a BA in Art History. I was never a "talented" artist as a kid and didn't really get started drawing until I was about 16. I taught myself how to draw by doing endless, terrible fan art (sorry mom, sorry god). My skills were learned the hard way, and I try to encourage everyone who tells me that they wish they were talented by reminding them that they can do anything they put their minds to. It helps to have a weird mind, though.

I've been a professional artist since 2007 and have been making acrylic and colored pencil paintings on wood in this style since 2011. Most of the skulls I paint are from my own collection, and the landscapes are often places that I've visited myself while traveling for art festivals and conventions (and sometimes for fun). My deck, The Wooden Tarot, was first published in 2013 and was one of the first indie tarot decks funded through Kickstarter and sold here on Etsy. I've since published three more decks, and three art books. I've been featured in a few magazines, including Juxtapoz in 2014. I do about 20 art fairs and conventions a year where I've won Best in Show and Best in Category awards, and try to put out a new illustration project every other year or so. It's important for me to keep busy and to keep pushing my personal boundaries and skills, and the idea of becoming stagnant or stale is one of my biggest fears. Having a large and cohesive, but constantly shifting style and body of work is my goal, and I'm always working on something new.

The Skullgarden Art Shop is run by a two-person team (the cats contribute absolutely nothing) right from our home in Tuscaloosa, AL. I scan, edit, print, trim, and pack every single print that is sold. I mount all of the prints on wood myself. It is a labor of love that we both feel blessed (and a occasionally cursed) to maintain.