thegraphicsmonarch

Growing up in a house where the walls were full of family photos, bedrooms had both great aunt’s and grandmother’s hope chests and many, various family heirlooms lay on shelves, I was raised with a deep appreciation and love of family history. My father and his parents had collections of old books that I enjoyed reading and looking through. Antique and vintage illustrations and art were particularly fancy and frilly, and the hours spent enjoying them inspired an appreciation of art and a desire to be artistic.

The greatest joy that my digital art gives me is that I get to bring antique and vintage art back to life for artists to enjoy in their work. The second joy is the inspiration that these images give me in creating endless and unlimited new, beautiful images. As I lovingly restore old illustrations, vintage photos, and beautiful antique art, I’m filled with the ideas of possibilities of how these forgotten images can live again in creative new designs.

I first began using antique and vintage images from ephemera that had been handed down in my family, such as photos, letters, postcards, books, and other various bits and pieces of cherished paper memories. Then, I began discovering vintage ephemera in antique and thrift shops, bringing it home and incorporating either the actual ephemera I had purchased or printed copies into handmade cards, paper gifts, and tags. My favorite source for antique images is Victorian scrapbooks. They are filled with countless, little paper scraps and die cuts that are whimsical and pretty and are a real joy to use in art and craft projects.

When I got my first computer and scanner in the late 1980’s, my art and crafts took off in a wonderful new direction that allowed me to alter my work in more creative ways, and I’m still expanding on the possibilities of what I can create with the images I discover. Each image I work with in my photo editing software is like a slab of clay that I can mold into any form I wish. My artistic expression continues to unfold, and it is my wish to inspire other artists with the digital images and paper art I offer in my Etsy shop, as well as my digital clip art and craft ideas blogs.

Over the decades I’ve honed my skills as both a graphic and paper artist and shared my love for antique ephemera and art with other artists. I believe that sharing inspiration, ideas, and creative expression serves to make each artist better and her work richer.