art therapy to community planning to wedding invitation designer: an artist bio
it's kinda corny but i'm kinda corny...so pretend you're at a dinner party and you know no one.
you run into me at the dessert table and after we have discussed the yummy edibles (i'm a
huge foodie, i could talk all night about food but maybe you can't soooo) you might find
yourself asking me...
so what do you do for a living?
ok. well, you already know i'm an artist designing and handcrafting custom, keepsake
wedding invitations and enclosures. getting to this page of the website kinda gave it away,
eh? but i also work part-time for a local pack & ship store. i love packaging up everyone's
things and sending them on their way. i'm like a little santa elf.
what kind of odd things have you shipped?
a bright pink artificial christmas tree to a college student (a must have!), 30lb boxes of nails
(like every other week??), fresh local hotdogs to florida (overnight on ice, expensive!)...
hmm...oh! i processed a box that contained a couple turkey heads on ice. the customer's
two sons had each gotten their first. he was shipping them off to be freeze dried or
taxidermied or something. i thought that very strange.
what are your qualifications for doing what you do?
being an artist or working in a pack and ship store?
no no. being an artist. what is your background?
well, growing up my family encouraged me to be creative. i waited a long time for my first
flip-top box of 64 crayola crayons with the sharpener built right into the box but i always had
sketch pads and some kind of drawing tool as far back as i can remember. i participated in
group art lessons at the toledo museum of art, enrolled in every high school art class i
could, including two independent study courses. my college studies focused on psychology
and the fine arts. i have a bachelor of science in art therapy from the university of evansville
in evansville, indiana.
art therapy? and that relates how?
simply put, art therapists encourage client recovery, healing and wellness through creative
visual expression. instead of becoming an art therapist, i took the skills learned and
developed through formal education and some post graduate studies and created for
myself a dream job come true. i take the time to listen carefully to my clients, ask the
important questions that involve them in the creative process and, in doing so, i am able to
create a meaningful visual expression of their love...or their family or their business,
depending on the client and their specific need.
how long have you been in business?
i worked in social services for about 10 years out of college. for six of those years i had the
honor of working as a community planning coordinator of a collaborative county council
pooling resources to develop and/or sustain programming for children and families in need.
i left that job due to federal, state and local funding cuts and took a full-time job managing a
retail website for an international doula organization. about two years into that job, my sister
married. when i asked her if i could design her wedding invitations i really had no idea that it
would be the catalyst i needed to quit my job and open my own art studio. but that's exactly
what i did.
just like that? what made you think you could make a living making invitations?
well, it wasn't such a strange career move. i have always been art driven. my years in social
services were rewarding but the hours i spent working on my sister's invitations...well, it was
like i felt alive for the first time in a long time. the invitations were an instant hit. i received
several commissions as a result. the design was selected for publication in a somerset
wedding vol. 1. only for a moment did i second-guess my decision to start glad girl
graphics, but i haven't looked back since. it's been nearly six years now!
you sound happy. is it genuine?
ahhhh...happy tears. my studio is painted bright yellow. the sun streams in through my
windows nearly all day, passing rays of warm light across my projects. coffee and tea tins
are full of colored markers, pencils and crayons. all my crazy, kitschy knick knacks smile
back at me. with all sincerity, i feel so lucky to be collaborating creatively with the most
amazing individuals and businesses. yes. my heart is very happy.
it's kinda corny but i'm kinda corny...so pretend you're at a dinner party and you know no one.
you run into me at the dessert table and after we have discussed the yummy edibles (i'm a
huge foodie, i could talk all night about food but maybe you can't soooo) you might find
yourself asking me...
so what do you do for a living?
ok. well, you already know i'm an artist designing and handcrafting custom, keepsake
wedding invitations and enclosures. getting to this page of the website kinda gave it away,
eh? but i also work part-time for a local pack & ship store. i love packaging up everyone's
things and sending them on their way. i'm like a little santa elf.
what kind of odd things have you shipped?
a bright pink artificial christmas tree to a college student (a must have!), 30lb boxes of nails
(like every other week??), fresh local hotdogs to florida (overnight on ice, expensive!)...
hmm...oh! i processed a box that contained a couple turkey heads on ice. the customer's
two sons had each gotten their first. he was shipping them off to be freeze dried or
taxidermied or something. i thought that very strange.
what are your qualifications for doing what you do?
being an artist or working in a pack and ship store?
no no. being an artist. what is your background?
well, growing up my family encouraged me to be creative. i waited a long time for my first
flip-top box of 64 crayola crayons with the sharpener built right into the box but i always had
sketch pads and some kind of drawing tool as far back as i can remember. i participated in
group art lessons at the toledo museum of art, enrolled in every high school art class i
could, including two independent study courses. my college studies focused on psychology
and the fine arts. i have a bachelor of science in art therapy from the university of evansville
in evansville, indiana.
art therapy? and that relates how?
simply put, art therapists encourage client recovery, healing and wellness through creative
visual expression. instead of becoming an art therapist, i took the skills learned and
developed through formal education and some post graduate studies and created for
myself a dream job come true. i take the time to listen carefully to my clients, ask the
important questions that involve them in the creative process and, in doing so, i am able to
create a meaningful visual expression of their love...or their family or their business,
depending on the client and their specific need.
how long have you been in business?
i worked in social services for about 10 years out of college. for six of those years i had the
honor of working as a community planning coordinator of a collaborative county council
pooling resources to develop and/or sustain programming for children and families in need.
i left that job due to federal, state and local funding cuts and took a full-time job managing a
retail website for an international doula organization. about two years into that job, my sister
married. when i asked her if i could design her wedding invitations i really had no idea that it
would be the catalyst i needed to quit my job and open my own art studio. but that's exactly
what i did.
just like that? what made you think you could make a living making invitations?
well, it wasn't such a strange career move. i have always been art driven. my years in social
services were rewarding but the hours i spent working on my sister's invitations...well, it was
like i felt alive for the first time in a long time. the invitations were an instant hit. i received
several commissions as a result. the design was selected for publication in a somerset
wedding vol. 1. only for a moment did i second-guess my decision to start glad girl
graphics, but i haven't looked back since. it's been nearly six years now!
you sound happy. is it genuine?
ahhhh...happy tears. my studio is painted bright yellow. the sun streams in through my
windows nearly all day, passing rays of warm light across my projects. coffee and tea tins
are full of colored markers, pencils and crayons. all my crazy, kitschy knick knacks smile
back at me. with all sincerity, i feel so lucky to be collaborating creatively with the most
amazing individuals and businesses. yes. my heart is very happy.
..................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
interview with the artist
| be yourself. life is precious as it is. all the elements for your happiness are already here. there is no need to run, strive, search or struggle. just be. ~thich nhat hahn |
| up close & personal with our glad girl: studio tour personal artwork favorites creative process contact us |
| .................................................................................................................. Copyright © 2006 - 2011 julia slaninka dba glad girl graphics. all rights reserved. this site is the property of julia slaninka. |