Jennifer Nelson Artists Join Workbook

If you didn’t already know it from her art, that smirk on her face gives it away. Lauren Lowen is our resident Queen of Snark, and she expresses her infectious humor beautifully through her work. Since graduating from the Illustration Department at The Rhode Island School of Design, Lauren’s artwork has appeared in magazines, on book covers, and even as stickers! She taught Illustration at both Montserrat College of Art and RISD before starting a new chapter working in the gift and stationery industry.  Lauren lives with her husband in Nashville, creating whimsical illustrations and surface design for a variety of markets including editorial, publishing and licensing.  She said “You can find me currently teaching at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film and probably eating sushi,” her favorite food.  

In 2006, Rae Ritchie started out in the fashion industry, designing women’s and kids’ fashion accessories for major retailers. “It was creative,” she said, “but I most felt alive while creating prints and graphics for those products.”  She was always painting on the side, so Rae decided to focus on fabric design and illustration for greeting cards, stationary, gifts and apparel. I’m so glad she made the transition and so are our clients! Rae lives with her husband and her cat Nomi in Minneapolis, MN. “My watercolor and gouache paintings are created in a sunny little room in my home,” she said. Rae confesses that she’s greatly inspired by the lushness of nature, classic children's books and old photographs. It shows!  

Christine De Carvalho is a licensed artist and freelance Illustrator based in Southern California. A graduate of The Academy of Art in San Francisco, as well as the Studio Bercot in Paris France, Christine has developed textile collections for clients including John Galliano and Christian Lacroix. Much of her work is inspired by her love of folk art, fairytales, and vintage children's books. Animals and nature are some of her favorite subjects to illustrate.  

Illustrator and pattern designer Miriam Bos comes from the Netherlands. (Interesting trivia: Her last name is Dutch for “forest.”) Miriam loves creating art that brings a smile to your face. It sure works for me! A big lover of nature, Miriam lives in Apeldoorn, a city that is surrounded by forest (“bos”) and heide (heath). “On sunny days I love making long bicycle trips with my husband while exploring the area,” she said. Miriam started out as an illustrator of children’s books and magazines. In 2012, she jumped into pattern design and put her heart into developing new illustrations and surface designs for a whole different market. Now she is a fabric designer with Birch Fabrics and has two fabric collections in her name. Miriam creates in both traditional and digital techniques. “I like to mix them together,” she said, “which gives my artwork a distinct and quirky style.”  

I’m so pleased to work with Kelly Angelovic. Her art reflects her positive attitude. “Working as an illustrator lights me up – it makes my soul sparkle,” she said. Kelly’s mother was a graphic designer, so she grew up in a household where artistic endeavors were encouraged. After attending school for business in Colorado and for graphic design in Seattle, Kelly established her studio in 2008. It wasn’t until her daughter was born in 2011 though, that Kelly fell head-over-heels in love with the art of image making. Specializing in hand-lettering and surface-pattern design, Kelly also loves to work on editorial and book projects. Her line of soulful paper goods is especially near and dear to her heart. When she's not playing in her studio, Kelly can often be found with her family enjoying all that Colorado has to offer. “I am grateful every day (even the hard ones) to have the opportunity to follow the whispers (and bellows) of my heart and soul.”  

A freelance artist based in North Staffordshire in the UK, Rachel Grant lives and works in an old Victorian terraced house. Looking at her art, it’s the perfect setting! The area where she lives is well known for its rich potteries heritage. Rachel said, “It is this love of history, time-worn surfaces, and the consistency of the natural world around them that inspires and informs my work.” It certainly shows. “I dream of one day living off-grid in an old cottage by the sea, embracing a life of slow, peaceful living and my illustrations are often a glimpse of that world.” Rachel incorporates a range of media in her artwork, depending on the end use. These can include drawing, painting, collage and print – bringing them together digitally at the end. When not at her desk working, you will find Rachel knitting, gardening, baking bread, sewing clothes or snuggled under blankets watching great films. It sounds like the ideal life of an artist!  

Malin Gyllensvaan has worked as a textile designer and illustrator since 2001. She finds inspiration from plants, flowers, textures, animals and all kinds of geometric shapes. Most of the time she starts drawing with a black pen and finds it hard to stop.  

Based in her lovely hometown of Hamburg in the North of Germany, Janna Krupinski is an illustrator with a gift for drawing the cutest animals (among other things). Coming from a crafty household with her mom being an art teacher, Janna was always encouraged to be creative. After graduating as a Graphic Designer she had been working for several years in German advertising companies as Art Director and later as Creative Director. In 2012, Janna decided to freelance and started drawing and painting regularly again. She also started her blog “Tabula Rosi” as a playground for her creative endeavors where she shares all sorts of DIY projects. Since taking the leap into freelancing, the focus of Janna’s work slowly but steadily shifted from advertising towards illustration. Janna said “I like painting with gouache and sometimes watercolors, but I also work digitally and often combine both. I love doing lettering designs as well as folk-inspired work and fun characters. And I love when an illustration also tells a little story that puts a smile on people’s faces.”  It sure puts a smile on my face!  

Originally from Pennsylvania but now a New Englander living just west of Boston (where the JNA headquarters is located), Jill Howarth earned her degree in graphic design.  After graduating from Penn State University, she took a design job at a large toy company and eventually became an art director in their preschool toys division.  Somewhere along the way, she started drawing cute stuff and soon realized that she liked illustration more than straight design work.  “I’m a big fan of mid-century design, particularly children's books,” she said.  Of course, one look at her wonderful work and you can see her influences. Jill loves working with hand lettering, color and fun characters.  “I try to make every job fun with the hopes that my work will put a smile on your face!”  

Jennifer Orkin Lewis (formerly known as August Wren) is ridiculously prolific, talented and modest.  Based in a beautiful little village outside of New York City, Jennifer is perhaps best known for her daily sketchbook and the style she has developed while creating it.  As a discipline, she paints a 30-minute painting a day and the looseness and intuitiveness of those paintings have become her signature.  “My paintings are inspired by the everyday small things I see, everything from a bird, to a teacup, to a large crowd,” she said.  Jennifer mostly paints with gouache but she happily throws in some acrylic, ink, and pencil into the mix. After graduating from RISD, Jennifer spent many years as a textile stylist designing prints for children's clothing and lingerie before becoming a freelance illustrator. (I’m so glad she did!)  

Dylan Mierzwinski (“M” for short), is an illustrator and surface designer living in the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, Arizona. A top teacher on Skillshare, Dylan is known for her warmth, ability to communicate difficult ideas clearly, and bold and retro botanical illustrations. As a self taught artist, Dylan has enthusiastically grown into her position in the art world as a creative cheerleader, sharer of helpful keyboard shortcuts, and combiner of unexpected colors. She enjoys waving at dogs, quoting Michael Scott, and encouraging people to talk about their feelings (not a joke).  

Bee Brown has a wonderful, charming style that our customers adore. There’s a simple reason, “I love being an illustrator. Being able to draw and create from inside my little bubble brings me great joy,” she said. Doing what you love is the secret of happiness, they say. To Bee, “It's my happy place where thoughts and dreams fuse to make ideas flow.” Bee’s specialty is working within vector programs such as Illustrator. She really enjoys putting together unusual color combinations, creating fun characters and dreaming up lovely lettering layouts. Her delight shows in her work. The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design was Bee’s home for 4 years while she was training to be a Graphic Designer & Illustrator. Bee graduated with a First Class Honors degree, don’t you know!