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Art Source
Kathryn The Great
Kathryn Selbert is an illustrator and designer currently living in Montclair, New Jersey with her French bulldog Margot and tea loving boyfriend. As well as creating illustrations for children’s books, her work has also graced greeting cards for many leading companies, from Hallmark to Up With Paper, American Greetings to Calypso Cards. Here she shares some of her life loves and inspirations. “I grew up near Long Island Sound in Connecticut in an area known for its revolutionary history, rich Autumn foliage and coastal atmosphere. My father was a landscape architect and my mother (a former art teacher) is a professional gardener. Growing up our home was filled with art books, patterns, colour, music and a deep love for plants. My creative parents always tried to give me as much as exposure to different types of artwork as possible. My father would often bring home stacks of books from the library that he hoped I’d find interesting. My love for children’s illustration came from reading books with my mother and father as well as from an encouraging 2nd grade teacher (Barbara Mariconda). She was beginning her journey as an author as well as teaching in the public school system. She encouraged us to write our own stories and learn about children’s illustrators. I didn’t realise until much later in life how much of an influence that year had on me. My father passed away while I was in high school and I turned fully to working on artwork as a distraction while I was grieving. I attended college in Providence, RI at the Rhode island School of Design where I gained a degree in Illustration. While at RISD, I took a class called Top left: Kathryn Selbert is a devoted plant ‘mummy’. Top right: Margot, Kathryn’s French bulldog was a handy model in this Halloween design. Above middle: Her love of nature shows through in Kathryn’s work. Above right: A cute Christmas design. Left: Floral and sentiment combine in this design.
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‘Picture and Word’ taught by Jude Sue Goodwin Sturges. We wrote and illustrated a children’s book dummy to present to editors and art directors at the end of the course. My book was chosen to develop and the rest is history! Most of my work is inspired by joy found in nature and with animals. I have always loved hiking through the forest and seeing all the little critters and light coming through the trees. Working in my mother’s garden with her when I was young and nurturing plants from seeds to sprout to fruit has also influenced my work. For the past few years, I’ve also found that I focus a lot on the changing seasons and holidays in my greeting card and book work. The change of motifs, colours and subject matter throughout the seasons is very invigorating and keeps my work fresh. I try to create images that make me happy and hope they bring the same feeling to others! For my digital work I use an iMac, Photoshop CC and an Wacom Intuos Tablet. My scanner is a Brother DCP-7065DN printer/scanner. For brush pens, I primarily use Pentel fude brush pen, medium (XFL2L) or the thinner version. For watercoluor work, I use Winsor & Newton Cotman watercoluors. I create using Photoshop on a desktop computer with a wacom tablet. I collect folders of images and photos that pop up and spark something in me for later when I need to put together mood boards for a project. It is a unique thrill to find a project you’ve worked on printed as a greeting card or gift wrap or book in a bookstore. Over the years as well as greeting cards and giftwrap, I’ve been lucky to work on children’s clothing, children’s books, puzzles, wall art and packaging. I never get tired of seeing someone come across an item of mine that draws them in and uplifts them.” l Kathryn Selbert is represented by Advocate Art for licensing.
If you are an artist, photographer or verse writer and would like to be considered to appear in Art Source, please contact PG’s Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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