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PG Live: Life Stories
Private Lives
With so many newbies and first time exhibitors at PG Live this month, PG caught up with some of the new faces at the show to find out more about their lives and what inspired them to become ‘cardies’. From high flying circus performers to a barista/cat carer and an interiors guru, their back stories are well worth a read.
High Flying Performers Toby Gisle and his wife Sharon Nathanson, the co-owners of Animo Alphabets, were circus performers who met in Bristol at the circus school Circomedia. “We worked in circuses and our own shows in the UK and Sweden,” explains Toby. “My mother, Anna Gisle, had been a set designer for her entire career, working in theatres and opera houses in many countries, but mainly in Sweden and Norway. When our son was born in 2010, we wanted Anna to paint something that he could have in his room, and so she painted animals in watercolours. The response was immediate. Everyone loved the painting and Sharon persuaded my mother to paint more images as she thought that we could make cards and posters from them. We launched
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Animo tentatively in 2011, and again, everyone loved the animals. I think we are onto something because now they are sold in a dozen countries in Europe and beyond.” Toby explains: “The lure of the painting is in the craft of painting itself, but also in the way that Anna finds ways to express emotions on the animals' faces, something that comes from all her years, and ours, of working on the stage.” Sharon meanwhile, is the one with the business strategy and also comes up with ideas for many of the motifs, finding the connection as to why people would want to buy the card for a particular occasion. Toby - a lifelong birdwatcher, who still likes to juggle whenever he can - adds that he and cat lover Sharon, a photographer, have always given each other greeting cards. “Gifts come and go but the greeting cards remain. That's why we are always looking for cards where we can express our devotion to each other. It isn't always easy to find the right card, and we want people to have the same relationship as we do to a lovely card with some special words on it. So, making the cards for the right occasion became our mission with Animo.” As for inspiration, there are a few guidelines. “Firstly, in the digital world we live in, we like to find the connection to the artwork that we saw growing up - the
Left: Husband and wife Toby Gisle and Sharon Nathanson as circus performers. Above: The couple with a few of their Animo cards.
paintings from the old children's books that inspired us as children. Secondly, we like to tell a story in each card, either with emotions or with situations that everyone can relate to, so our cards are gender and age free” New at PG Live: “We have a Dog collection, with dogs and inspiring quotes, and a new Comfort Me collection that we created during the height of the pandemic. We also have a Fun collection that is made for feeling the freedom of the outdoors after being alone for all this time.” Our hopes for the show: “We would like to expand our market in the UK and are looking for distributors and licencing deals that we can work with.”