Artists Inspiration - Raspberrykidz

Join me in welcoming Rachel from Raspberrykidz, as she shares with us what inspires her and her creative process. Thanks Rachel!

Children are my inspiration. I have always liked bright colors and simple designs, and I think children possess a natural ability in this area, as they tend not to over think things as much as we adults do. Starting Raspberrykidz has helped me to nurture my own inner-child.

Raspberrykidz has evolved over the years. I stared about 7 years ago, when my son Ethan was a baby. We were in a playgroup with other new moms and babies. For the holidays, I wanted to give the moms a personal keepsake, so I created pictures based on each of their babies. I included their names (in raised balls above their heads) and birth dates (either in blocks or flowers by their feet). I printed these out on the computer and matted them. Everyone loved them, and I continued to make them for other moms, along with cards, baby announcements and invitations.

Then, when Ethan was a few years old, he started to make his own pictures. It’s so exciting when your first child draws their first face (or in his case, car). When he did get around to drawing people, I absolutely loved them. Each face had an expression I wanted to capture. I started silk screening his designs. We had a mini art show at the local park district. It was lots of fun. But silk screening was not practical. I don’t have a studio or the room in our townhouse. So, I started to recreated his drawings on the computer. And just like the original Raspberrykidz, I would raise parts of the picture up, to give it a 3D effect. Ethan went through a wonderful “fairy phase,” and I’m so glad I saved so many of those drawings, because now he is more into drawing Pokemon battles. We had another park district exhibit/party, and other moms started asking if I would do the same thing with their kids’ art. So I did. And that’s where I am now.

I love working with children’s art. Their pictures are so free, and their color choices are so perfectly random. Parents love the finished product, as it is something that captures a stage of their child’s development that they can showcase in their home or give to the grandparents as a special gift. And hopefully, seeing their own artwork presented in such a professional manner will, in turn, inspire the children to continue on with their artwork.

You can see Rachel's work on:
facebook
etsy shop
web site
blog