Q: Tell us about your family, where you live and such I live in Plymouth, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit with my husband of 20 years John and my almost-17-year old daughter Ellie. We live in a 1960's house with a little woods in my backyard. I love the woods because of the big trees and the little creatures running around in my backyard. The squirrels eat all my birdseed but I love them too! Q: How long have you been designing and how did you start? I actually have a degree in Marketing and I am a self-taught graphic artist. I began designing when I worked in advertising in San Francisco in the early 90's. I bought myself a little Mac and would teach myself Photoshop and Illustrator at night in my kitchen. I opened my own graphic design shop in the mid-90's and was able to work from home when I had my daughter. Q: What is the first thing you remember creating as a child? I loved my big box of Crayola's -you know the one with the sharpener in the back. I would just color and draw... I loved it. One thing that stood out from my childhood is that in first grade, I wrote a short story and was picked out of my school to go to a writer's conference. That was a big deal for me. I still love to write. Q: Do you work better under pressure or with a long, planned out preparation? Definitely better under pressure but I'm getting better at creating moodboards and color palettes and working from those. So I'm about 20% planning and 80% crunch time. Q: What actor would you like to be stranded on an island with? Definitely HUGH JACKMAN Q: What is your favourite colour and how does it make you feel? I would say my favorite color is Hot Pink. When I create or paint I always have to add a pop of that color into whatever I'm making. It gets me in to trouble if I'm working on a traditional Christmas line or something where people want to see only red and green. Ha Ha. My other favorite is Citron. Q: Do you listen to music when you create? If so, what genre? Yes! I always have Spotify or Pandora playing on my computer. I'm all over the place stylistically. Sometimes I listen to movie soundtracks (my favorite composer is Rachel Portman) other times I listen to Celtic music. Right now, I'm listening to lots of acoustic covers and Florence and the Machine. Q: What are you most proud of accomplishing in your life? I would have to say being a mom is what I'm most proud of. I never thought I would have children and we had some troubles getting pregnant, and staying pregnant, so Ellie is definitely my greatest joy and accomplishment. Q: If we asked your family to describe you in one word, what would they say? Crazy. (Ha ha). I'm not sure. My husband once told me that I was the most optimistic person he knew so I will go with that word. Optimistic. Q: Do you like to cook? What did you have for supper last night? I love cooking. Unfortunately, I have not been doing it so much lately, but I love making curries and italian or mexican food. Last night we ordered pizza in!
Nancie! I'm so glad to read this! I wish I had known where you were before my trip to Detroit last month, I may have begged you to show me your design space... or teach me how to use a gelli plate. (I LOVE the gelli plate things in your shop!) Your color choices do not surprise me in the tiniest bit!
thank you ladies! Kristina that would have been so great to meet you! My studio is our spare bedroom upstairs. It's not much to see - messy and cramped but I still love it. I'll have to try and video the geli-plate thing.. it is so much fun!! XO
Wow Nancie!! Your summer studio is gorgoeus!! It was so fun to see you in the video and see a peek into your sketchbooks!! Great interview!!
