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After I graduated from high school, I got married and started a family. It wasn’t until my early 40’s that I made the decision to go for formal training. I went to a classical realism school in Minneapolis, MN to learn to draw and paint as the old masters did; the work was intense. When I finished my training, I rented my own studio and began painting landscapes and people; it was all very serious and I found myself yearning for something different. One day while painting a purple chair, I decided to make it more playful and suddenly it came alive to me. I began to do more chairs and ideas flowed until a whole series of whimsical chairs had been created. It was magic. Since I had so much fun with chairs, I decided to draw a frog and I called the painting “Kiss Me.” Shortly after, I drew another one that I called “Smooth Operator,” and before I knew it, another series was being developed. |
My chairs and the frogs were alive to me and they became my friends. I have many stuffed animals and they all “speak” to me; the trick is to “listen” to what they have to say. As a child, I thought that if I opened the refrigerator door very quietly, I would see all the vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, etc., dancing, playing music and having a party. Of course, when I opened the door, the light would go on and they were not playing; I never caught them in the act until I did a drawing called “While You are Sleeping.” Now they party every night. Magic! Illustrating a children’s book had always been a distant dream, I decided to pursue the dream and in 2005 I had the opportunity to illustrate a children’s book called “Hope So Too,” published by Tristan Publishing. I won awards for best cover design and best illustration at the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association. Then came a book, “A Grandma Like Yours/A Grandpa Like Yours,” with Kar-Ben a division of Lerner Publishing and shortly after, a book called “Feliz Navidad,” with Teach Me… Publishing. I recently completed another book for Kar-Ben that will be released in the spring of 2009.
I believe it does. Bye for now! |
Contact Barb at barb@barbbjornson.com or 651-636-1427 today!
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All images ©2008 Barbara Björnson. Site design by Lundborg Design Group. |
I wear a pendant that says: “Believe in yourself and magic will happen.”