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Sunday, April 26, 2009

Shop of the Week: Tamara Garvey


A sense of humor is something we all could use more of these days and this week’s Shop of the Week delivers! Tamara Garvey, of TamaraGarvey.etsy.com, has some really cute and beautiful illustrations. Her style is quirky and fun! For example, the drawing pictured above, "Burglars and Russian Nesting Dolls", actually made me laugh out loud.

“I draw fun, whimsical, pen-and-ink scenes, usually involving at least one animal and/or tree, as these are my favorite things to study and draw! I sell them as prints in different sizes, including ACEOs, as well as note card sets.

I'm really inspired by the classic pen-and-ink artists Edward Gorey and Aubrey Beardsley. My drawings are made with care in my cute home studio, usually with my dog snoozing on the floor nearby. I'm saving up for a large-format printer of my own so that I can have complete control over my prints (that sounds diabolical! mua ha ha), but in the meantime I have them done at a print shop nearby that does an awesome job. My prints have great color and are printed on nice quality card stock.

My drawings are inspired by my walk to work through Savannah, Georgia's squares, magazines, other artists/crafters on Etsy, color combinations of a stranger's outfit, tattoos, particularly cute dogs at the dog park...anything really!”


Tamara has a degree in Illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design and a B.S. in Biology from Mary Washington College. Her biology background comes through in her piece titled “Enchantment under the Sea” – it’s like looking into a microscope and seeing all sorts of neat little creatures swimming around in the pond water.

When asked about her Twittering: “It took me a while to get used to Twitter, but now I am really into it! I try hard to maintain a mix of promotional (whether self- or other-) tweets with replies or random thoughts, to keep a personal touch to things. I love keeping in touch with my Etsy team members, seeing what they're creating, and what's new with them. I have made some great connections with other artists and crafters especially. One girl in particular, a freelance illustrator, has pretty much become my mentor as I develop my own illustration career! I think it is amazing that a new site can have such an effect.”

She ships everywhere and all her illustrations are shipped wrapped in a waterproof cellophane sleeve, sandwiched between pieces of thick, non-bending cardboard.

Follow her on her blog and on Twitter!

Special for the Week: Put “EtsyTwitter” into the “Messages for the Seller” box and await a revised invoice with a 15% discount off any of her items! (If you forget, just send her a convo.)


tamaragarvey.etsy.com

6 comments:

Sample Print said...

You mention you are looking at large format printers. Here is a site where you can request large format printers samples.

tamara! said...

Thank you, Sample Print -- I will check that out.

And thank you so much, Vickie, for the lovely profile of my shop! I am honored to be our Etsy Twitter Team's shop of the week. :)

Unique Women In Business said...

What a great interview with a great lady!!! Go Tamara!
Erin keys
www.erinkeys.etsy.com

Julie B said...

I love Tamara's work and enjoyed getting to know more about her in this interview!
Julie

Jus Shar Designs said...

I added her Etsy Mini to my blog. I'm going to try to remember to put each SOTW member on my blog.

<3
Beth

Mrs.Kwitty said...

Great post--and what a fun shop! I just love the sweetness and sometimes silliness of her art.
Smiles, Karen

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