Featured artists: Olga Gogole, graphic designer and illustrator

Russian Artists Team on Etsy has so many talented artists. We love to introduce them to our readers and share their stories. So today, please welcome Olga Gogole, graphic designer and illustrator from OlgaGogole shop. Visit her shop, you will love her art as much as we do.

Here is her story:

 I am Olga Gogole from Latvia. I am 36 years old, and I have been drawing all my life. Putting together the years in art school, art classes and art academy, I spent at least 16 years perfecting the skills. I adored drawing even back in kindergarten, using every piece of paper I could find. I remember my teacher told my mom that it might be worth considering showing me to a psychologist J

I certainly had my moments of creative stagnation when I wanted to abandon it all and start something totally new. Sometimes it was unclear where to head and what I want to do next. I aspired to get higher education in arts, but it seemed like an impossible dream at times. Eventually, with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, I made the dream come true, and finished Latvian Art academy, majoring in graphic design. Higher education in Latvia is of very good quality, but it is full-time attendance only, so there was no chance to have a regular-hours job during the studies. As they say, there are only 24 hours in a day, but there is also the night J During my first year at the academy, I founded the graphic design company. I studied during the day and drew posters, logos, leaflets, designed corporate style for the clients at nights. My company will celebrate 10 years anniversary next year.

I certainly did a lot more graphic design in the early years of my professional development, as well as worked as full-time packaging designer for a large cosmetics producer “Dzintars”. Later on in my career, I increasingly turned to illustration. Sometimes I draw for my own pleasure, and I love when the works end up light and positive, in one go. I like when people buy my ready-made works, not the pre-ordered ones – this means that they like them as they were intended, the way I see them and that buyers relate to my perception and the mood I was in when creating the piece.

After the birth of my son, life certainly changed. Thanks to my child, I started focusing on illustrations for children and collect children books illustrated by famous artists, frequently when visiting bookstores on my trips abroad. 

Olga Gogole,

Graphic designer and illustrator.

Featured artists: Anastasia, Scandiroom. Handmade home decor for children.

I would like to introduce our team member Anastasia who runs the Scandishop on Etsy. It is filled with great children decor items. All of them are made with love and it shown. Here is her story about her inspirations.

Hello everyone,

My name is Anastasia and I am 31 years old. My family and I live in Suktuvkar, a small northern Russian city.

As with many artistic people, my creative roots became stronger when I became a mother. My children are my inspiration. When they were born, I wanted to surround them with natural eco friendly toys so I started to make them with fabric, wood, paper and yarn.

It started with my children's room when we wanted to add some light and style to it. The northern nights are long and the days are short so we wanted to add some sunshine to the room. For a start, we painted the walls with a happy light yellow paint. Then I started to decorate it. 

It is such a great feeling when you cover your baby with a cozy handmade cotton blanket, giving him a little bear pillow to hold through the night and whisper to  him: I love you to the moon and back. Your baby feels that you care and grow stronger.

I am a spontaneous creator. I walk into a store, see a great quality yarn or fabric and it's just screaming to me: make something from me! I am listening and that's how my ideas are becoming live. 

I love what I do and I am happy that people love my designs. I am happy to say that my creations live in many places around the globe now. 

My shop is constantly developing and pretty soon you will find more adorable little things for your children. Soon I am planning to team up with the other artists, Tatiana, who is also all about handmade, natural materials and style. So please visit my shop often to see if there is anything you want for your child!

Interview by Tanya (socksandmittens)