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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.
