I was born into a family of artists. My father was an animator. He worked on Snow White and Bambi, WAY before I was born.
I began my own artistic journey when I was two; I drew a 'portrait' of my father.
It was a full figure that included a body, to which the arms and legs were attached. Apparently, this was a first for a child my age, as children that young who draw people will draw limbs protruding from a head. They don't, normally draw a body. My drawing was taken to a meeting of child psychologists who proclaimed me to have ' extraordinary abilities of observation'.
All I know is, I have been obsessed with all things art ever since.
I studied at Chouiard Art Institute in Los Angeles in the 1960's. Here are some hightlights of my artistic journey since then:
I worked for a while in the animation industry, and decided it wasn't for me. Then in 1978 designed a line of miniature dolls and began a cottage business. They were marketed through a Los Angeles distributer, Nation-wide under the name; SMALL PEOPLE BY CECILY. These little dolls supported my family for several years. Evrentually, after cranking out about 15,000 dolls, I burned out.
A few years after dumping SMALL PEOPLE, I wrote and illustrated a children's book featuring the dolls, entitled; CECILY SMALL AND THE RAINY DAY ADVENTURE (Andrews & McMeel 1995)
Around the same time, I began sculpting more elaborate art dolls. I sold them to several stores in the Seattle area.
Eventually, I got commissioned by Nordstrom to make 100 Christmas Angels for sale in their Northwest stores.
I continued with the art dolls for a few more years, consigning to galleries and sculpting them on special commission.
These days, I have the luxury of going wherever my muse takes me. My work is extremely ecclectic. I constantly experiment with different and unique media and methods to achieve my vision of the day. I sculpt, paint and draw, both with conventional materials as well as freehand digital. Often times, as you can see with the art I offer for sale here, I employ combinations of some of these media.
There are no rules for me in art, except these ; Always be original and authentic. My motto is, CREATE BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!
Cecily Mitchell joined Pixels.com Licensing on March 26th, 2014.
