B: how did Anne Made get started?

A: I did some little dog and cat paintings on wood and sold them at the local Cheap Art venue. It was the first time I actually sold art. They were much enjoyed. “Hey,” I thought, “these characters would make excellent subject matter for a greeting card line.” I’d often considered making greeting cards, but my subject matter eluded me. Well, here it was, right in front of my nose. I took a “start your own business” course and learned lots. Wrote a business plan. Printed my first batch of 24 images and took the first Anne Made cards to the New York Stationery Show. That was in 1998. Every year since then I add more images and retire a few.

B: self-taught, schooled? what's your story?

A: I have always drawn and always liked making things. I went to the Philadelphia College of Art (now The University of the Arts). I studied textile design and got into tapestry weaving. Even my earliest work featured lots of animals. I've played around in various media and I love art projects. Anne Made is a great art project. I love to paint and I love animals, so the Anne Made enterprise was a truly good idea.

B: so tell—who are these animals that you paint?

A: The dogs and cats that I paint are real animals, with a few exceptions. Most of my models I have met face-to-face, but I have done portraits from photos. And sometimes I just see a fetching dog or a particularly handsome cat out there in the world and get inspired to paint. I love it when people send me photos of their animals. It's all inspiration.

---

 

Meet the Muses

“and there it was, right in front of my nose”

 

 

Smart, handsome and charismatic, Buddy likes to open cupboards and pull out the canned goods. Makes quite a noise. He plays the piano with great enthusiasm. He hates the winter, says “it freezes my nuts” and loves the summer when he can hunt and catch the rays. Born in a Vermont commune 17 years ago, he is still robust and the apple of Anne’s eye. Such a guy.

---

 

 

This Big White Dog lives with Kathryn and Eric and despite his bigness is a real pussycat. I don't think he really ate those chickens. But he did eat all the salami off the hors d'oeuvres tray and he really likes cheese.

---

 

 

BRIGHT GABBY—Like sunshine still and always... Muse of my heart... and such a funny girl. How we got that colander on her head I’ll never know. Gabby never told a lie except when she didn’t want to hurt your feelings. Her angel wings are taking her all over creation.

---

 

 

My Cookie. Perfect dog and great pal. Loved to escape and run. Where would she go? Liked to head to Burger King or the Snack Shack. Sometimes she’d get a ride in a cop car. That was always fun. So Anne and Cookie used a leash. Anne and Cookie must have walked and run 1000 miles together.

---

 

 

Sparkle sparkles and runs a beatnik household with her parents Lance and Elaine in the city. She wears galoshes and an overcoat in the winter when it’s very cold.

---

 

 

Teacup, entertainer extraordinaire. She lives with John and Amy and LOVES EVERYBODY. She likes to eat big raw carrots and will tackle a big hunk of cabbage with gusto.

---