A little late, but time to acknowledge the artist of my blog background!
I first came across the lovely collage/mixed-media work of Anahata Katkin at the University of Washington bookstore. Her company, PaPaYa! makes greeting cards, journals, notebooks, giclees on canvas, bags, wallets, and water bottles, among other items.
Anahata’s art website: http://www.anahataart.com/
Anahata’s blog: http://anahata.typepad.com/
PaPaYa!’s website: https://www.papayaart.com/
PaPaYa!’s blog: http://www.papayablog.com/anahata-katkin/
I knew that her art was stunning and unique, but I had no idea just how widespread it was until I found myself in some random little town hours outside of Melbourne in Australia (so random that I don’t even remember the name), and stumbled across a store with a huge display of all things PaPaYa!
In an issue of Somerset Studio magazine, my favorite arts & crafts magazine, they ran a story of Anahata Katkin and her path to success. Seven years ago, Anahata decided that along with her mother, she would start a business based on the collages and illustrations from her art journals. Her business savvy mother would take care of the business part of the company, which meant that Anahata could concentrate solely on the creative aspect of it. They started by working from their kitchen table, and printed 1000 cards to take around their favorite stores in LA. Today, PaPaYa sells their products in over 3000 stores, in seven countries. And all of this was achieved as Anahata was raising her young son!
I love her quote: “It’s easy to look at successful people and think their circumstances were different than yours. but they’re not. Anyone who is doing what they love will tell you the same thing: Believe in what you are doing no matter and follow only your own formula. Our success has been built on the fact that we march to the beat of our own drum and have never wavered from our original vision.”
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