Vintage 90s "Secrets" folders - anyone know the artist?

[sarafina]

5/20 UPDATE: Patty Krizan is the artist!   Click for more info.

I found an old folder of mine from childhood, and I absolutely love it...it has a sweet little fox on it, and the back of the folder shows several other designs, including an otter folder that I desperately want.

The only info I have is that these folders were part of the "Secrets" collection and were made by Brushcreek Creative (part of Plymouth Inc. & out of Radford, VA).  I would absolutely love to find the other folders (and other school/office supplies in the series, if it existed) - even the artist's name would be helpful (sadly, I can't find a signature on the artwork).

Does anyone recognize these?  Any leads would be greatly appreciated!

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[Kiwi]

Aww, really pretty. I hope you can find them.

[Eviecorn]

I have no clue, but they are gorgeous and I NEED that otter one.

[sarafina]

Thanks for looking!  Some friends at the LPS forum are working on helping to find clues, so if I learn anything, I'll be sure to post here!

[Sarahlacewing]

Wasn't teddy beddy bear a brushcreek creative character?

[stopxmotion]

I HAVE that otter folder and the black bear!! Omg the things that pop up here make me miss my childhood so much. Most of the things I still have are tucked away in boxes in the depths of wherever..

[lovesbabysquirmy]

My mom and I used to have some of those folders, too! 

[kaoskat]

I think I had some of those! And I loved them!No clue on the artist though, sorry!

[melodys_angel]

I have a gift bag similar to that!  No other information though

[HavACrumpet452]

Possibly Vivian Boswell? She did the Sophisticats school supplies that I had as a kid.

You should be able to email her. http://www.vivianboswell.com/TheArtist.html

[sarafina]

Possibly Vivian Boswell? She did the Sophisticats school supplies that I had as a kid.

You should be able to email her. http://www.vivianboswell.com/TheArtist.html

Thanks for the info!  I emailed her last night - she was the one of the only artists I could find who lists Brushcreek Creative in her portfolio, so I'm hoping that if she didn't create this series, she may at least know the name of whoever did.

And YAY for Sophisticats! 

[sarafina]

Mystery solved!  Patty Krizan is the talented artist behind these pictures.  

I just got off the phone with Patty, and I have to say - she is quite possibly the sweetest person I've ever chatted with!  She's absolutely lovely.  She has a box of Secrets folders and other goodies that she's going to sift through, so I'll post updates here as I know them.

Sadly, all of the originals are lost - when Brushcreek Creative laid off its staff and closed its doors, most everything disappeared one way or another. 

There were actually two series - Secrets 1 & Secrets 2.  One had more exotic animals (polar bear, koala, panther, etc.).  Only folders were produced, and there were six pieces in each series.

She was given a lot of free reign with the project - she was basically told that they wanted something bright, with cute, big animals, and Patty took it from there.

Patty loved detailed drawing and created multiple sketches in preparation for each painting.  She would work on multiple sheets of transfer paper, continuing to add more detail, and would transfer everything onto illustration board with graphite paper.  She then painted the images with watercolor and would use colored pencils for small accents (the tips of fur, etc.).  She also used frisket masking film, which she would cut out with an x-acto knife, to get very exact edges.  At the time, this process was pretty unique, since so many companies were excited about computers and were doing digital art for folders, etc. instead of having artists use traditional methods.

She had a timeline to work under, of course, so she would keep track of how long she had spent on sketching for each piece - if she saw it was taking too long, she'd have to speed up to get to the painting itself.  One painting, the Panda, was completed by a different freelance artist (a man), since all of the pieces were so time-consuming.  Patty drew the picture, and this artist painted over it (and you'll notice that the Panda and the flowers in that image are not nearly as "soft" as the other paintings).  Vivian Boswell did the leopard cub painting.

Patty wanted to make the animals real-looking, but not realistic - she wanted them to be fanciful.  She did a lot of research on the flowers that went into each picture, and in a lot of ways, composing the pieces was like working with collage in terms of adding all of the different elements together. 

After Brushcreek Creative closed down, Patty went to work for Hallmark.  She now works as a freelance artist and primarily does digital work.  She often sketches something and then scans it in to her computer, where she can add color and manipulate it. 

As Patty mentioned, the nature of this kind of work is such that the artist rarely gets feedback from the public.  As she said, "You hope that people enjoy what you do", and I've been so happy to tell her how much her art has meant to me and how so many other people from my generation remember and love her work as well.

At any rate, I'll be excited to see what she finds in her "Secrets" boxes in her basement!

http://pattykrizan.com/Welcome.html

[Sumire]

Wow!  What a great ending to your search.  I loved folders like that when I was a girl (and now!).  It's great that Ms. Krizan gets to hear how beloved her art was!  I can't wait to see what you get!