Buddy Mueller interviews Anne

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.