Artist Bios

Mix a touch of bohemian, a dash of fairy and a slight shade of gloom, and what do you get? Wendy Kathleen McElfish (and yes that is my real last name). Nestled in the fast paced world of the O.C. California, I have carved out a fairytale existence for my two elfin fairy boys, husband and two puppy dogs. It is here at my studio that I gleam with inspiration from the fairy neighborhood children that gather around my home and garden.

The birth of my son brought about a renewed connection to the unseen spiritual world and love for the purity of all things innocent. The McElfish baby boys have become the muse for which I channel my paintbrush and create. My wish is to share this joy of innocence and enchantment with the world through my art works. Painting for me is a very spiritual experience; it is like breathing, for I require both for living. I wish for my art to bring beauty, reflection, mystery, contemplation and the feeling of the divine to peoples lives.

Australian artist Selina Fenech was born in 1981 and has always felt the burn of magic in her heart. Her daydreams of magical creatures and places were irrepressible, and goddesses, fairies and nature spirits started showing up in her artwork from a very early age. She has always had a great love and appreciation of the magic of nature, and frequently gets lost in mythology and fairytales which all inspire her greatly. While she always loved to draw, she didn’t know she wanted to, or could, be an artist for quite some time. When she was sixteen years old she placed a few of her artworks in an online gallery and was amazed when fan mail and print and commission requests started coming in. Always wanting to please, and excited to be sharing her passion for art and magic, Selina began taking commissions and producing fine art prints of her work, and her art career has grown steadily since then, seeing publication in books and magazines worldwide and a range of licensed merchandise.

Rachael's desire for creativity and art was discovered at age 5 and she has been drawing ever since. Upon graduating high school, she obtained a science degree and is a Registered Nurse. She married her husband, Brian in 1993 and they have two wonderful sons. Remaining passionate about art, she became interested in digital art when she began restoring old photos in 1998. So, all the work in computer-generated images, have led her to digital painting, in which she has discovered her preferred medium and style for her portfolio and for clients. Most of her artworks are still sketched on paper, but are now scanned and computer painted for the finished details. In February of 2006, Rachael quit full time nursing to pursue art. Her preferred genre is fantasy, especially angels, fairies, and unicorns. www.rtallamy.com

Nene Tina Thomas began her professional career in 1994, when she was approached by Wizards of the Coast to contribute work to the popular card game “Magic: the Gathering.” Her work with Wizards of the Coast can still be seen in the Fourth and Fifth Expansions, Antiquities, Legends, The Dark, Homelands and the new “Magic: The Gathering” CD ROM Game. Some of the other card games that feature her work are Shadowfist, Legend of the Five Rings, Galactic Empires, Tempest of the Gods, Wyrmwars, Gridiron, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, Xenophiles, and Battlelords of the 23rd Century.

Although Nene is known best for her work with watercolors, she has recently begun to expand her artistic horizons with other media, including digital. Nene has also written a few tutorials for Photoshop. But no matter what media is used, the core elements of her art remain constant: her characters have grace and elegance, her settings are striking, and the images as a whole are breathtaking. Nene’s greatest artistic ambition is to be able to perfectly capture an image that she has in her mind’s eye on paper. Over the last two years, Nene has had the good fortune to see her art translated into a variety of products, including statues, ornaments, stickers, and t-shirts. Her many products can be seen in several catalogues, in retail outlets throughout the country, or on her website. The retail success of her art hasn’t changed her focus however, and with each new piece she strives to push herself as an artist. Nene currently lives in Oklahoma City with her husband Steven Plagman, who is also her framer and fancy mat cutter. She has three sisters and two brothers, all of them artistic and musically talented. Nene spends her days sketching, researching, painting and playing with her five cats.

Linda was born in 1963, a very typical Pisces, always preferring to live in a dream world, a world which she has painted in ever since she can remember, and one in which as a child she could retreat to when ever things became tough. Linda lives in Cheshire, England with her husband and daughter and numerous pets. Linda’s inspiration comes from many sources rooted in her childhood – dreams, inner feelings, love of nature, and the wonderful tales of myths and legends her parents shared with her at bedtime. Linda truly believes that we all have a little bit of Faerie magic within our hearts, helping us to make the right decisions within our everyday lives. We just have to look for it.

Linda Biggs was born and raised in Maryland, USA. She has always loved fantasy and lived in a dream world as much as she could get away with. After a long career in advertising, and corporate commercial printing in Baltimore, she retired and began her new life as a full time Fine Artist in 1999. She launched the website Fairie Forest Watercolors and began to market her work. Since then, it’s been an amazing journey every step of the way. Linda has experienced so much wonder thru her art. She has met and befriended many like minded folks, and will treasure those experiences for a lifetime.

Linda is Native American (Cherokee), very spritual, sensitive and oh yeah...Bi-Polar. Many people see that as a curse; however Linda embraces it as a gift. When times are extreme her creations are at their very best, so far that she welcomes the challenge.

In the beginning of Linda’s Fine Art career, it was about painting pretty fairy pictures. Now with the inception of each painting, Linda’s goal is the dig deeper and step out of her comfort zones. When she painted “Lady Bug-Koko Korrani Spirit” It was quite a challenge – and it is the painting she is most proud of. Her hope is that in years to come, her paintings will tell the simple story of her life. They are real life experiences transposed as art. These paintings will be a simple gift to anyone who enjoys them.

Most of my life I’ve been drawing and painting in all genres. I paint a wide variety of subjects, but various forms of Fantasy have always been the closest to my heart. They include Fairy Tales, Myths, and New Age Art. I have always been inspired by great Artists throughout history, and regard them as my teachers. All of Nature is alive to me, and I try to show this in my paintings. I am fascinated by the Fairy Realm, and I love to paint these magical beings.

I live happily with my soul mate and husband, Michael, a true renaissance man, who is a great inspiration to me. We live in a timeless land of old fashioned houses and gardens, on the edge of a mystic woods, with trees that Arthur Rackham would have loved to paint.

My art has been licensed in many fields, such as prints, posters, wall coverings, puzzles, calendars, greeting cards, candles, tile products, embroidery kits, jewelry, etc. I have illustrated several children’s books including one I wrote also. Currently I am writing and illustrating several new books on fairies, elves, angels, etc. I daydream about my paintings for a while before putting them on canvas. This preliminary technique of “Mind Painting” helps me to develop an imaginative work of art.

Jessica Galbreth was born on April 29th, 1974. Always having an interest and natural talent with art, she studied Fine Arts at the college level at the Toledo Museum of Art. Today, as a professional fantasy artist, she makes her home and studio in Northwest Ohio. Working primarily in watercolors, pen and ink, Jessica is best known for her faery paintings...some elegant and light, others dark and mysterious.

“Come, follow me through twining vines and twisted trees... to a secret realm rich with myth and magick. An enchanted place awaits, filled with gossamer fairies and haunting deities. A place where enchantresses weave their spells beneath the light of the full moon, and faeries dressed in their finery stand pensively before gothic arches and twisted trees. This is my world...a world I have created and wish to share with you...” -Mythic Fantasy Artist, Jessica Galbreth

Always a bit of a misfit as a child, Jacqueline began painting as a way to express the fae she saw in the trees and hidden places of the world. Since her first professional entrance into the scene of fairy art, her work has appeared in numerous books and publications and can be found on a myriad of gifts such as magnets, stickers and keychains in shops such as Hot Topic, Claires, The Icing and others. She is a regular vendor at the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire and the Northern California Renaissance Faire.

In addition to her own website, Toadstool Farm Art, and this one, she manages an artists co-operative wholesale group, The Fairy Court, and two other collective art websites, Mystic Minis, and My Fairy Baby.

She now lives in a storybook cottage in Los Angeles with her husband, teenaged son, an assortment of wild and domestic animals, an ever changing clutch of fairy folk, and one brand new beautiful little fairy baby girl named Antonia. She remains a misfit.

Christine is a mermaid, wildlife and fantasy artist residing in St. Peters, Missouri. Christine has been intrigued and inspired by wildlife and fantasy from an early age so it seemed only natural she would follow her free spirited side and form her own company for her passions. Christine feels very lucky to have worked with a variety of companies who have put lines of products together for her mermaids. She currently has a bath and body line, a cross-stitch line, t-shirts, tote bags, prints, giclees on museum wrapped canvas and much more. Christine’s painting “Aurora” is her first piece of artwork done in figurine form.

Brigid’s constant theme throughout her work is her love affair with the human (or humanoid if you will) face and form-its emotion-its beauty-and what information a subtle play of expression can offer about the history and personality of the subject. While her art always seems to tell a story-its not a tale she is always privy too. Beings and imagery play in her mind and whisper their demands to her as she paints. This results in mysterious images rich with untold secrets. She believes the stories her pieces tell exist in the minds of the viewer-which cannot be known without your imagination. The collaboration between artist and audience is what she most cherishes.

Wizards, Dragons and Crystals - I was born and raised in Brewood, Staffordshire. Attained an Upper Second Class Honours in Ceramics at Stafford College of Art. I started my sculpting career at Coalport China producing mice and wildlife for resin, and Cottages and Victorian style pastille burners for bone china.

With Holland Studio Craft I began with wildlife, dogs and farm animals and then in the late eighties, after failing to get the rights to produce Lord of the Rings figures, I was given the brief: “think up a fantasy range of your own, anything you like as long as it includes wizards, dragons and crystals!” – ah those immortal words. So, I had the idea of using the four seasons as the initial concept: one colour to represent each season, one wizard, one dragon, one crystal for each colour. That was four dragons, four wizards, four different crystals already, and I had only just started. This of course was Enchantica, and my artistic life was never to be the same again. That was nearly twenty years ago. Dragons have dominated my art ever since.

I have travelled across North America with my wizards and dragons, and of course the length and breadth of the UK. I have met many people who share my passion for fantasy, and in some cases far exceed it. I have made some good friends and strong memories. I have even appeared on live TV shopping channels on both sides of the Atlantic with my work, and taken part in major collectors events attracting thousands of eager fantasy fans.

As a freelance sculptor I have continued my career in fantasy figures. Much of my work can now be seen with The Dragonsite.com, where I have enjoyed new artistic and technical freedom, and produced pieces of a much greater complexity. With ranges such as verbuMMagus, Bookwyrms and Seven I have once again given my imagination free rein, and endeavoured to produce art figurines that both excite and beguile the discerning fantasy collector.

I still explore other areas of interest occasionally and have not abandoned completely my great interest in wildlife and the environment, but the boy who was addicted to Doctor Who, Ray Harryhausen films and later Hammer Horror still calls to me, and its never long before I take his hand once again and let a new fantasy adventure begin!

Amy Brown resides in the Pacific Northwest with her family. As a child, her interest in Faeries sprouted when she was introduced to the works of Arthur Rackham, Brian Froud and Alan Lee. Movies like The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Legend played large parts in developing Amy’s love of fantastical tales and mystical creatures. Over the years, various artists, books and films from the past and present added inspiration to her growing imagination and continue to do so.

Amy began her Faery art career in 1992 when she started work at a gallery called Festival of Art. There she learned about color, design, framing techniques, layout and various art techniques. She was surrounded by various types of art on a daily basis and read every art, printing, framing and business article available in the monthly magazines that came to the gallery. Festival of Art is where Amy displayed and sold her first Faery painting after her boss, Shawn, asked her to paint a picture for an empty frame she had lying around the gallery. As months progressed, Amy devoted more time to Faery paintings and began selling in the gallery, local shops, and street fairs.

For several years, Amy sold through various stores and venues. Then in 1997 her first website debuted. It was only for viewing her work, sort of an experiment at the time to see what would happen. Almost immediately, she began to get email requesting to purchase her work. The site was re-designed and began selling Amy’s work world wide soon thereafter. Word spread rapidly about the new site. There was an intense interest if Faery that seemed to be surfacing. Amy was happy that so many people enjoyed her work, but also frustrated she had to spend more and more time processing orders for the new site instead of painting, but it posed a challenge to learn to balance her career.

In early 2001 Hot Topic stores happened upon Amy's site and contacted her about licensing various articles for their stores. After the first stickers and postcards hit the stores, Amy's web traffic began to multiply at a ridiculous rate. A new group of people was now seeing her work for the first time; a younger generation. Hot Topic went all out and began expanding their line of Amy Brown Faery items. Many wonderful opportunities grew from the exposure at Hot Topic and Amy credits Hot Topic as being largely responsible for helping to bring Faeries into the mainstream.

In 2002, Chimera Publishing, a friend of Amy's with connections to some well known publishers, offered to help her look for a publisher to do her first art book. Alas, they had no luck. Publishers felt they could not market her art. Amy knew she could make this work, because the number one request from her customers was for a book. Chimera offered to publish the book themselves and they embarked on the job immediately. Amy was so happy about the opportunity, she paid for part of the 1st printing. The long awaited book was released in January 2003. The success of the first book was so great; they came out with a second volume mid-2005. Amy is currently fiddling with ideas for future books, but has not settled on anything solid yet.