About the Artist Annelise Aleman

Since childhood, I have felt an innate urge to create art of all kinds. I doodled, sang and played with play dough like any other child, but it didn’t satisfy this urge. So I made more. I created characters by stringing beads and buttons together, constructed books from drawings, sewed clothes for my dolls. Every card I gave to my friends or family I crafted myself. At church I composed harmonies, at home my own songs. Today, I am still making. I am an Artist.

Alongside my urge to create, I have a passion to learn that compels me to experiment with a variety of media, including printmaking, assemblage and paper arts. Media often inspires my work like papers, textures and found objects, becoming characters and symbols in a narrative. While I experiment with media, my education at George Fox University encouraged me to explore concepts; literature, biology and philosophy weaved into my artmaking practice form an interdisciplinary approach. Though I often work narratively through representation as seen in editioned printmaking, I find the freedom and abstraction in monoprinting freeing and inspiring. Layers of texture, color, repetition, contrast and unity are visual elements I bring to every piece.

Following my college education at George Fox University in 2015, I worked for a family-owned rubber stamp company, delving into the craft industry. My four and a half years of experience developed my marketing and business skills, as well as nurturing my passion for crafting. Naturally, my stamp collection grew exponentially, and I began teaching cardmaking and bookmaking classes at my local craft stores in early 2019. I began creating mini albums, which are handmade scrapbooks perfect for photos and memory keeping.

By the end of 2019, my career pivoted to a local, internationally recognized non-profit, where I will strengthen my marketing skills. Teaching in person came to a halt as the COVID-19 pandemic kept the world at home, and I spent my quarantine creating an inventory of mini Albums. Crafting and art-making is part of my life, and I look forward to sharing my journey with you.

Happy Crafting!

Annelise Aleman