Cool and Cheap: 29/07/12

"Emily Winfield Martin makes paintings, books, and other things. She is the author and illustrator of a paper doll epic called "The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer" (Potter Craft, 2010) and an illustrated novel for children, "Oddfellow's Orphanage" (Random House, 2012). When she was small, she spent every moment drawing, reading, dressing rabbits in fancy clothes, and having many peculiar daydreams. When she grew up, she began to illustrate those peculiar daydreams, and in 2005, she created a cottage industry called The Black Apple, which sells all manner of art and etceteras. She works in a tiny nook of a studio filled with old children's books, wind-up toys, and stacks of fabric. Her work is inspired by fairy tales, carnivals, vintage children's clothing, her favorite films, and autobiography. She likes to bake, hunt for old treasures and tend her flower garden. She has a BFA from the University of Georgia, where she studied photography, painting and English literature. She lives and works among the giant fir trees of Portland, OR with her fellow adventurer, Josiah, and their darling rotten cat, Miette." [via]