Where there is a pool of people, there is a pool of talent. This is probably true where you work and is certainly the case at MagnetStreet where there are musicians, writers, photographers, entrepreneurs, crafters, poets, artists, and more. These talents are mostly explored during their spare time, while wearing completely different hats at MagnetStreet. I’m continually amazed when I learn of someone’s giftedness. The adage~ you can’t judge a book by its cover rings true.

One of our in-house talents is graphic artist, Laura Kivisto. Aside from working in graphics, Laura is also an accomplished painter.  Laura brings her talents and years of experience to her designs for MagnetStreet Weddings and more specifically, the Artist Series where her original artwork is found within the save the date designs, wedding invitation collections, notepad favors and thank you cards.

Laura was born and raised in Villa Park, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago. As a child, you could either find her privately practicing her moonwalk, or drawing an endless list of characters. She began painting in oils at age 8. Using slow-drying oils was like painting with butter, but less tasty. Fueled by the need for a quicker drying medium; Laura turned to acrylics. She loves the flexibility of the medium and often manipulates the thickness of the paint to mimic the look of watercolor or oils. Strongly influenced by other female painters like, Artemesia Gentilischi, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’keefe, and Camilla Engman, she developed a passion for realism and story-telling art. Laura studied fine art and design at Illinois State University but left in 1998 to pursue a professional career in both. Soon after, she began showing her art in local galleries, commissioned portraits, and landed a graphics internship at a marketing company.

In the summer of 2001, Laura started working for MagnetStreet as a graphic designer. Designing for the wedding market has allowed her to work in her fun and sometimes dark sense of humor into illustrations.  She learned that brides want unique, modern artwork that captures their individual personality.

Laura is now adding her original paintings to the wedding collections that offer brides exclusive design options not found anywhere else.

Click here to view the Artist Series for MagnetStreet Weddings.

Some of Laura’s favorite illustrations:

Check out her original paintings at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkivisto/ and peruse her website http://www.laurakivisto.com/