For the past 25 years printmaker and children's
book illustrator, Holly Berry, has worked from her home studio in
Waldoboro, Maine. A native of Kennebunk, Maine, she received her
BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design in
1979.
While at RISD she majored in illustration and was inspired by classes with teachers
Chris Van Allsburgh and David MacCauley, among others. As a student in
the Design Department, she also studied printmaking and photography. After relocating to
Boston, she did graduate work toward an MFA in Studio Teaching at Boston University.
Since settling in Waldoboro, Holly has worked as a
freelance illustrator and printmaker, creating images for t-shirts,
educational publications, newspapers, magazines and children's products.
In 1995 her first picture book, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, was
published by North South Books. Following that she wrote and
illustrated Busy Lizzie, also published by North South Books.
Since then Holly has illustrated existing texts by authors including Eve
Bunting, Diane Stanley and most recently, Sarah Weeks.
Holly has
been recognized with multiple awards and several books have
received starred reviews. Market Day, by Eve Bunting, won the
1997 Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and
Illustrators for Picture Book Illustration. The Impudent
Rooster, by Sabina Rascol, was awarded a Silver Medal from the
Society of Illustrators in NYC for the Original Art Show and was first
runner up for Vermont's Red Clover Award in 2004. It is also on the New
York Public Library's "100 titles for Reading and Sharing."
Market Day and The Gift of Christmas, by Philemon Sturges,
have also been selected for the Original Art Show: Celebrating the Art
of Children's Book Illustration at the Society of Illustrators. The
Gingerbread Cowboy, by Janet Squires, was selected by Governor
Janet Napolitano for the 2007 Arizona First Grade Book. How
Mama Brought the Spring received the Maine Lupine Honor Book Award
for 2008.
Her book illustration work has been included in many
exhibits and traveling shows including those at the Art Institute of
Chicago and The Farnsworth Museum of Art in Rockland, Maine.
Along with book illustration, Holly makes linoleum
block relief prints inspired by the nature found on her rural
farm. Holly's original art is exhibited throughout Maine
and has been included in
juried
and invitational shows nationwide.
In
2003, she was recognized with an Individual Artists Fellowship
Award from the Maine Arts Commission for her work in printmaking. Holly
has also received a Good Idea Grant from the MAC, and in the spring
of 2009 completed a set of large-scale prints for a "Percent for Art" project
located in her community.
Holly's existing collection of work is available for product licensing.
