A 4th grade teacher in rural Peck, Michigan recognized my artistic talents and encouraged me to submit my drawings to the Annual County Fair. The pencilled sketches “Children around the World” won a blue ribbon. I’ve been drawing ever since.

My art education continued under the influence of skilled instructors at St. Joseph’s Academy in Adrian, Michigan. As a high school student I was allowed to participate in College level art classes on the campus of Siena Heights College. At Michigan State University I majored in Art. My course work included Life Drawing, Design, Painting and Art History.

Through the years of marriage, business ventures and raising six daughters, Art has always been the vitality and theme of my life. My fondness of sewing and clothing design was complemented in my husband’s early career as a textile designer. Together we owned several successful fabric stores. Yearly family Christmas cards featured a stair step of blue eyed girls clothed in outfits I designed and sewed.

In 1989 I attended a National Stencillers Conference and found an exciting media to use my drawing, painting and designing skills. In the next three years I took classes in decorative painting techniques including stenciling, theorem painting and trompe l’oeil. In 2001 I participated in an extensive seminar at the Faux Masters Studio in Yorba Linda, California to learn hand-painted faux embellishments.

I consider my art education ongoing. I draw inspiration for my stencil designs from a voluminous file of personal sketches, photographs and clippings. Travels in over forty countries and the daily view of Lake Huron from my studio window also influence the designs I create for Marge Andreae Creative Stencils.