Jill Marie Crvich started Figments Studio in 1995, based on a collection of crude papier-mache clay figures and handmade journals she sold at local craft shows in North Carolina in the late 1980s. During the early 1980s, she studied at the Memphis College of the Arts. After moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1997, she began selling her work at Pike Place Market and area craft shows. Figments Studio combines Jill's long standing interest in fairy tales, antiques, journal writing (she began at age 10), historical imagery and architecture, as well as work by artists such as Rackham, Dulac, Tenniel, Parrish and Waterhouse. The concept of magic and transformation as it appears in fairy tales underlies much of her work.

nce Upon a Time there was a young girl who loved the wonder of fairy tales, writing in her diary and playing with clay. That young girl grew into artist, Jill Marie Crvich of Figments Studio.

As a child, Jill journaled and dreamed. As an adult, she encourages others to do the same...to pick up a Figments Studio journal, take a moment to reflect, sip a cup of tea, and indulge in the craft of recording thoughts in one's own hand.

Jill's journals beg to hold stories. Handcrafted to resemble enchanted books one might find in a fairy tale, her journals have distressed leather-like covers highlighted with gold and decorated with romantic imagery or calligraphic script. These are books meant to hold cherished memories, from the angst of a teenager, to a young couple starting a new life together, to a grandmother fondly remembering her children's early years.

Jill's preoccupation with books started in her pre-school years. She loved making journals from discarded wallpaper samples, tablets of paper, and masking tape. In second grade, she was introduced to and became instantly infatuated with papier-mache. The notion of taking common household items—scraps of newspaper, flour and water—and mixing, molding, drying and painting them fascinated her because the possibilities were endless. From the newspaper and flour paste papier-mache, she moved on to paper pulp varieties, and finally to the medium she uses today, Creative PaperClay©. Her sculpted characters and creatures emerge from book covers or spring out of jack-in-the-boxes reminiscent of themes from Grimm's Fairy Tales or Mother Goose.

Journaling has always been important to Jill. She got her first diary on her 10th birthday and has been journaling ever since. As a child in a large family, Jill learned to make time for herself. She would pack her diary and a little picnic into the wicker basket of her bicycle and, with her transistor radio hanging from the handlebars, pedal to her favorite spot, a big shade tree in a nearby meadow. There she would sit for hours, relaxing and recording her hopes and dreams. Her diary made her young life feel significant and special.

Her love of old things also began in childhood. Her parents restored historic homes and collected antiques. As an adult, Jill frequents antique shops and now her own home is filled with period art and furniture. She loves the history and character of old things, especially antique books with their worn, cracked covers and pages. Jill is also drawn to the historic artwork of children's book illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac, and painters such as John Waterhouse and Maxfield Parrish. Their work adorns the covers of her journals.

In the early 1980's, Jill studied at the Memphis College of Arts and then moved to the mountains of North Carolina. It was there, at Art-in-the-Park in Blowing Rock, N.C., where she first exhibited her crude papier-mache collection of handmade journals and fairy tale characters. A move to the west coast brought Jill to the Seattle area in 1997, where she began selling her work at Pike Place Market (1998-2001) and area craft shows. Honing her sculpting ability but staying true to her inspirations, Jill developed her enchanting line of journals and accessories into what it is today.

Jill hopes her Figments Studio collection finds its way into the hearts and hands of young and old, those creating memories and those reliving them. But most of all, she hopes they add an element of wonder to people's lives, reminding them of the fairy tales they themselves are living, and inspiring them to create their own "happily ever after."