Whatis your personal background?
I grew up in Glenwood, Minn.,a farming community of 2,700. I went to Carleton College,and later got an MFA at the U of I-Chicagoit was a very conceptual program.Afterwards, I organized a visiting artists’ group matching us with Chicago public schoolteachers. Then I got certified and taught fifth grade. It was the best job inthe world. Most of my students were from Latino neighborhoods. If I had hadexactly the same high-risk kids from the same socioeconomic environment but hadonly 24 of them, and not 32 in a class, I would never have left.%uFFFD
Howdid your teaching fit into your design work?
I developedart-integrated curricula for kids who were befuddled by numbers. Math is alanguage for describing the world. So is visual art. I used printmaking toteach them how to factor 24 through grids and graphs and patterns. Meanwhile, Iwas doing prints at homemaking napkins for Christmas gifts. My sister said,“We could sell these.” I didn’t know how to do business and marketingthat wasmy sister’s strength. She lived in Milwaukee,so we began selling here to George Watts, then went to the New YorkInternational Gift Fair. We got into the juried division without a wait. I quitteaching and moved here.
Howdo you develop your designs?
We talk about what’s nextnot what’s now. We study the competition. You can’t be too far ahead. We beganwith culinary images, then sea stuff, then flora, then color abstracts, thengarden patterns. Our next group will be insects.
Doyou like being in business?
Yes, you make your ownschedule. You’re autonomous, like being a teacher. I like the structure ofbeing at my studio. I like the conceptual part of being an entrepreneur. I lovethe trade shows in New Yorkwhere everyone takes care of each other. It’s like being an artist in a way.
For more information, visitwww.dermondpeterson.com.
