Getting to Know the Locals: Christiane Grauert

I met Christiane when attending the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design where she works as an illustration professor. Aside from teaching at MIAD, her work has appeared in many publications, on book covers, posters, cards, and in text and children’s books. Christiane is also a talented pop-up paper artist. Overall, her work involves a lot of collage creation, vibrant colors, delicate patterns and line work.

Q: Please give a short description of yourself and your work.

A: I’m a German-American illustrator who enjoys visual solutions to abstract subject matter. My illustration work is mostly editorial and textbook based. For a few years, I have been interested in paper-engineering with its various types of pop-up and folding structures. This has added a level of 3-dimensionality to my work.

Q: What first piqued your interest in art?

A: My first encounters with pictures books and hours spent drawing as a child were undeniably influential. Later came looking at books on a range of art and cultural subject matter at my parents’ house and the local library. The decision to become an illustrator was gradual, a step-by-step realization that the process of finding a visual solution to an existing problem was what intrigued me the most.

Q: What inspires your art?

A: I have always had a fascination with other places, and I’m interested by what defines the familiar and the unfamiliar. Traveling and sketching is a big part in encountering and understanding what defines me culturally and visually.

Q: Whose work do you follow?

A: I’m not necessarily following specific people, but I’m always intrigued by interesting paper design, maps, architecture, and any form of graphic stylization that says a lot with as little as possible.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: A series of illustrations aimed at middle-schoolers for two different German schoolbook publishers. I enjoy working on projects in both English and German. I’m also in the early brainstorming stages for a new paper advent calendar.

Q: What work of yours are you most proud of?

A: This is a challenging question, but I’m particularly fond of a decade-long series of folding paper advent calendars. Advent calendars are a part of my cultural heritage and a treasured memory from my childhood. Working with a German printing company has allowed me to design, construct, and illustrate a number of calendars that push what is feasible when it comes to printing and die cutting paper products.

Q: Do you have a favorite knick-knack in your studio?

A: There is the usual amount of books and tools I treasure, but what I love most in my studio is the view from my desk. I’m up on the 10^th floor and if I turn my head to the right I can see lake Michigan. If I look up straight, I can see across North Milwaukee. Every time I feel I’m getting stuck, just looking up clears my mind.

Q: Where can your work be found?

A: At www.christiane-grauert.com

Q: Anything else you’d like to share?

A: Drawing is a highly effective way to be present and capture a specific experience at a specific moment in a specific place. A few years ago, I realized that although I would take photos as mementos, I never found these photos accurate. I started to keep a sketchbook on all my travels, willing myself to make a drawing whenever I had a few free minutes. Now a single, quick sketch can bring back the memory of an entire day and its encounters.

It was great getting to hear from Christiane, and I am looking forward to her future work.

See you in the next interview!

Stephanie Marie Steinhauer