Cindy Reynolds is an artist, designer, and advertising expert based in Athens, GA that specializes in fun, illustrative, and beautiful art and design. Most days, she can be found juggling running an advertising agency with her art and design work.
We sat down (virtually) with Cindy to get a behind the scenes look.
1. What’s your favorite book?
I love classic fiction with strong female leads – Little Women, Sense & Sensibility, Anne of Green Gables, etc.
2. Favorite movie?
It’s so hard to pick one! I’m Sicilian, so I grew up watching The Godfather, so those movies hold a special place in my heart (but not the third one – skip it!).
3. Favorite TV show?
I’m a big fan of comedies. Parks & Rec is an all-time favorite, although Schitt’s Creek is a close second for me.
4. Favorite song?
My husband is a musician, so pretty much anything he writes becomes my new favorite.
5. Favorite food?
I don’t think I can choose one favorite. I love so many different foods, and love cooking and trying out new recipes.
6. Drink of choice?
Coconut LaCroix
7. Go-to karaoke song?
“Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb
8. When did you realize you wanted to be a designer?
In high school. I was on my school’s yearbook staff, and I just really enjoyed the process of putting everything together – like a high stakes game of Tetris.
9. Did you go to design school or teach yourself?
I went to school for advertising, but I took as many design and art-related classes as I could. So, a little bit of both.
10. If you had to describe your style with only three words what would they be?
Cheerful. Whimsical. Botanical.
11. When did you start your company?
I’ve been designing and creating forever, but I didn’t have a legitimate name and presence for my art and design work until 2018. I would just do side projects under the umbrella of my advertising agency.
12. Where is your studio located?
In our basement. It’s not all that pretty, but it’s a nice quiet place to work and looks out into our backyard and woods.
13. What’s your favorite card of yours on Postable?
I really love this card with the bear on it. It was a breakthrough moment for me as an artist when I created this bear, so it represents something to me personally.
14. What artists, past or present, inspire your work?
I really fell in love with art while I was studying abroad in Europe in the early 2000s. I fell in love with artists from the past like Titian and Turner as well as sculptures by Canova. I love and I am constantly inspired by so many artists today, like Sara Harding’s beautiful botanical flat lays, photography by Kamala Nahas, art by Lindsay Adams, and too many to name really.
15. If you had to choose a spirit animal what would it be and why?
Hmmm… I’m not sure. Probably some sort of adventure-loving animal that also sleeps a lot.
16. When was the last time you laughed really hard and why?
I actually distinctly remember this, because I had to have my gallbladder removed last month, so I literally laughed until I physically hurt. My kids were watching something very cheesy one night, and I started making fun of it to my husband (where the kids couldn’t see me), and we kept egging each other on until I couldn’t stop laughing and it hurt SO bad!
17. How would you spend your dream Saturday?
No work (laundry and dishes included). Great food. Good coffee. Painting most of the day away, a long walk, and snuggling with my kids.
18. If you weren’t allowed to work for 12 months, what would you do?
Lots of painting and cooking. Read the stack of books I’ve been meaning to get to. Spend a lot of time with family, especially my two daughters, have long lunches with friends, and travel as much as I could.
19. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
This is tough! I really love big cities like New York and Paris, but I also like escaping to the countryside, mountains, or beaches too. Maybe Florence or Rome. I’m also enamored with Spain, but I’ve never been there.
20. How did you spend the extra time at home this year?
I have two young daughters – ages 7 and 3 at the start of quarantine, although my oldest is now 8, and my youngest turns 4 this weekend. So, a lot of our time was spent on schoolwork and trying to keep things interesting. We planted a garden, baked, we’ve done science experiments, taken long walks, and I bought a new instrument, a mandoline, and started to learn that.
21. 3 words that describe your 2020 thus far.
Activating. Redefining. Grateful.
22. Your dream travel destination for the (hopefully near) future?
Barcelona, Spain! I would love to go there!
23. Any goals for 2021?
Create more. Get better at delegating. Be intentional about where I spend my time (and sometimes where I don’t spend it).
24. Favorite part of the holiday season?
Having young kids, it’s all pretty magical. I think my favorite thing is decorating the tree with our girls. They love it so much. We put on Christmas records and snacks and make it an event.
25. Do you have any unusual holiday family traditions?
Every year we have a huge baking day affectionately known as “Cookie Day”. It’s usually the Saturday before Christmas unless Christmas is on a weekend. We bake an extraordinary amount of cookies, candies, and sweets, distribute them onto trays, and deliver them to family and friends. It’s grown to be a pretty huge event that includes most of my extended family on my husband’s side, and we’ve had to “borrow” a commercial kitchen in the last few years because we’ve made nearly 100 trays to deliver. It’s so much fun!
26. Was this questionnaire too long?
Haha! Nah.
