Mary Engelbreit: The Art and the Artist

Self-taught artist Engelbreit, who lives in a St. Louis suburb, runs her own enormously successful greeting-card company; her illustrated books, journals and diaries (published by Andrews & McMeel) have a loyal following; and she also makes calendars, mugs and other products that sell in her own retail stores and elsewhere. This engaging scrapbook combines a biographical sketch with a perceptive discussion of her art. Her vibrantly colorful, richly detailed pictures contain familiar elements: spunky girls, straw hats, cottage roses, old-fashioned toys, well-dressed snakes, cats with angel-wings and decorative borders. Her fantasy graphics meld gypsies, dragons, spaceships, unicorns and UFOs. She also offers witty takes on childhood and hopeful images of multiethnic, multiracial cooperation. Whimsical, nostalgic and often veering to the cute or sentimental, her art nevertheless maintains a heartfelt connection to the real world in its celebration of love, faith, hope, decency and the vicissitudes of everyday life. 75,000 first printing; author tour. (Oct.)