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About the Artist

Cindy Berglund

Cindy Berglund

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of an artistic mother and a commercial artist father, Cindy Berglund drew her first portrait at age 8. By age 12, she was drawing realistic portraits for classmates from photos. This gave her a great opportunity to study likenesses and to begin a lifelong love of the human face and it’s many expressions.


Caricatures

Her fascination with caricatures started with watching artists at the Minnesota State Fair when she was in her early teens. As she watched other artists, she saw what they were seeing in faces, was delighted by the humor and quick graceful lines, and longed to do the same.

Cindy taught herself the skill of caricaturing by practicing on family members and friends. Bringing to the mix her early skills at portraiture, she developed the fun rhythm of drawing quickly, and with a bit of exaggeration, while capturing likenesses from life.

During her years studying commercial art in St. Paul, Minnesota, she got the opportunity she'd been waiting for. The caricature artist she had watched as a girl, retired from the Minnesota State Fair, leaving a vacancy she could fill, and as a result, she got a booth at the Fair. That was 1977. She's been a caricature artist ever since.

She loves her connection with people that caricaturing has brought her, as customers return to visit her year after year, creating their own memories and history, using her caricatures to illustrate and capture special moments in their lives.

Cindy specializes in event caricaturing for trade shows, conferences and corporate events. She loves the interaction with people and the opportunity to create memorable experiences for her clients and their customers. She also loves participating as a caricature artist at parties and special occasions. Everyone comes away entertained, and those she draws have a very personal memory they can keep. She works at several state fairs and festivals during the summer months, does lots of holiday parties, and she helps people create special gifts from photos through the mail.


Illustration & Design

Cindy also pursued the commercial graphics world, working as an Illustrator, Art Director and Graphic Designer with a career that started in 1975. She taught herself the art of paper sculpture illustration, won numerous awards with that medium, and was honored with a Gold Award for her dimensional illustration by the 3Dimensional Art Directors and Illustrators Award Show in New York. Her art has been featured on the covers of several books, including “The Eagle’s Secret”, “Stop Getting By and Start Getting Rich”, and two “Twin Cities Fishing Guides”. She was a featured artist and published in 1997 in the book "More Paper Sculpture, A Step-by-Step Guide".

Her love of illustration and design had her start her own studio in 1980, Cindy Berglund Illustration & Design. Paper Sculpture Illustration, packaging design and logo development became special areas of focus for her. She has been recognized and awarded for her illustration work by Communication Arts, Print's Regional Design Annual, and New York Art Directors Club. She continues to do Paper Sculpture, traditional illustration work and graphic design in her studio.

Joshua Insanus

Pawtraiture™ Custom Heirloom Portraits

Beginning in 2001, Cindy started a new chapter in her artistic career, the art of animal portraits. A customer who owned several of my caricatures had a special request. They wanted a realistic portrait of their dog that had just passed away, and she was the only artist they knew. They wanted a meaningful memory. And they wanted her help.

She was touched by the opportunity to provide something so personal with her artwork. She saw that there was a need she could meet for people, and loved the opportunity to explore this new area of art. Her years of study drawing human faces translated beautifully into drawing peoples' pets. Reconnecting with her love of the portrait, she expanded her focus to include realistic, expressive custom portraits of pets and people. Creating her art in charcoal and pastel, the portraits she creates are soulful and capture the heart of the pets and subjects she draws.

“The eyes of a portrait are my favorite things to create. I see the reflection of my subject’s eyes on my paper looking back at me, and I know that the portrait has found its life.”

Cindy loves being able to provide something so meaningful to pet owners and portrait lovers. And, with her skill developed back at age 12, drawing people portrait, she can draw realistic portraits of people and their pets together as well, a rare ability that allows her to help people celebrate their bond to their special pets and loved ones.

“Every time I draw a portrait, I am telling someone’s story, expressing a meaningful connection. Through my artwork, I’m allowed to honor a special bond you have with those you cherish and care about. In my Pawtraiture portraits, it’s not important that people see “my artwork”, what really matters is that they see the ones they love.”

In her artwork, “Drawing the Connection” between her clients and the people and pets they love ... that is Cindy’s greatest love.

Services


Caricatures by Cindy

Specializes in Live Caricaturing for:
* Parties (Holiday parties, open house, birthday, graduation, wedding, boat cruise party, etc.)
* Events (Company party, company picnics, business opening, boat cruise outings, etc.)
* Trade Shows (great on site entertainment, acknowledgement tool, and lead generator)
* Festivals and Fairs

Studio Caricature Custom Art orders:
* Custom Caricatures Mail Order from Photos
* Custom Caricature Illustrations
(for business cards and collateral, book illustrations, business promotion, your ideas)
* Caricature greeting card art
(for holidays, weddings, business promotion, special occasions)
* Prints of caricatures of celebrities (from my existing collection)
* Custom caricatures of celebrities from photos

Pawtraiture™ by Cindy

Custom Heirloom Portraiture specializes in:
* Pet Portraits
* People Portraits
* Pet & People Portraits (combined together in the same portrait)
* House Portraits (memories of homestead, family home, cabin, etc.)
* Prints of pets (from my existing collection)
* Mail Order from Photo (see my order form on “How to Order” page)
* Custom Images and Illustrations

* Unique Personal Gifts
* Touching Memorial Tributes
* Create a Timeless Memory
* Celebrate Special Loved Ones
* Capture the heart and soul of your loved one forever

Cindy Berglund Illustration & Design

Specializes in:
* Paper Sculpture illustration
* Advertising and Corporate Illustration
* Graphic Design

 


How To Order

Let's Talk About Your Personal Artwork

I look forward to communicating with you about your personal requests. Contact me by phone or e-mail or download, review and return my PDF Order Form.



Testimonials

To say I liked your work would be a huge understatement. Your drawing of Ari’s two dogs were the best wedding present ever. When I look at the drawing, it seems that the dogs will jump out of the picture and into my lap! I gave out many of your cards at the wedding. I want to evangelize about the most meaningful gifts being your portrait of loved ones. Now I want to give my daughter a portrait of my Mom for her birthday.
– A. Ronis

We are so happy with the results of the portraits, especially with the two individual portraits of the two pets I have lost. You captured their spirit, which we will cherish forever. We love them.
– B. Schule

I had the portrait done for my Mother’s birthday. The results are amazing. I was really happy with the clarity of the piece. The piece was so good it made my Mom cry. I wouldn’t change anything you did. Thank you very much.
– S. Mizak

I wanted to give my husband a unique gift. When I saw your booth, I thought it would be perfect to have a portrait created just for him of our beloved Lightnen. I am extremely happy with the portrait, and the way you worked with me to get it just perfect was appreciated. It’s just perfect!! The details and colors are exactly correct. It’s like he’s still with us, looking with his gorgeous eyes!! I would definitely recommend you to others who would like a unique gift idea. Thank you so much.
– P. Domabeck

We thought we would like a drawing of our dog, when he would pass away, to have a nice memory. We contacted you to do a portrait of Kramer, our dog. When we came to pick up the picture, and saw it, it was so “real” it brought tears to our eyes. We had it framed in a nice oak frame and hung it in our family room. It helps with the healing process: he is still with us. My thanks to you, Cindy, you so beautiful work!
– H. & S. Lawver

Cindy, this has been an unbelievable process from beginning to end. Ease of ordering and follow up was more than excellent. Now the finished product! “Oh My God!” You have captured every identifying mark. You have given our “Abby Girl” back to us! You are more than just talented. This is a true gift that you are showing with your clients.
– L. Neargarder

When I received the portrait, I was so excited I didn’t even wait to get in the house to open the package. As soon as I saw the portrait I thought to myself, “That’s My Dog!! Unbelievable!! It turned out wonderful, awesome, better than I‘d ever thought! Thank you!! Everyone who sees it, loves it, stares at it, almost drools over how it captures the expression of Teeko’s face. Great work!! Keep up the Great Work!!
– A. Duval

Cindy, we absolutely love the portrait of our dog, Libby you did! It was a gift to my husband for Christmas. He has told & shown everyone his new prized possession! Thank you for the gift if your talent to create such a special keepsake for our family.
– S. Malecha

When we commissioned you to do Molly’s portrait we never imaged how much compassion you would have for us and how much passion you put into your artwork. The attention to detail and our specifications that we felt needed to be brought out, especially her eyes. When you showed us the finished portrait, it really touched our hearts, and it was as if Molly was right here with us.
When we took it to be professionally framed, the woman at the gallery, who also does pastels, said that yours was one of the best she had ever seen. She said that the way you captured her eyes is the sign of a true artist.
We would definitely tell anyone who loves their pet and wants to have them around forever and wants to work with a truly caring artist to contact Cindy. Thank you again for the great work you did on Molly Ann’s portrait.
– R. & P. Overholser

Cindy, I wanted to let you know how pleased I am with the charcoal sketch you did of my Standard Poodle, Lambeau, holding a pheasant. The whole process of working with you to capture exactly what I wanted in the sketch was easy and enjoyable. It is so amazing that you could capture such detail and the personality of my dog from photos and discussion on the phone. I truly appreciate your listening ear, which you converted into a fabulous piece of art that captured exactly what I had hoped for. The beautiful detail in the sketch absolutely captured Lambeau’s spirit! His eyes are so realistic that it seems as though he is actually looking at me. Wow, very nice work. I would highly recommend you to anyone considering having a sketch done.
– A. Newman

We had just lost one of our dogs, who was also my son’s best friend. I wanted to do something special for him for Christmas. Cindy did a portrait of Captain, our dog, that was so realistic it was uncanny. It was like bringing him back to us. Thanks, Cindy.
– T. Reilly

I commissioned a pawtrait of my Schnoodle to commemorate her passing the CGC test. I was very satisfied with the AWESOMELY FANTASTIC pawtraiture. Cindy captured Brandi’s personality perfectly. She did it all from digital photographs. The work understandably took a while, but it was worth the wait! The pawtraiture was GREAT!
– B. Shaw

My husband Rick recently had a portrait of our two dachshunds, Daisy and Holly, drawn by you. He was so excited that he already gave it to me and we’ve already had it framed. The portrait is outstanding. We just love it! It captures their looks perfectly – their eyes, their ears, their colors, the little tilt of Holly’s head. Friends and family who have seen it and knew Daisy and Holly are amazed how perfectly you captured them. We thank you so much for the beautiful job you did honoring our “girls.”
– V. Stohr



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