In 2017, I cut my first block print to make holiday cards for my family. Seven designs later, I began selling at a few spots in my neighborhood, considering it a "homework assignment" for my autodidactic business course.
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Two years later, I am tickled to say my cards have touched over 1500 people! My "homework assignment" has turned into a one-woman business - expanding to offer animation, murals, portraiture, and logo design.
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This is my joy. Be free to follow your unique flavor of success.
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Curious about a commission? Contact me at page.illustrates@gmail.com .
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This is Roger Tofte, creator of Enchanted Forest, at age 89. He agreed to snap a picture when I found him fixing his gravitram. I told him how wonderful it is to share this childhood treasure with my daughter.
It had been twenty years since I visited this roadside attraction, yet I find it even more enchanting than ever before. Now, I see it as as a sculptural masterpiece, crafted for over 50 years by Roger as a labor of love.
More from NPR:
Driving on Interstate 5 in Turner, Ore. — about an hour south of Portland — it's hard to miss the towering road sign, topped by a waving Humpty Dumpty: "Enchanted Forest Theme Park. Next Exit.
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The park's attractions fill the hillside just off the highway — but it wouldn't exist without the dedication of one man.
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Roger Tofte grew up wanting to be an illustrator in the mold of Norman Rockwell. Instead, he found himself working as a draftsman for the Oregon highway department.
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It was during a family road trip with his wife and kids in 1963 when inspiration struck. Tofte remembers seeing roadside amusement parks that were "just plywood and there wasn't much to them so I kinda started dreaming up what I'd like to do."
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Tofte returned home, made a $500 down payment on 20 acres of wooded hillside, and started building, sometimes one cement bag at a time.
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For nearly a decade, Tofte worked in isolation, sculpting figures from fairy tales and nursery rhymes: Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, the Seven Dwarfs, Little Red Riding Hood. He built each one by hand.
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The Enchanted Forest finally opened in 1971. Tofte says 75 people visited the first day; 1,000 came the next Sunday. A couple of years later, Tofte quit his day job to focus full time on the park.
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These days, more than 100,000 people visit the Enchanted Forest each year, according to the Tofte family. .
The key to realizing your dreams, he says, is follow-through.
"It's not something that you just sit around and hope it's going to come true," he says. "It takes a lot of sacrifice. It takes a lot work and effort." #enchantedforest #concreteart #sculptureart
