Linda Biggs
Encyclopedia
Linda Biggs is an American
painter
, working with watercolors. Her fantasy art
blends gothic aesthetics with rainbow motifs in the lowbrow art style
.
Native American
. January 27, 1962 and grew up in Towson, Maryland
where she attended Towson High School
. In 1988, Linda and her family built a white cedar
log house in the woodlands of northern Maryland
.
She began her career in corporate commercial printing, and became vice-president of an advertising agency
in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1999, she quit to begin a new life as a full time fantasy artist, launching the website Fairie Forest Watercolors to market her work.
She is self-employed as a professional artist, entrepreneur, and eco-friendly business owner since 1999. Her lithographs are printed on recycled paper with soy ink
and shipped in recycled packaging
.
s, fairies, siren
s, dragon
s, tramp
s, and her personal creation of "Little faerie Freaks", in the underground comix
-influenced lowbrow art style
. She regularly displays her works at International FaerieCon, Spoutwood Fairie Festival
and Sugarloaf Craft festivals.
Biggs is a participating artist in the books, The Art of Faery, The World of Faery, and Her Rainbow World.
Finding that her work was sought after by temporary tattoo
makers, she began production of flash kit tattoo stencils.
Linda made numerous appearances on WJZ-TV
, starting in 2005, in interviews with Marty Bass
and Don Scott. In their 'Coffee With' Dec 1, 2010 interview, she compared her depictions of fairies, from their beginnings, "about 10 years ago", to her work at the time. "...They were a whole different world of fairies...they were sweet, and just pretty. Now I've taken them to where they mean something"
Selected watercolor paintings by Linda Biggs by year
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, working with watercolors. Her fantasy art
Fantasy art
Fantasy art is a genre of art that depicts magical or other supernatural themes, ideas, creatures or settings. While there is some overlap with science fiction, horror and other speculative fiction art, there are unique elements not generally found in other forms of speculative fiction art...
blends gothic aesthetics with rainbow motifs in the lowbrow art style
Lowbrow (art movement)
Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, describes an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s. Lowbrow is a widespread populist art movement with origins in the underground comix world, punk music, hot-rod street culture, and other subcultures. It is also...
.
Early life, education, career
Biggs is of mixed ancestry; her grandmother was a CherokeeCherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. January 27, 1962 and grew up in Towson, Maryland
Towson, Maryland
Towson is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 at the 2010 census...
where she attended Towson High School
Towson High School
Towson High School is a high school in Baltimore County, Maryland, founded in 1873. The school's current stone structure was built in 1949. Located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson and serving the surrounding communities of Towson, Lutherville, and Ruxton, it is part of the Baltimore...
. In 1988, Linda and her family built a white cedar
White Cedar
White Cedar may refer to several different trees:* Cupressaceae:** Chamaecyparis thyoides – Atlantic White Cypress** Cupressus lusitanica – Mexican White Cedar** Thuja occidentalis – Eastern Arborvitae* Meliaceae:...
log house in the woodlands of northern Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
.
She began her career in corporate commercial printing, and became vice-president of an advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1999, she quit to begin a new life as a full time fantasy artist, launching the website Fairie Forest Watercolors to market her work.
She is self-employed as a professional artist, entrepreneur, and eco-friendly business owner since 1999. Her lithographs are printed on recycled paper with soy ink
Soy ink
Soy ink is a kind of ink made from soybeans. As opposed to traditional petroleum-based ink, soy-based ink is more environmentally friendly, might provide more accurate colors, and makes it easier to recycle paper...
and shipped in recycled packaging
Sustainable packaging
Sustainable packaging is the development and use of packaging which results in improved sustainability. At the end stage of design it involves increased use of life cycle inventory and life cycle assessment to help guide the use of packaging which reduces the environmental impact and ecological...
.
Work and reception
Biggs's work centers around her own experiences in life, presenting her stories through characterizations of Native Americans, mermaidMermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
s, fairies, siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
s, dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s, tramp
Tramp
A tramp is a long term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking or hiking all year round. In British English meanwhile a tramp simply refers to a homeless person, usually not a travelling one....
s, and her personal creation of "Little faerie Freaks", in the underground comix
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
-influenced lowbrow art style
Lowbrow (art movement)
Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, describes an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s. Lowbrow is a widespread populist art movement with origins in the underground comix world, punk music, hot-rod street culture, and other subcultures. It is also...
. She regularly displays her works at International FaerieCon, Spoutwood Fairie Festival
Fairie Festival
The Fairie Festival is a music and arts festival currently held annually in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, that began in 1991...
and Sugarloaf Craft festivals.
Biggs is a participating artist in the books, The Art of Faery, The World of Faery, and Her Rainbow World.
Finding that her work was sought after by temporary tattoo
Temporary tattoo
A Temporary Tattoo is a non-permanent image on the skin resembling a true tattoo. Temporary tattoos can be drawn, painted, or airbrushed, as a form of body painting, but most of the time these tattoos are transferred to the skin. Temporary tattoos of any kind are used for numerous purposes...
makers, she began production of flash kit tattoo stencils.
Linda made numerous appearances on WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV, channel 13, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Baltimore, Maryland. WJZ-TV's studios and offices are located on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, adjacent to the transmission tower it shares with four other Baltimore...
, starting in 2005, in interviews with Marty Bass
Marty Bass
Marty Bass is a television news reporter and weather man for CBS affiliate WJZ 13 in Baltimore, Maryland. Noted for his strong accent and ebullient personality, Bass is a twenty-five year veteran at WJZ and is the co-host of the Baltimore market's #1 rated morning show with Don Scott. The WJZ...
and Don Scott. In their 'Coffee With' Dec 1, 2010 interview, she compared her depictions of fairies, from their beginnings, "about 10 years ago", to her work at the time. "...They were a whole different world of fairies...they were sweet, and just pretty. Now I've taken them to where they mean something"
Selected watercolor paintings by Linda Biggs by year
- Native Spirit, 2003 - A tribute to Linda's Native Grandmother, later executed in the sculpture medium by Dragonsite artists.
- Balance, 2003 - Meditation Fairie (executed and retired, as Native Spirit).
- Morning Glories, 2004 - Maternity Fairy.
- Medicine Woman, 2006 - (Native Woman with Medicine wheel).
- The Little Fairie Freaks Collection - started in 2008.
- One of the Boys, 2010 - (Painted as a gift for Utilikilts)