Otherworld Cottage Industries welcomes long-time associate, multi media artist Linda Snyder to its talented creative coalition

August 24, 2015 - Linda Snyder is a classically trained artist who turned her talents into commercially useful skills as an illustrator, graphic designer, sculptor and product designer for well-known global brands, independent businesses and private collectors.

Linda's achievements in art encompass several related disciplines. She took a first prize at a national Pepsi Snow Sculpting Contest, illustrated investment brochures that helped raise millions of dollars, sculpted a limited editions of porcelain teapots for Warner Brothers and a delightful rendition of an 18" Fancy Nancy Doll. Other eclectic commissions included the mechanical design for an international patent application for an automotive accessory, a nationally broadcast appearance as an illustrator on the Food Network's Sugar Dome competition, and her contribution to the final lava art design for the huge wall of glass panels recently installed in the Honolulu International Airport.

Along the way, Linda designed the original logo and program for the 1997 live performance and video production for the world premiere of Travis Edward Pike's "Grumpuss," staged at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England for the U.K. Save the Children Fund. Linda also created a collection of illustrations (now on display in Otherworld Cottage), for a proposed print edition of Pike's critically acclaimed epic narrative rhyme. Pike adapted one of those illustrations for the heraldic Grumpuss shield he created and featured on the cover of Otherworld's "Grumpuss 15th Anniversary Audio Theater Edition" CD.

Since the launch of Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2013, Linda created the "Morningstone Music" mosaic, incorporating concepts of the sympathetic magic explored in that proposed movie musical. The mosaic shows a megalithic shrine at twilight, when the border between this world and otherworld is blurred, and features a three dimensional barn owl, either emerging from the mosaic at dusk or being reabsorbed into it at dawn. The photo of the mosaic featured on the "Morningstone Music" CD cover cannot capture the effect of the dynamic original, as its colors shift and play in the light, depending on the time of day as it hangs in the private collection at Otherworld Cottage.

Linda also created the ¾ scale "fossil" of a prehistoric Baryonyx skull. The recently discovered dinosaur (1983), is a likely prospective ancestor for "Long-Grin," the red-backed, scaly, black-bellied, tusked, bat-winged dragon that plays a pivotal role in Pike's five- part Arthurian adventure, now in development. It and a companion piece depicting the forearms and claws of the creature, hang discreetly in an area apart from the other Otherworld galleries, like the genuine fossils they resemble, awaiting discovery.

Linda also created the Otherworld Cottage logo (above) that first appeared on the 2014 CD "Reconstructed Coffeehouse Blues," fresh recordings of original songs Pike performed for live audiences in New England coffeehouses back in the late sixties. Linda also designed the cover for 'Travis Edward Pike's Tea Party Snack Platter" CD, fresh recordings of more of Pike's original songs, made popular with Travis Pike's Tea Party fans during the period covered in "Travis Edward Pike's Odd Tales and Wonders 1964 – 1974: A Decade of Performance," (2013, Otherworld Cottage Industries, paperback, $19.95).

Linda is currently completing her BA in Gaming Arts & Design as a Character Modeler. And now that she is a principal player at Otherworld Cottage Industries, we anticipate Linda will soon start work on the illustrations for our "Grumpuss" Ebook, helping us to bring that delightful, timeless adventure in epic narrative rhyme to readers new and old. Samples from all these works may be heard on their individual websites, or by visiting the Production Office at Otherworld Cottage Industries. Our books, CDs and videos are available on Amazon.com and in our ONLINE STORE, where digital downloads for Ebooks, digital CDs and individual audio tracks are also sold.