Design is something I've been immersed in since I was a child in Gloversville, NY. Experiences, big and small, have built upon one another, and remembering them now, I see how they all had a hand in shaping my life as an artist.
My father was a designer and pattern maker at St. Thomas Inc., the family business founded by my maternal grandfather, William St. Thomas. They collaborated to create award-winning designs in the small leather goods industry. I would sit near my father's desk on the third floor of the factory and draw on stacks of bond paper. Surrounded by the hum of sewing machines, I watched him work, and knew that I wanted to be an artist too!
I had the good fortune to study under and be inspired by accomplished artists including Gloversville artist Walter Jerome; English painter Phyllis Gardner at the Mary A. Burnham Prep School in Northampton, MA; painter Myrna Barenboim Lamb; and sculptor and calligrapher Robert Lamb.
After earning a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design, I went on to a career that afforded numerous opportunities: layout and fashion illustrator for the Outlet department store in Providence, RI; jewelry, handbag, and catalog designer at Whiting and Davis; freelance illustrator; associate sculptor at the Lambs' Gatehouse Studio, designing for the pewter giftware industry; and partner in the Roberts & Van Heusen design studio. At Hasbro, the children's toy and entertainment company, I worked first as a senior package designer, then as an art director, building awesome Hasbro brands like Play-Doh® (my personal favorite!), until my retirement in 2013.
My past informs and inspires me. The present finds me in my studio sculpting, hand building, and painting. The future is, as always, another illustrious adventure!
Terry Van Heusen
My father was a designer and pattern maker at St. Thomas Inc., the family business founded by my maternal grandfather, William St. Thomas. They collaborated to create award-winning designs in the small leather goods industry. I would sit near my father's desk on the third floor of the factory and draw on stacks of bond paper. Surrounded by the hum of sewing machines, I watched him work, and knew that I wanted to be an artist too!
I had the good fortune to study under and be inspired by accomplished artists including Gloversville artist Walter Jerome; English painter Phyllis Gardner at the Mary A. Burnham Prep School in Northampton, MA; painter Myrna Barenboim Lamb; and sculptor and calligrapher Robert Lamb.
After earning a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design, I went on to a career that afforded numerous opportunities: layout and fashion illustrator for the Outlet department store in Providence, RI; jewelry, handbag, and catalog designer at Whiting and Davis; freelance illustrator; associate sculptor at the Lambs' Gatehouse Studio, designing for the pewter giftware industry; and partner in the Roberts & Van Heusen design studio. At Hasbro, the children's toy and entertainment company, I worked first as a senior package designer, then as an art director, building awesome Hasbro brands like Play-Doh® (my personal favorite!), until my retirement in 2013.
My past informs and inspires me. The present finds me in my studio sculpting, hand building, and painting. The future is, as always, another illustrious adventure!
Terry Van Heusen