American Girl Illustrator Christine Kornacki ~ Meet & Greet

American Girl book Illustrator Christine Kornacki will be at the downtown Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06824 (203) 255-7756 on Sunday, January 13, 2013 from 1:00pm-4:00pm. Christine will be on hand to meet with customers and sign copies of her illustrated books-- Cecile and Marie Grace.

Like millions of young women Christine Kornacki grew up with American Girl dolls and books. Her dream of becoming an American Girl illustrator came true after graduating from the Hartford Art School in 2007 with a BFA in Illustration. Christine’s drive, work ethic and business skills have proven successful in the highly competitive professional illustration market.

In 1986, Pleasant Company (now American Girl) introduced Samantha, Kristen, and Molly, three historically costumed, 18-inch dolls from different periods in American history. Young girls and their parents were instantly charmed, and over the years the company added more dolls, some historical and others contemporary, and an array of products that revolve around the dolls. Each doll comes with a book that introduces its story.

Kornacki essentially brought to life American Girl’s two newest, prizewinning historical dolls, Marie-Grace Gardner and Cecile Rey, who debuted in August 2011. Their story takes place in New Orleans, La in the 1850’s. American Girl gave Christine the character descriptions and she created their images. A friend’s niece was the model for Cecile and Marie-Grace is modeled after Christine’s sister. Kornacki’s friend, Aaron Joshua also a HAS graduate was the model for Cecile’s brother.

It took Kornacki two years to produce the 25 paintings and 20 smaller portraits that appear in the series. Cecile and Marie-Grace are the first American Girl dolls introduced simultaneously as “best friends.” The six books are written by two authors, Denise Lewis Patrick and Sarah Masters Buckey.

Originally from Simsbury, CT Christine Kornacki works as a graphic designer with Product Ventures, a packaging and product-design agency. Evenings and weekends, she often works until 2 a.m. on freelance pieces, spending sometimes 80 hours per week on contract illustrations.