The Little Chickie Creator

When Gwen was pregnant with her daughter, Elizabeth, she decided to put the designs on clothes. So, the Little E Chickie wear line began. The clothing is printed on 100% organic cotton - a very important thing to Elizabeth - though she doesn't quite know that yet!

Gwendolyn is the owner of the company, Gwen Designs. Creativity runs in her background; she comes from a long line of artists and writers; in fact, she is a direct descendent of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of the 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter.

One of her earliest memories is Sundays growing up—when her father would gather crayons, paints, and paper from the kitchen cabinet for her to use while he and her mother slept in until almost noon. During college, she studied art history as well as abstract art with Karen Peterson from Hartford College for Women. Later, she studied the art of watercolor with Laura Eden.

In 1988, she lived in Tokyo, Japan where she became fascinated with the fine detail, elegance, and attention to nature that Japanese art highlights. Japanese paper and paint are the mediums she uses to create the art that gets printed on cards and textiles.