Hosler, Danamarie 1978-

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Hosler, Danamarie 1978-

Personal

Born 1978, in Miami, FL. Education: Maryland Institute College of Art, B.F.A. (illustration; summa cum laude), 2000.

Addresses

Home—Baltimore, MD. E-mail—greenstarstudio@greenstarstudio.com.

Career

Illustrator, soft-sculpture artist, and muralist. Greenstarstudio, Baltimore, MD, designer of greeting cards, home goods, and Knitimals™. Walters Art Museum, Balti-

more, member of part-time staff. Exhibitions: Mural installations at Baltimore, MD, Farmer's Market and Health Department Building; Everglades Elementary School, Miami, FL; Miami Shores Elementary School, Miami; Thomas Johnson Elementary School, Baltimore; and other locations.

Awards, Honors

Softie Awards finalist several times, for Knitimals™.

Illustrator

Bobbie Combs, 1, 2, 3: A Family Counting Book, Two Lives Publishing (Ridley Park, PA), 2000.

Betty S. Evans, The Case of the Stolen Scarab, Two Lives Publishing (Ridley Park, PA), 2004.

Jennifer Bryan, The Different Dragon, Two Lives Publishing (Ridley Park, PA), 2006.

Contributor of illustrations to periodicals, including Cricket, Progressive, Hopkins Undergraduate Research Journal, and Cats.

Sidelights

A soft-sculpture artist, muralist, and knitter who is known for her whimsical approach, Danamarie Hosler has also contributed illustrations to several books published by Pennsylvania-based Two Lives Publishing, a firm dedicated to creating children's books for children growing up in same-sex parent and other non-traditional families. Her illustration projects for Two Lives include Jennifer Bryan's The Different Dragon, 1, 2, 3: A Family Counting Book by Bobbie Combs, and the elementary-grade chapter book The Case of the Stolen Scarab by Betty S. Evans. For Hosler, book illustration is only one of many artistic outlets. In addition to creating mural installations for schools and other public settings, under her Greenstarstudio label she also designs and markets greeting cards, painted objects, and her popular Knitimals™ soft-sculpture animals.

The Different Dragon deals with a controversial subject: children being raised by same-sex parents. In the story, a boy and one of his two mothers play their nighttime game of creating imaginative stories, this time about a dragon that decides that being fierce is not as fun as being friendly. Noting that Bryan's "freewheeling tale" is rendered less weighty by Hosler's use of "warm colors" and "comfortably cluttered" settings, a Kirkus Reviews writer concluded that The Different Dragon is "playful enough" to keep young readers amused. Calling the picture book "beautifully illustrated," a Children's Bookwatch contributor dubbed The Different Dragon "a soft-stated yet groundbreaking" work.