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Drawn Together
Candler Park’s Paper Ghost Studio
creates, sells unique art
By Isadora Pennington
Tucked away in a storefront in Candler
Park sits a charming little shop where
doodles adorn the front windows, prints
lean against the glass inside and the white
walls beyond are lined with artwork.
Paper Ghost Studio is somewhat
of an enigma — part gallery, part retail,
and part office, and almost never open
to the public. Founded by illustrators
Mike Lowery, Katrin Wiehle, Sarah
Watts and Taylor Morris in 2014, the
shop was initially conceptualized simply
to provide a communal setting for
their work which otherwise was mostly
tackled at home, alone.
“That’s the thing about illustration;
we sit at the computer and work on our
stuff,” said Lowery.
“It’s a collaborative company, so rather
than the three of us individually marketing
our stuff it’s three artists under one
company,” said Sarah Neuburger.
Their paths to co-working at the studio
today are as varied as they are. Lowery
went to school in the 90s for design, a
practical degree, which also enabled him to
take fine art classes and develop his skills.
“I didn’t know much about what
illustration was, I thought it was just
children’s books. Over the years my graphic
design and fine art illustration started
looking like each other,” Lowery said.
It was nearly 12 years ago that he
illustrated his first book, and now is a
published author himself. Lie has since
married Katrin Wiehle, and together they
make a living out of their artwork.
Wiehle grew up in a small village in
Germany where she was exposed to lots
of farm animals that inspired her art.
Paper ghoit
STUDIO.
Photos by Isadora Pennington
Sarah Neuburger, Katrin Wiehle and Mike Lowery created Paper Ghost Studio as a place to collabo
rate and create, but it’s turned into a retail business and gallery, too.
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She later also went to school for design,
but soon after shifted gears towards
illustrating for magazines and children’s
books. “I realized I was more interested
in bringing my own ideas to life rather
than bring to life something that
someone else had visualized.”
One of her concepts, a series of
children’s books printed on all natural
cardboard with soy inks, even won the
“world’s most beautiful book” award in
Germany. “Since we are all individuals
working on projects, it’s nice to have a
space where you can be around other
people and come up with ideas and then
realize them together,” Wiehle explained
about working at Paper Ghost.
Meanwhile Neuburger, originally
hailing from South Carolina, got her
masters degree in studio art at the School
of Visual Arts in Manhattan. Ller wife’s
work brought her to Atlanta, and now
they live in Augusta. Though reluctant to
label herself an illustrator until recently,
Neuburger has 10 years of experience
running an online shop through Tiny
Object as a retail wholesale producer of
cake toppers and rubber stamps.
“I got tired of making the same item
over and over again, so I then switched
over to wanting to draw more and dropped
the wholesale line,” she explained. These
days many of her clients seek her out for
branding or marketing purposes, and
she lends her quirky style to collateral for
entrepreneurs and businesses.
Working at Paper Ghost Studio
has served another rather unexpected
purpose for the artists, as it bridges the
gap between illustrator and clientele.
Most of the time, you never meet the
person who drew the characters in
your favorite children’s books, designed
your stationary, or made the art that
hangs on your walls. Through art shows
and special pop up events, the crew at
Paper Ghost came to know and love
their community, and the shop’s impact
expanded.
“We started doing pop up events
called the Paper Ghost Fortune Machine,
and it’s one of my favorite projects right
now,” said Lowery. “People come up and
fill out a questionnaire, and a psychic
will draw their fortune.”
Around the holidays, the team also
offers live drawing events where you can
commission cards on the spot for your
loved ones.
Throughout the years, and as the
group saw successful shows, events, and
collaborations, some things have changed
while their core motives remain the same:
to make art, work hard, and connect with
their communities.
When they first started the space, it
was supposed to be a working studio,
but once it became more about being
a public open space with events and
the chance to meet and interact with
more people from the area. That’s really
exciting,” Neurburger said.
The shop, located at 1393 McLendon
Ave., is only open to the public on
openings and during special events,
as otherwise it functions mostly as an
office. For those who are interested in
meeting these local artists and buying
prints or small works, come out to their
next Tiny Art Show opening on April
15 at 6 p.m. For more information, visit
paperghoststudio.com. [d
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