Cidne Wallace Biography
Sistahs worldwide are delighting in the artistic styling of Cidne Wallace. Creating beautiful art and giftware for the gift giving and buying tastes of women, Cidne has honed her craft for the expressive style of African-American women worldwide. "I tease about being world-class, world-wide", she says, "but I do get mal from sistahs all over the planet! Sistahs send the items to their friends and family overseas and I get mail from them. It's amazing!"
After a tour in the Air Force and a management career in accounting, she walked away from the corporate structure to become a working artist. She chalks it up to pure intention. "Once you intend to do something positive and all signs point to your favor, you can make it happen," she says. "I was romanticized by the 'runaway slave' factor and I intend to never return to the plantation," she states laughingly. She began painting note cards and sold them to co-workers. After a while, she showed them to local stores who started buying them. She acquired more local stores and began making other gift items. "Every time I made something new the sistahs liked it, so I kept looking for new things to make," she says. As she practiced and studied art on her own, she began experimenting with all types of materials and products. She began watching the market for trends and admired the artwork of sistahs and women of other ethnicities and her world seemed to expand by osmosis. After a few years of all original work, she signed with her first publisher. Next came the popular Girlfriends calendar, now in its fifth year. She started a licensing company in order to process new licensing contracts of her work, including totes, pillows, journals, figurines of her original characters, magnets, notepads, address books, bookmarks and a host of new products to come.
In her forties now, Cidne spends her creative time in her studio designing products for her licensing company, painting canvas originals, creating inventory for her studio work and graphic design. With all she has learned to do by stepping out on her own, she still finds time to study photography and digital video. Her products can be found in fine stores throughout the Southland and around the country.