Stamp Zia Weekend - June 27th & 28th
Zana Clark -
Stamping as an Art Form: Going Beyond Cards
By Judi Kauffman
The names Stamp Zia and Zana Clark are synonymous. Zana is the founder, owner, designer, and product developer. And she’s ready to pack up a trunk show so she can show you what Stamp Zia is all about. Zana’s a rock star within the industry, but like Chuck Berry, who arrived in his own car without an entourage, she’s low maintenance. You can recognize her in a crowded room because of her spunky hair style and jazzy clothes, but the image is usually a fast-moving blur. Zana is always in motion, using her artistry, energy, and experience to change people’s perception of what stamping can be and helping them expand their creativity. What she likes best is making sure that customers see stamping as an art form, or as she puts it “For ten years, my mantra has been ‘Going Beyond Cards’.”
Zana Clark is a champion for the arts, a person who needs to find new challenges all the time. She likes combining her left and right brain. When she retired from teaching and left the tasks of high school administration to others, she worked for an antiquarian children’s book collection, bringing in her art history background. And she did lots of large paintings because she finally had the time and energy and “a sense of urgency” to once again make art.
Along the way, Zana amassed a large collection of rubber stamps, some of which she included as design elements in her paintings. Her employer and mentor watched the paintings develop and suggested that Zana make her own stamps. She created the first set of designs in 1997, images strongly influenced by Art Deco and Art Nouveau and her lifelong love of nature. Many stamps were born from the batiks she’d made twenty years before.
This talented teacher never sits down; she helps every student, engaging them so that they learn from each other as well as from her. All those years in the classroom serve well in her current career. Zana brings the confidence that 99% of her students are going to be happy and excited, learn something, and walk out with something they’re proud of.
Going Beyond Cards, her mantra, always remains front and center. But Zana recognizes that people love making cards, so she makes sure there are plenty on her web site where your customers can find inspiration. Once a year, in January, Stamp Zia’s new images and products are ready to go, everything is on-line. The rest of the year Zana is busy teaching and traveling.
