Bunny with a Toolbelt
Hilary Pfeifer began her first business at the age of 20, when a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had been studying ceramics at the University of Oregon and made her friend a smooth strand ot porcelain beads she could rub in times of discomfort as she underwent chemotherapy. The gift gradually evolved into a business called “Hilary’s Comfort Beads” and sold in nearly one hundred galleries and bookstores across the United States. The best part of this business was the hundreds of people who wrote to Hilary with their individual stories of how their Comfort Beads helped them through challenging times.In her thirties, Hilary entered the world of handmade greeting cards, working with Constance Kay Inc. of New York. She created over 1000 designs which were produced out of her studio by an excellent team of worker bees. The cards were sold around the world to galleries and high end card shops, including Fortum & Mason of London, Ito-Ya of Japan, Neiman Marcus, Barney’s, Kitson, Crane & Co., and Gumps.
Hilary also built a side art career in her 30’s. She is represented by Velvet da Vinci of San Francisco who has included her artwork in traveling exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe. Her work has been in group and solo exhibionts in the Fuller Craft Museum, the Indianapolis Art Center, the Museum of Contemporary Craft. the Tacoma Art Museum, the Center on Contemporary Art in Seattle, the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, Kopper Gallery in Fiskars, Finland, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The line of small sculptures for Bunny with a Toolbelt combines all of these past art experiences--a comforting gift for all occasions. Her installation experience has led to two large window displays of fantastical scenes featuring the Bunny with a Toolbelt products, which are both slated for the 2008 holiday season. (These installations will be documented on the Bunny with a Toolbelt blog.)