OPINION

Callison: ‘Whimsical art’ shared with kids

Jill Callison
jcallison@argusleader.com

When a college friend told Amy Petrik about the struggles her son faced with school bullies, the Springfield woman sighed in sympathy — then reached for her watercolors.

Using markers and colorful pigments, Petrik create a whimsical drawing of her friend’s son, then added a Dr. Seuss quote in clear letters: “Be who you are & say what you feel ... because those who mind don’t matter ... and those who matter don’t mind.”

Petrik added a frog, one of the boy’s favorite creatures, to the artwork, then mailed it to Watertown. The response was immediate.

“She said his self-esteem shot so high,” 47-year-old Petrik says. “That makes me feel good that what I do makes a child feel good.”

Petrik can offer other examples of times her “whimsical art” made other children feel better because she shares her drawings often, even with someone she has never met. One child, fearful of the dark, received a drawing of him in a superhero’s cape. A girl in another state, injured by two older children, also received a watercolor in the mail

Petrik, known professionally as Amy S. Petrik, offers her whimsical art primarily via Facebook, although she also has a website. She named her business Wet ink Wisdom® and estimates she completed more than 250 pieces last year.

It’s hard to define what she does, Petrik says. “Illustrator” sounds like someone designing picture books, while “cartoonist” gives the impression of four-panel comics strips. “Whimsical artist” comes closest to what she does.

It started in 2004, although Petrik’s art began long before that. A graduate of Bon Homme High School in Tyndall, she learned the basics of computer animation at what was then Northern State College in Aberdeen. She completed her education 16 years later at Mount Marty College in Yankton.

“I’d had four years of art, so they told me to pick something else,” Petrik says. “I chose criminal justice. I always wanted to be a true crime writer and follow a case.”

Petrik had worked in bronze and sculpted limestone but never was afraid to try something new. She was living in Yankton in 2004, when one day she realized her marking pens were upstairs. Rather than get them, she used a nearby Sharpie and watercolor paints.

The piece sold quickly, and Petrik had discovered the art medium that appealed to her. She began traveling on the vendor fair circuit. Paintings that are not customized generally sold for $5 to $100.

In 2007, for her 40th birthday, Petrik established her own business and registered the Wet ink Wisdom® name. She has created five drawings for the Avon public library and is in demand at graduation time, where she puts the graduate in cap, gown and school colors.

Sometimes, Petrik barters her artwork. She gave one portrait to her hair stylist in lieu of a tip and has been known to accept tomatoes or cucumbers in an art-for-vegetables barter. Petrik is so busy now she stops taking orders for Christmas sketches by early November.

Petrik also works full time. In fact, she starts a new job in two weeks and will move from Springfield back to Yankton.

Her main focus always will be artwork to help children. A latchkey child with much-older siblings, she learned drawing filled many quiet hours. Now Petrik uses it as a way to reach out to other children, such as the boy on Facebook whose mother put out a plea for birthday cards. Petrik sent a drawing. A girl who loved purple hearts? She now has one Petrik drew.

Petrik’s late father directed community theater, and she grew up around auditions, rehearsals and performances. Art, in all forms, always has been important. Petrik chooses to present hers in a light and colorful form that often bears a deeper message.

Her dream is to sign with a company like Current Catalog. At the 2013 South Dakota State Fair, she was one of three artists in residence. It’s Facebook, however, that now draws most people to Petrik’s work.

“I rarely get a thank you from someone,” Petrik says of the artwork she sends to total strangers. “But I know I’ve done something well, and I’ve passed on a kindness. It costs nothing to be kind.”

Reach Jill Callison at 331-2307 or jcalliso@argusleader.com.