Fern bisel peat biography

Fern Bisel was born in 1893 in Erie, Pennsylvania, and went to public schools in Elyria.
American Illustrator.
The artist was Fern Bisel Peat.

•

Fern Bisel Peat Unsung Woman Artist and Children's Playmate

For 75 years Children's Playmate was just that. A playmate. From 1935 to 2008 (when it merged with Jack and Jill) it had kids thinking, drawing, clipping, making and thinking. These issues from the glory days give only a small indication of the beauty. Each issue was at the time digest-sized and 50 pages.

The artist was Fern Bisel Peat. She was born in 1893 and lived until 1971. She made a good living. but as with most women artists of the past, information is far more scarce than it should be. Fern could show you how to carve a pumpkin or draw an easter egg in the most charming and colorful manner. An unsung hero of commercial and educational art. Her work has been reproduced in a few places over the years, but as far as I know there has never been a retrospective, a comprehensive (or even cursory) biography or a museum exhibit.

Her work, in addition to providing extraordinary colorful covers to the magazines above, is often found on tin lithographed toys, puzzles and more. Because the magazine had

•

This story was originally published on Richland Source in 2016.

Some of the most classic and highly sought-after children’s art from the 1930s American Art Deco movement was created in Richland County.

Fern Bisel Peat was a storyteller for generations of children in America. Her distinctive pastel paintings illustrated hundreds of books and magazines, and decorated dozens of favorite early childhood playthings. Most of her work was created a few miles west of Bellville at her farm called Beech Hollow.

This little exhibit shows why kids in the decades from the 1920s to the 50s recognized Fern as one of their closest friends. To see these works in a gallery just click on any image.

Every child recognizes their closest friends as soon as they see them: they are warm and round, often enough furry or made of soft cloth; they have kind eyes and make you smile inside. This pretty much describes all the characters Fern designed.

Many were animals; quite a few depicted classic roles from traditional tales. All of these lovable characters shaped the hearts of children who looked for

•

Fern Bisel Peat Woman Artist Illustrator and Children's Playmate by Jim Linderman

Posted 14 years ago

The artist was Fern Bisel Peat. She was born in 1893 and lived until 1971. She made a good living. but as with most women artists of the past, information is far more scarce than it should be. Fern could show you how to carve a pumpkin or draw an easter egg in the most charming and colorful manner. An unsung hero of commercial and educational art. Her work has been reproduced in a few places over the years, but as far as I know there has never been a retrospective, a comprehensive (or even cursory) biography or a museum exhibit.

Her work, in addition to providing extraordinary colorful covers to the magazines above, is often found on tin lithographed toys, puzzl