I love exploring new places.

My paternal great grandparents made their way west across the Oregon Trail from Virginia. It didn’t end well for my great-grandfather … he was killed by a renegade band of the Nez Perce while he was homesteading in Idaho. My maternal great-grandfather was friends with Buffalo Bill. My Western roots run deep.

My love of gardening, skill at drawing, and eye for design led to my degree in Landscape Architecture. Working at my father’s printing plant taught me a love of type and letterforms and the importance of the printed word — and the significance of the design behind it. I combined those passions into my career in graphic design, print communication and illustration.

I use my technical computer skills to create these vector-based illustrations that showcase the our beautiful Pacific Northwest with vector-based illustrations.

I started my freelance business in Portland in 1987 after years of working as a graphic designer for a variety of public agencies and private businesses, here in Portland and in California. I focus on publication layout, map design, public outreach, marketing materials, and branding. Need a graphic designer? Here’s that site: www.christinerainsdesign.com

OTHER STUFF

• No day is complete for me without cheese and crackers.

• I’ve paddled on a Rose Festival Dragon Boat team for 26 years.

• I’m fluent in Carney (ask me!)

• I love rocks and pine cones and stargazing and sprinklers (I have a collection of sprinklers) and reindeer (I also have a collection of reindeer that I bring out at winter and I’ve drawn many of them~also available in a variety of tschotkes on my Society6 site).

• I have a huge collection of reindeer that I bring out for winter decorations.