About Rankin Originals

In 1998, 11-year-old artists, Amber and Tara, thrilled to be asked to design the family's Christmas cards for that year, set about the task of creating, not one, not two, but twenty-five totally unique Christmas card designs - each! Since all of the artwork had been hand-drawn on each of the cards, their creations were dubbed Rankin Originals, which Tara then penned on the back of each card. So, although we officially opened our doors in August 2005, friends and family had been enjoying Rankin Originals for several years.

Twins, Amber and Tara Rankin, decided on careers in art at the age of 5 after receiving a series of "how to draw" Disney character books and a pair of sketch books from their aunt for their birthday. They loved being able to re-create the characters from their favorite films and from that point on, the young artists would spend hours each day diligently practicing drawing techiques and perfecting their individual styles.

After high school graduation, in the summer of 2005, curious to know if their artwork had "commercial appeal" before embarking on art as a career, the Rankin Originals shop was officially open featuring pieces from their 2005 AP Studio Art portfolios. Since most of the pieces were 18" x 24," each picture had to be scanned in sections and reassembled using PhotoShop to create the digital files.

Since our opening in 2005, Rankin Originals has had over 9000 visitors, with sales from all across the United States, as well as international sales from France, Ireland, and the UK. Our most popular items to-date: Tara's, Irish Dance Soft Shoes, from in our Irish Dance Shop, and Amber's personal favorite, "What Would Scarlett Do?" - The next best thing to Miz Ellen's potieres!

While the twins are away at college, mom keeps the shop running, uploading new pieces to the collection and sometimes even creating variations of their original works in PhotoShop, as can be seen in the popular "Neon Brights" collection.