For the Winborg Sisters, “all in the family” isn’t just an expression, it’s a way of life. As children, sisters Megan and Mendy were surrounded by art. “Our dad is an artist,” Megan says. “He worked in our house, and we always worked with him. So we’ve been around art all the time.” Their younger brother is now an artist who works with their father creating landscapes and portraits in oil. Their older sister is a photographer. And their mother has a degree in interior design with an interest in textiles.
Megan and Mendy create their art using paint, paper, pens and paint markers. The sisters have six children between them, and their kids are growing up around art just like their moms did.
OD: You two get along so well now. Was there a lot of sibling rivalry between you growing up?
Megan: Not really. I am the middle of the three sisters [Mendy is two years younger than Megan]. The oldest and youngest had rivalries, but I was always the peacemaker between the two.
OD: As a team, how do you approach your work? Does one of you generate the ideas and the other one sketch them out?
Mendy: We have a huge list of pictures we want to make and we’re both always adding to it. Then when we get together we start cutting and laying out and setting down before gluing—moving stuff around as we work. It’s a collaboration.
OD: Where do you work?
Megan: Mendy has a studio room in her house. Our kids love to play with one another so we get them together and tell them “entertain each other while we work.” I have a teenager on down to a seven-year old, and Mendy’s three daughters are younger.
OD: Do your kids give you art ideas?
Mendy: They’re really our biggest inspiration—what they draw and think of. We try to get the whole spectrum of what’s cool wall art for kids from them and find out what wall art they’d like in their own rooms.
OD: I’m guessing a lot of your artwork for kids' rooms ends up in your own kids' rooms.
Megan: Our kids have tons of our artwork in their rooms. Sometimes our husbands think it’s a little too much!
OD: What’s the best part about working together?
Mendy: We have a lot of fun together. We always laugh and embarrass our kids. We sing songs, do cheers, order pizza, make a mess. By the time the project’s over the house is a disaster. And the kids play together while we work. We hope they’ll remember those times together.
OD: If you could invent an ice cream flavor, what would it be?
Megan: Probably Diet Coke with something in it, because I love Diet Coke with anything in it. Diet Coke with orange is my favorite recently.
OD: What’s on your iPod?
Mendy: Lots of kids’ games, photos and videos of the kids. Actually, I lost my iPod for about five months. We looked everywhere for it! It was in my six-year-old daughter’s puppy purse. She’s very girly and has lots of purses. She takes my makeup too.
