The latest in our series Interviews with the Masters introduces you to Bobbie Osborne, creator of Crumpled Papers. Here is someone you would like to know. This lady is plain and simply a nice person. Known as Bobbie, Boz, or Bozzy she also happens to be a fabulous independent web designer and content producer; cute too.

     Presently parking her crayons in southern Illinois after a lifetime in California, Bobbie is the developer of the award-winning and very popular Crumpled Papers. Home to such delightful concoctions as Coffee Break Inspirations, Teen Graffiti, Trash Can Graphics and Tissue Paper Journals, Crumpled Papers is an eclectic collection of stuff you might find in an old shoe box. In other words, you might stay for hours.

     Jeff Clark interviewed Bobbie in late-June 2000.

     [Internet Brothers] Bobbie welcome. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. When I first discovered your work at BozGrafixs, Crumpled Papers was just a wad of notes and inspirations. How did it evolve in the beginning?

     [Bobbie Osborne] Thank you for inviting me, Jeff. As always, I am humbled as well as honored, not only by your request for an interview, but with the amazing talents I am surrounded by in this section of your wonderful website.

     Crumpled Papers has evolved from boxes under my bed, in my closet, in my dresser drawers and my inability to organize it all. It started as an experiment into my own thoughts, dreams and aspirations — my way of finding a custom fit in this all too often off the rack world. It has also evolved from my desperate need to find empty hard drive space for more playing related to BozGrafixs. What it has become is something that has inspired others as well as myself to have fun, take the time to play and not be so neurotic with the day to day grind.

     [IB] CP's central theme is inspiration. Who inspired you growing up in California? Since becoming a web developer, where do you look now for inspiration?

     [Boz] Standing on the pedestal to thank those involved in inspiring me would make the overkill of movie awards look like a walk in the park. If you insist, though, I would have to give a great deal of the credit to my parents, who taught my sisters and myself the freedom to express ourselves with creativity. My parents are so creative. They dabbled in many forms of creativity, from philosophy to writing; drawing to painting, candle making to leatherwork.

     While my mother taught us the finer things in life like gardening, baking, cooking and femininity, my father taught us how to mow the lawn, build models, climb trees and reach for the stars. My mom did tell me quite recently it was out of self-preservation that she would set up tables for us to play while she did her craft projects. My father will always claim his creativity was also based on self-preservation — in a house where even the dog was female.

     I was taught independence from an early age. Additional inspirations came from art teachers that flunked me because I didn't "follow the rules" while secretly pushing me to be more creative in my own style. How many of us remember what it was like to be a child, where everything we created was fun — and beautiful on top of it. You know, back before we started growing up and all, the insecurities of being judged by our peers and society's idea of beauty forever changed us.

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