About Us
Mike, Becky, their daughter Mina, their dog Ripley and two kitties, Jean and Henry are currently based on 7 acres in rural Oklahoma, roughly 30 miles south of Tulsa. They’re rather new Okies having only moved to OK from Denver, CO in the Fall of 2020.
Becky, originally from the borderland of Las Cruces, NM, has worked as a graphic designer and photographer for more than 20 years. And Mike, originally from Philadelphia, has been so many interesting things in his life as a maker and jack of all trades. Shortly after relocating to Oklahoma, they decided to pursue their creative passions outside of the confines of a 9-5 job. Beck creates most of the artwork and Mike does literally everything else (and even creates artwork every now and then too!)
Strong and Hardy were the maiden names of Becky’s paternal great-grandmothers: Bessie Strong (an early American west pioneer and homesteader in the late 19th century) and Mabel Hardy, two very strong and hardy women who are more than well-deserving of such an homage. Indeed, there is some breathtaking strength and resilience in both Mike and Becky’s families that warranted tribute, and it’s the hope that these ancestors can be channeled as Mike and Becky pursue their dreams and hope to make their daughter proud in the process.
Artist Statement
I want to bring the dead back to the living, in a new form with new context. I am not a doctor but I am in awe of the early illustrations, paintings and woodcuts of the interior of human and animal bodies, the scientific exploration of the insides of these vessels we inhabit—the record of our self-discovery. I am also drawn to religious art and symbolism and this sometimes appears in S&H art. I utilize such imagery in juxtaposition with botanical, celestial and entomological artwork, much of similar age in a digital collage medium.
I work in tandem with my husband who translates all of my digital artwork into tactile final products (cards, prints, and engravings.)
We are both integral to the Strong & Hardy brand, play important roles, and very assuredly couldn’t do this without each other.
Materials
The materials we use are important to us. Strong & Hardy artwork is printed on Red River 60lb. Polar Matte paper here in our home studio on either our Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 Wireless Wide-Format printer or our Canon TS9521C All-In-One Wireless Crafting Photo Printer. Our greeting cards are outsourced and are printed on a variety of premium matte, linen and glossy papers, some embellished with gold foil and embossed gloss. Our engraved boxes are typically upcycled from used cigar boxes and along with our historical reproduction engravings are created using a Glowforge Pro 3D Laser Printer (which we do not recommend; many limitations and a very shady company) using a variety of wood like: poplar, birch, maple, cherry, oak, bamboo, and pine which we source locally whenever possible. We have also engraved on bone.
“Mike and I are truth-tellers, beauty-seekers, life-creators, freedom-lovers, dream-pursuers and risk takers, death and the cycle-of-life-embracers, and vulnerable, meaty, living organisms who only want the rest of the human race to indulge in these qualities with us so we feel less alone in this strange thing we’ve been granted called life.”
—Becky