Emma Rose Reichert-PASTERICK - Owner & Creative Director

With more than 20 years of experience as a Graphic Designer and Associate Creative Director in the global medical device and pharmaceutical industries, I’ve always been drawn to fine art, architecture, and beautiful paper. Lafayette Paperie brings those passions together through bespoke stationery and paper suites featuring original watercolor artwork, created for clients looking for something personal, distinctive, and truly one of a kind.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Emma credits her lifelong love of art and design to the encouragement she received from her family from an early age.

“I remember sitting at the kitchen table painting with my grandmother, and later we took painting classes together. My mother is an interior designer, and growing up, I was encouraged to help select colors, fabrics, and finishes for her clients. Our home was filled with original oil paintings from Norway, so art was simply part of our everyday life. I took every art class I could in high school and went on to study art, graphic design, and advertising in college. I feel incredibly fortunate to have grown up with art and design as such a central part of my life.”

After graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in graphic design, Emma began her career in the medical device industry. A few years into the corporate design world, however, she found herself missing the simplicity and immediacy of paint on paper. In 2001, she enrolled in watercolor classes at the Ridgewood Art Institute, where she studied under acclaimed watercolorist Joel Popadics.

“In addition to refining my technique, Joel taught me how to really see—to understand the atmosphere of a place. What is the temperature? What is the quality of the light? How do those things affect the colors you see? It completely changed the way I approached painting.”

In 2008, Emma had the opportunity to live and work in La Ciotat, France, while based at her company’s European headquarters.

“It was truly a dream come true for a designer and artist to live and work in Provence. During the week, I managed graphic design and the corporate brand, and on weekends I explored the countryside. For the first time, I really understood the light the Impressionist masters had painted.”

Her work with a global medical device company also gave Emma the opportunity to travel extensively throughout Europe and Scandinavia. The architecture, landscapes, villages, and everyday details she encountered along the way became ongoing sources of inspiration, often finding their way into paintings once she returned to the studio.

Emma’s watercolor work has been exhibited at the Trygve Lie Gallery in NYC, Ridgewood Art Institute in Ridgewood, NJ, The Stable in Ridgewood, Ridgewood Public Library, Belskie Museum of Art & Science in conjunction with the Closter Public Library, West Side Presbyterian Church Gallery, and other regional exhibitions and community events. Her work has also been featured in After the Grace, a cookbook benefiting St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, as well as charitable live and silent auctions. Her recognitions include a Hudson Valley Art Association scholarship in 2003 and being selected as the 2018 cover winner for PM360 magazine’s Greatest Creators edition.

Today, Emma continues to bring art and design together throughout her professional and creative life. She serves as an Associate Creative Director at Maven Communications and an Art Director for Mindray North America, while also running Lafayette Paperie, her studio devoted to original watercolor artwork and bespoke paper goods.

At home, Emma and her husband, Steve, are busy raising their 2-year-old son, Russell, while renovating their 1926 bungalow in Westwood, New Jersey. As a family, they enjoy cooking, gardening, hiking, exploring new places, and spending time outdoors with their rescue dog, Betsy.

“I have a sensitivity to relationships of light... and watercolor is all about finding that perfect balance in the light-effect.”