Tonja (Vojacek) Sell has been making things for as long as she can
remember. Her artist parents exposed her to endless creative
expression, and instilled in her the value of working hard and enjoying
the process. Since then, she has been perfecting her art and
exploring many visual mediums.
Tonja graduated from South Shore High-school in Port Wing,
Wisconsin in 1986. She received a scholarship to attend MIAD- The
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design where she majored in drawing and
met her future husband, Matthew Sell, an Industrial Designer. She began
making and selling fused glass jewelry downtown Milwaukee from a
peddler's cart she and her father built from bicycle parts. After
M.I.A.D she moved to Arizona where she married Matthew and lived for 6
years, painting, drawing, doing free-lance illustration and designing
and selling jewelry.
In 1994 the couple moved to Northwestern Wisconsin, beginning a
family and building their home and studio together. Sixteen years and
four children later, she is still making things. Her current focus is
painting, working on copper and steel with glass, oil paint and fabric,
paper and beaded glass collage as well as developing EclecticA
Interchangeable Jewelry. Her husband has chosen to restrict his
Industrial Design gifts to the designing and building of their home,
studio and landscaping. Matt is also the pastor of a local church
called Calvary North Christian Fellowship.