Born in Seattle, Phil Fickling joined the US Navy at age 18 to "See the
World." After two summers spent shoveling snow and fueling Navy cargo planes in Antarctica (and meeting his future wife, Jenny, in New Zealand), it was time for art school.

A graduate of Seattle's Burnley School of Art, Phil spent the next 12 years working for Current, Inc., a greeting card company in Colorado Springs. Next came a move to New Zealand and freelancing for advertising agencies and, more recently, designing and illustrating children's books.

Phil's passion is building in three dimensions and finds working with paper a great way to give his ideas form. Best described as a paper engineer, Phil also digitally illustrates his 3D creations, which are then printed, die-cut and packaged for use as advertising promos, pop-up cards and books, and even one-off paper sculptures for photography.

Phil and Jenny currently live on the waterfront, next to three red tugboats, in Wellington, NZ.