“I am delighted to be one of
10 caricature artists invited
every year to work at the
Three Rivers Arts Festival.”
grade, I painted an 8-foot plaque to represent the Monroeville Junior High
Braves football team. I was thrilled when the Times Express printed the
story in 1971. [The plaque] hung on the gym wall for many years!”
Sauer’s parents Joel and Jane Elcan encouraged her love of art. “When I
was 10 years old, I was delighted to be invited to attend the Tam O’Shanter
art classes held at Carnegie Music Hall. Every Saturday
morning for many years, my dad would drop me off in
Oakland, travel to his office in Swissvale to work on his
projects, and then pick me up around noon for
the trip home to Monroeville.”
After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree
in graphic design and a minor in Metalry (jewelry)
at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Sauer’s
talents led her into interesting career paths.
She worked for Kay Jewelers and Bailey
Banks and Biddle. She also worked at The
Collection as a jeweler for Ron McNish in
Shadyside.
A former high school friend gave Sauers
information about a job designing Yellow
Page ads for Bell Atlantic. After nine years of
working for Bell, she formed her own company,
Elcan Studio Graphics, to honor her family
name. It wasn’t long before she located several
companies who needed a freelance graphic
artist.
“One of them was Baccarach,
located in Pittsburgh where I
designed pages for a car racing
resource directory,” notes Sauers.
She soon found work with an
ad agency designing logos and
advertisements.
In 1999, she was hired to paint
watercolor pictures of winter
scenes at Latrobe Country
Club and which were later
reproduced for 12 years as invitations for
the club’s annual Christmas party.
Sauer’s first caricature job was at McDonald’s
for their fun Sundays. “I was doing artwork in the
middle of McDonald’s and getting paid for it. I
couldn’t believe it!” she says. Some assignments
were a little more unusual. She was hired to draw
caricatures with Christian Dior makeup for many
Dior party events. Although she had no experience as
a balloon artist, an agency quickly hired her to twist
balloons into familiar shapes. The agency gave her a
video to watch, and sent her out to a party to learn on
the job!
It turns out the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Sauer learned as an adu