It appears as if Chris Noah-Cooper of Miamisburg has the creative spirit in her blood. After all, she’s a third-generation artist.

Her grandmother, Ruth Brandon Peterson of California’s Napa Valley, designed the original Christian Brothers Wine label. Her mother, Winnie Noah, studied under renowned folk artist Jo Sonja Janson. Noah wrote five books on the subject of decorative painting.

Her daughter is steeped in the visual-arts tradition. Noah-Cooper was born in California, and her earliest memory of playing with art involves her mother’s dough board.

“I was drawing horses along the bottom of it with crayons. I was 5 years old at the time, and probably in trouble for ruining it,” jokes Noah-Cooper.

The folk artist has come a long way from stick horses. She earned a degree in printmaking and painting from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Those first attempts have turned into intricately detailed etchings of horses, birds and other animals among hearts and nature, surrounded by elaborate borders.

The irony is that this California printmaker is quite taken by art from the opposite coast. It’s Pennsylvania Dutch history that gets her blood flowing and her paintbrush moving.

“I like to do art that is pleasing to the eye and to the soul. My art is inextricably tied to the folk art of the mid-Atlantic seaboard during the late 18th, and early 19th centuries,” Noah-Cooper said. “Why it grabbed me or I grabbed it, I’ll never know.”

She’s taken some of those traditional artistic roots in radical directions. Her “Garden Bunny” has the traditional designs on it, but she has added a whimsical carrot in its mouth.

“My process uses at least 20 layers of design work, each one drawn by hand. It’s absolutely the most detailed computer-assisted drafting using Adobe Illustrator,” said Noah-Cooper, who has lived in Miamisburg for the past 22 years. “My designs are constantly evolving. The composition of each design leads me as much as I lead it. It’s exhilarating and tiring at the same time.”

Another reason her art evolves has everything to do with the people with whom she interacts at art festivals.

Her booth has been a fixture at the Summerfair show in Cincinnati for many years, and she has also presented artwork at the Hyde Park Square Art Show.

“My customers say these things to me, ‘You should do something that celebrates an event, like a baby’s birth.’ What a concept!” Noah-Cooper says.

She took that concept and ran with it. She will soon be offering limited-edition prints called taufscheins. They are embellished birth and baptismal certificates that take her a full day to create.

Whatever happens, creating beauty on paper and wood will continue to be her passion.

Contact contributing writer Pamela Dillon at pamdillon@woh.rr.com.