Biography

Hand-drawn portrait of Renza and her husband, Scott
by Renza Fechser

Renza Fechser was born in Provo, Utah before her family moved to Washington State for ten years and then back to Utah again.  She is a graduate of both Snow College and Utah Valley University where she earned an associate degree in Art and a bachelor's degree in Digital Media with an Animation emphasis.

Due to artistic talent running through both sides of her family, Renza had decided at a very early age that she wanted to be an artist when she grew up.  It wasn't until her teenage years that she began asking herself the question of what kind of an artist she really wanted to be.  She had taken art classes throughout her entire school career which usually pushed her in the direction of portraiture, still life, and gallery art in general.  However, as much as she was praised in her eye for detail and realism in her artwork, Renza secretly wanted to work more with cartoons and animation.  

She had grown up watching animated movies with her family, (her mother would testify that Renza even learned to talk by quoting said movies) and was always intrigued by the process of how animators brought characters to life through drawing.  No art classes Renza took in K-12 ever took the time to elaborate on this process though, so it wasn't until her final year of Snow College in pursuit of her Art degree that she began teaching herself animation on the side.  Using what she knew from behind-to-scenes of movies, she began using her spare time in her tiny dorm room observing her favorite cartoons and trying to mimic their style and tactics with whatever resources were available to her through her home computer and scanner.  Little did she realize that this side-project would end up getting her some unexpected attention from her peers and professors.  Before her Snow College graduation, she was requested to put on a student presentation in the campus's art gallery that featured her self-taught animation work.  

Renza found encouragement from this, so following her graduation from Snow College and about a year of working for enough money to start her next chapter of schooling, she transferred to Utah Valley University where she also switched her major to Digital Media, finding her true passion for the arts in the form of animation.

During her time at UVU, she undertook several internships with local animation companies, learning new skills in, not only animation, but also in design, script-writing, and even dabbled in voice-acting.  She would later be assigned as Student Director and lead animator for her senior project; a short animated film called "Relic" which would end up earning herself and her small team several international and domestic awards for Best Animation.  Renza graduated from UVU with high honors and the Dean's Choice Award.

Since her graduation from UVU, Renza has been living in Utah County with her husband, always looking for opportunities to expand her horizons and has had contracts with several Utah companies, including TML Animation Studios, Silver Peak Productions, and her adored, under ten-years-old, niece and nephew.