From the King of Rock n' Roll to the royalty of country music, Tennessee has made a name for itself for launching and serving as the home for talented artists who eventually take the world by storm. Surnami's Iconista, Christie Knubel Holmes, is the latest major talent out of Nashville, and that's not a microphone or guitar pick in her hand . . . more like a paintbrush or computer mouse, meticulously creating iconic images to capture the heart and soul of companies, products and concepts.

Unlike many uncommonly talented artists, Christie is, well, nice, even pleasant and considerate. But don't be totally put at ease by Christie's cooperative demeanor and kind spirit. In her personal life, she's been known to trade in her pencil and sketchpad for a sword and fencing foe. And while she's so beloved that she's walked down the aisle six times as a bride's maid, she's also hunted down, caught and evicted a chipmunk with her bare hands.

In other words, she may have a velvet touch, but she's armed with the eye of a hawk and the willpower of a woman. Throw in a few perfectionist tendencies, and watch out. No one plays the game of Logopalooza quite like The Iconista.

Lest you think that the Iconista can only design country motifs and such because of her spiritual proximity to Opryland, jump on the Iconista express, which begins in Charleston, South Carolina, where Christie was born, and continues to Maryland, New Jersey, Greece, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and New Hampshire. But her heart will always be in Tennessee. In the nicest of ways, she's been around. And her design influences are vast and multicultural.

She built the first floor of her house-of-style in the form of a bachelor of arts degree from Furman. She then taught a year of school in Nashville before working on the second floor, a diploma from the Portfolio Center in Atlanta. For the roof, she held positions with Copeland Hirthler in Atlanta, The Page Group in Bethesda, Maryland, and Jackson Design in Nashville, before founding Fuse Design in 1999.

What does the Iconista think about the current state of logos? "Successful logos are like a thumbprint - they leave an immediate impression and are also a unique mark revealing an identity. The best logos create something new - they do not reinvent or retool an existing image."

She describes her own work as clean, somewhat focused on font applications and type design - definitely not trendy . . . more timeless. In recent years she has designed collateral for Virtuoso, Sparrow Records, Genesco, Thomas Nelson Publishing, Rooms of England, Yoga Source, MCA Records, Mercury Records, Transcender Corporation, Nations Bank, Nextlink, Word Entertainment, Idea Entertainment and TBA Entertainment Corporation.

The Iconista's DNA Samples:

Summertime Drink: Bombay Sapphire and Tonic

Feels Powerful When Wearing: Her black leather jacket, which she's been known to wear while riding a Harley in the Nashville hills

Professionally Most Proud Of: Her mixed media painting to illustrate a song for Six Pence None The Richer

If Her House Was On Fire She'd Grab: Her husband and two children

Vacation of her longings: A trip to the south of France for painting and cooking classes

Don't Ask Her To Eat: Green Jello

Hasn't Been The Same Since She Saw: A nude male backpacker while hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire at the age of 12

Quirky Life Accomplishments: Once made a chess set out of salt and pepper shakers, although she doesn't play chess

Where She'd Beam Herself For Inspiration: The Sistine Chapel

If She Was A Candy: A jawbreaker

Favorite Candy: Spice gum drops (alas, she's crunchy but prefers chewy . . . hmmmmm)

I Have No Problem Picking My Favorite: Color, which is RED

Cosmic Sibling Coincidence: Both Keith and Christie have scars on their upper lips...his from an ultimate Frisbee tragedy...hers from a Great Dane bite; both also like to listen to Patty Griffin's 1000 Kisses album while working.