To Awaken a Sense of Wonder - Artist Nicole Piar and the Lovely Ink Project

Sometime ago I received an invite to be part of a project called Lovely Ink. The purpose of the project is to uplift, to awaken wonder, and sprinkle inspiration around the world. I thought it was a good mission to contribute to.

Artist Nicole Piar is the soul behind this inspiring project and has been curating its launch and marketing. All in all, we are ten artists, including myself, Nicole, Cori Dantini, Jessica Swift, Dari Design Studio, Rachael Taylor, Anne Waters, Lizzie McKay, Kat Kalindi Cameron, Anne Bollman, Karma Voce, and Victoria Johnson.

Each month you will receive a lovely illustration from one of the above artists including a poetic quote or snippet of wisdom to inspire you. This "Lovely Ink" will come as both desktop wallpaper and as 8″x10″ High Res Printable Art. This month I was the lucky artist being featured on Nicole's blog and you can download my art for free through the end of April.

© Alessandra Colombo - Desktop Wallpaper

I invited Nicole as my guest to tell us more about her own story as an artist and to share her unique and lovely art:

Artist Nicole Piar

The Moon from My Attic: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your art? I grew up in the forests of New Hampshire and spent a lot of time in solitude. My interior world of dreams and imaginings held just as much weight and depth as the "real" world around me. To this day, I lean into the mystery exploring the borderlands between the subconscious and the conscious where stories, characters, and landscapes emerge and I capture an impression of them in paint and ink. Intuition is my trusted guide, meditation – my key, and faith – the door that opens. My mission is to awaken a sense of wonder, to inspire wild flights of fancy, and to build a bridge between my inner world and yours.

TMFMA: What is exciting about your creative work? It is that moment of wild unknown that I dive into each day as I paint and draw. I might have seen a flicker of an image in my mind that I am trying to coax out or maybe all that's there is the blind faith that something will rise forth out of nothing. Either way, when a painting begins to take shape and I am greeted by a new character or flower or world, I feel the absolute thrill and wonder of a child seeing something for the first time. No matter how many times I experience it, it is always pure magic.

TMFMA: Is there a person or thing that has influenced you in your artistic efforts? Wow! Hard to choose one so here is my abbreviated, off-the-cuff list: forests, wild-free dancing, meditation, nature, the vast night sky, dreams, Paul Klee, Salvador Dali, Amy Sol, Dr. Seuss, Alice in Wonderland, Le Petit Prince, Haruki Murakami, Spike Jonze, Edmund Dulac, momiji dolls, fairy tales, and many, many wonderful books.

TMFMA: What project are you currently working on? I am currently developing a new offering called Soul Print. We all have an inner critic that can sometimes cut us down and diminish our view of ourselves. This can be very painful and actually inhibit our ability to fully express ourselves in the world.

A Soul Print can be an antidote to this feeling of self-negation. First you fill out a playful and profound questionnaire with questions like "What animal do you feel most connected to?" or "Is there a place in the world that you have always felt drawn to?" Then, I enter a deep meditative state and seek out the vision of that inner you, your Soul Print, which I will later translate into a painting. This painting will serve as a faithful reminder of your true radiant beauty and unique spirit. As Lou Reed says, "I'll be your mirror reflect what you are when you don't know … I see you."

TMFMA: Tell us of your experience/interest as an art licensing artist. While licensing is relatively new to me, I have 8 years of experience as a freelance illustrator and surface designer in the gift, paper, home decor, publishing, and apparel sectors. A little over a year ago, I started to build a library of art for licensing. I love infusing people's daily lives with magic and play. Licensing allows for this by providing a home for my art on items like pillows, journals, curtains, cards, clothing, and other home products.

TMFMA: Any important tips and tricks you can share or anything else you'd like to share? Spend at least ten minutes every day experimenting and playing within your craft. As anyone with a career in art knows, so much time is spent on projects with a specific goal in mind. It's so nourishing and inspiring to have freeform time where I just start putting paint down, completely open to whatever comes through. I have learned so much about myself and my art through this practice.

TMFMA: What are your future aspirations and goals? I am currently in the midst of creating a picture book. I am completely enamored with the intersection of story-telling and art so this project is very close to my heart. I can't reveal too many details yet but let me just say that the story is magical, mystical, simple, and sweet. I hope my future is filled with stories and art whether it is in the form of children's books or something I can't quite imagine yet.

Find out more about Nicole Piar:

www.ghostkitten.com

www.ghostkittendesign.blogspot.com

Working with Other Creative People and Experiencing Their Processes ~ Swirly Designs

As I work on developing some new collections and preparing for my second year at Surtex (booth #337), I discovered that I am evolving as an artist. My passion and connection for watercolors is deeper than I thought and my style is definitely settling for a lighter and more spiritual look.

So, I am happy to be a part of the amazing Lovely Ink Project, a group of twelve artists who have come together to create beautiful art that includes an inspirational saying. We deliver this art to you each month for a year in the form of an 8" x 10" printable image that is ready for framing and a desktop wallpaper to cheer up your workspace. Sign up now and be inspired! It begins on Tuesday, April 1st: www.ghostkitten.com/lovelyink.

The mission of Lovely Ink is to uplift, to awaken a sense of wonder, and to sprinkle inspiration around the world. The contributing artists include: Jessica Swift, Rachael Taylor, Cori Dantini, Lizzie MacKay, Anne Waters, Victoria Johnson, myself Alex Colombo, Karma Voce, Nicole Piar, Dari Design Studio, Anne Bollman, and Kat Kalindi Cameron!

In the spirit of collaborative work I want to welcome our new guests, artists Lianne & Paul Stoddard, the creators behind SwirlyDesigns.com. Their unique story goes like this: "Our passion for decorating for the holidays inspired us to combine our artistic skills to create our own collection of original handmade polymer clay holiday ornaments. We create ornaments for all the major holidays and have built a nice following of wonderful collectors who anticipate new designs each and every year."

Artists Lianne, Dani, Paul

Early in 2012 they shared a Valentine cookie how-to project through their online/social media outlets which caught the eye of Dani Fiori, founder of SweetDaniB.com. She is a cookie decorating expert - her clients include the likes of Martha Stewart and Ralph Lauren as well as many other party and event hosts who agree with her mantra that "Life is Sweet!" Lianne and Paul continued, "So she reached out to us and as we chatted through email, a new partnership was born: Sweet + Swirly!"

What's your creative process about, I asked? "When Dani was looking for a way to preserve her cookie designs, she contacted us. We thought what a great way to allow her customers to have a cookie that lasts forever! And we are always looking for something new to offer our own collectors. The challenge for us was how to take Dani's beautifully decorated cookies and interpret them using non-edible products."

I then asked how they developed a product as a team. "We had many discussions deciding which cookies we were going to create out of clay. We both agreed Christmas was the smart choice to launch this collaboration." They had to figure out how many designs and what the theme of the cookies would be since they needed it to appeal to both of their audiences.

"We decided on two designs: a Santa and a snowman snowglobe design. Dani felt a gingerbread cookie base would work well for the holiday. Once we decided on the cookie designs it was up to us to replicate these cookies into clay. We worked on figuring out how to mimic the texture and color of gingerbread. We also were challenged in working out how to replicate her white sprinkles for Santa's beard. Then we searched for just the right seed beads for the snow in the snowglobe. All the while we were making sure these designs represented Dani's cookies but also have that Swirly twist to them."

What they enjoy the most when collaborating is how interesting it is to be working with other creative people, experiencing their processes, and seeing how they interpret and approach different subject matters. They add: "Our communication is mainly through email. Dani will send us sketches or pictures of the selected cookies and we then send her work in progress images. Once we think we have the right look we will send her samples to compare and approve. We think the advantage of working together is that we are able to offer something new and different to both of our customers."

Lianne and Paul love to try new things and having people respond so positively to them makes it so much more rewarding. Their first collaboration sold out for the season and since then they have collaborated twice in 2013: a Halloween set and another gingerbread design.

So what would be good advice or tips for other artists interested in starting up a group? "When deciding to work/collaborate with another creative person make sure both parties could benefit from the experience. Figure out what each person is bringing to the table.

And make sure you know up front who will be doing what, like marketing, selling, shipping etc."

To find out more about Swirly Designs follow these links:

www.swirlydesigns.com

www.facebook.com/Swirly.Designs

http://instagram.com/swirlydesigns#

http://sweetdanib.com/2012/10/a-studio-tour-with-swirly-designs/

http://swirlydesignsblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-sweet-swirly-collaboration.html

Inspired by Each Other's Work - Lila Ruby King

As I mentioned in earlier posts, we are starting a new series of interviews and articles called Artist Collaborations and Business Partnerships.

More and more artists are getting together and teaming up on design projects and business ventures. Their friendships are forged through online forums united by common goals.

I myself love to collaborate with other designers and artists and explore more opportunities to forward my basic purpose of partnering to make the world a better place through art. So, I joined in an exciting project hosted by artist Nicole Piar, called Lovely Ink ~ its mission is to uplift, to awaken a sense of wonder, and to sprinkle inspiration around the world. You'll hear more about this collaboration in upcoming months, so look out for more news!

To begin this new series of interviews and stories about collaborative work, I asked Anna and Mitsy at Lila Ruby King about their adventure. Anna says: "I'm not sure group or team is quite the right word for Mitsy and I, both seem to imply something much more expansive than what we really are. We're just two independent artists, who work together on some projects.

Anna and Mitsy working in Mitsy's studio in Belgium

We had been friends for a few years before we ever started creating anything together, Mitsy is a ceramic artist and I am an illustrator and jewelry maker. Mitsy was the one who came up with the idea of us creating a series of work together, that was a few years ago now, and since then we've worked together on many projects because we enjoy it so much."

The subsequent logical question was about inspiration. What makes them collaborate so closely on some projects? Anna: "Very basically, what inspired the whole joining forces way at the beginning is that we were both inspired by each other's work. We both have a lot of similar ideas and aesthetics, so when we started working together both our ideas and techniques fit together really well and easily. We also picked themes that interested us both. I draw my inspiration mostly from the natural world and clay is a wonderful material for expressing that."

Sea Level 2 Collection

She then continued to explain that usually they start sharing ideas back and forth over email, having the basic idea of what they want the end product to be. "The early stages might involve working out what raw materials and supplies have to be sourced and working out who will have what role in the making process.

We also think about an end product price so we can decide if it's going to be a feasible project to even begin. Once everything is decided, we can get started. With our decal work on ceramics, this would mean I get started working on the illustrations and preparing them in the format required for the printers. Then Mitsy does the liaising with the printers and when they're ready, she does all the ceramic work."

North Story 9 Decal Collection

Mitsy has a whole different skill set. Anna has always loved ceramics but never thought it would be something she could have her designs on "without a heap of new knowledge and a miraculous increase in studio space," she tells. "So now, working together, I get to see my work on bowls and mugs and on porcelain for small accessories. It's very exciting, Mitsy gets a whole collection of images at her disposal and my graphic design abilities to create the sheets she needs for getting decals printed. We also benefit from cross promotion. I have one set of customers and followers as does Mitsy, so each of us get to connect with a whole new group of people."

Some decaled accessories being made

Mitsy and Anna communicate mostly through email, with the odd phone call here and there they say. "I suppose Mitsy and I both love what the other is doing in terms of their work. I've always loved her ceramic work, especially her 99 feelings project, and I've always been a fan of the ceramic arts in all its forms so it's exciting to get to have the opportunity to work with Mitsy and have some clay based adventures. Plus Mitsy and I have been friends for a long time, so it's great to get to work with a friend on some projects together."

Sketches

Any advice or tips you can give to other artists who want to collaborate one with another? "I think what works best for Mitsy and I is that we are friends and had been for a few years before we started working together. It means that we have a good understanding of what the other likes and dislikes, and we know each others work and their capabilities. It also means that we can trust the other person, both to keep up their end of the arrangement and carry out their workload, and have trust that when it comes to pricing and selling that everything is going to be fair.

Of course it's not always possible to work with friends, so if I was starting a project with someone I didn't know so well, I'd probably start with a small project so you can get to know how the other person works, and if that person is going to be reliable on their end of the project before moving on to anything bigger."

Find out more about Anna and Mitsy:

www.lilarubyking.eu

http://lilarubyking.blogspot.com