Making Art for a Living - Artist Rachel Place

We are preparing to fly out to NYC for the Surtex and NSS shows that will start on Sunday. This year we decided to take a break from exhibiting but we will be walking both shows as Press and do interviews with artists and manufacturers.

Artist Rachel Place is an illustrator and surface pattern designer who will exhibit for the first time at Surtex this year. We want to wish her and all other artists at the show good luck. See you all there!

The Moon from My Attic: What's exciting about your creative work? I get really excited about making art for a living. For as long as I can remember it's all I have wanted to do.

Artist Rachel Place

TMFMA: Who or what has inspired you in your art? My Mom and my Nana are my biggest inspirations they were both strong women who believed in me with all of their hearts. My Nana lived on Martha's Vineyard in a tiny white cottage. She always sent me letters on the cutest stationary. My mom was a weaver and taught me the meaning of handmade.  At a young age she would have me help her card and spin wool into yarn. Later she taught me how to sew. We used to visit the local fabric stores and buy the prettiest fabrics.

TMFMA: Share with us a fun and memorable event or project. Selling my first design for use in fabric is pretty high up there.

TMFMA: What's your story in art licensing? Growing up with artist parents, I always wanted to love what I did for a living. I tried so many different creative pursuits hoping to find the right fit. I learned a lot about myself from each one, but nothing was quite the right fit.

Through my obsession with fabric and stationery I learned about Surface Design but wasn't sure how it all worked. Fortunately for me the timing was right and several classes were being advertised. I signed up for a few and learned as much as I could about it.

I decided to walk the Surtex show floor last year with a friend. At that time I knew I wanted an agent so I spent a lot of my time looking at their booths to see if my art would be a good fit.

I was able to speak with Lucky Day Studio for a few minutes while the show was slow. A few weeks later I signed with them, and it didn't take long to know I had made the right choice. One of my first job requests was from one of my dream clients! Donna and Julia, the owners, have been really wonderful and I couldn't be happier. So far my work has been exhibited twice at PrintSource and will be at BluePrint and Surtex for the first time in May.

TMFMA: What advice would you give other artists that are considering the art licensing field and that maybe want to exhibit in a show like Surtex? My advice to other artists is to learn as much as you can about the business and have lots of patience and courage. Knowing all you can about art licensing really helps you know what to expect along the way. One of the things that stands out the most is having patience.

I have heard it said multiple times, but a little less than a year in I know how true it is. You just have to keep moving along and take little leaps of faith along the way.

TMFMA: Any useful tips that you'd like to share about art and licensing? Finding other artist friends that I can connect with has been invaluable. It is so motivating to feel that connection and see the great work that everyone is doing. It is wonderful to be able to ask questions, share techniques, and support each other along the way.

Rachel's website: www.rachelplace.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Place/430504417128419

Instagram: https://instagram.com/rachel.place

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/rachel_place

Surtex 2015 - Pre-show Promotions, Part 4

OK, this is it! Here is a final wave of talented artists who will be displaying their beautiful work at the show starting in just a little over two weeks.

We will be around to interview various artists, manufacturers, and show personnel as well as report on trends. Here's hoping everyone has a terrific show - see you there!

Surtex 2015 - Pre-show Promotions, Part 2

Here is a second wave of artists to admire - so much beautiful work. I can't wait to see everyone at the show!

Surtex 2015 - Pre-show Promotions, Part 1

It's just short of two weeks until the doors open at the Javits Center on May 17th for the opening of the show. Several artists responded to my offer to post their Surtex ads - so I'll be posting them in groups over the next several days. 

Have a great show everyone!

Drawn to Art that Evokes Emotions - Artist Monika Forsberg

There are 19 days left before Surtex and most exhibiting artists are preparing their last collections and hoping to have everything done in time.

This week I am pleased to feature artist Monika Forsberg, represented by Jennifer Nelson Artists, who will also attend the show this May.

Monika is a mom to 2 boys living in London but is originally from the north of Sweden. "I always loved drawing and making things. I worked as a photographer, illustrator, animator, writer and artist over the past 20 years and in-between worked in bars and cafes as well as tutoring at a university and being a mum. Right now I'm working full time as an illustrator," she shares.

She is drawn to art that evokes emotions. "Being a Swede I tend to favour melancholy and sadness inducing feelings, the dark side of the moon...but having lived half my life in the UK I also love things that makes me laugh, the silliness of things and the jolly oopsy daisy idiosyncratic mentality of the Brits."

© Monika Forsberg

I then asked:

THE MAIN INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR WORK: I am curious by nature, I love listening to stories and making stories up and I love escaping into my own head. Drawing is like making your own low budget version of life with some extravagant insane seasonings of fantasy. I think my inspiration comes from all aspects of everyday life.

THREE (or less) KEY NOTES ON ART & LICENSING: I do a lot of commission work and when working on briefs a lot of the time I find that I sometimes have time and space to do some of my own work that then will be licensed. It's about experimenting and rejuvenating and indulging myself and letting go of a "this will sell..." mentality.

© Monika Forsberg

It may not be profitable in the short term but I found long term it's a very good approach. Do what you love. I don't love churning out a thousand florals that look the same - in fact that's why I moved away from animation, to have more freedom. Even if all those florals would license immediately, I would be so fed up drawing them that I'd have to take 6 months off and become a ski instructor or something instead for awhile.

I found the work I license the most are the quirky "weird" stuff that I had a great time doing and the stuff I made trying to follow the guidelines on how to find a recipe for licensing success are so watered down and drab that no one wants to touch it. So, stick to your guns. Be yourself. Have fun. But also be open to see how to make your work more exciting by watching, learning ,and experimenting.

WHAT YOU REALLY LOVE, I.E. YOUR PASSION: My kids, the beaches of my hometown, hotels, my boyfriend, drawing, laughing, sleeping, swimming. Not necessarily in that order. And coffee. And watermelon. And going to the cinema. Daydreaming.

© Monika Forsberg

WHAT YOU DON'T REALLY LIKE: Money grabbing mentality, Skype and un-kindness.

A FAVORITE SOMETHING: My friend Danny, a comic book author and I have been going winter swimming for the past 4 years and it's the best. You get a thrill from the icy, near freezing water and she is the best of company. You feel alive and all troubles dissipate with that combination of things. So all of you, find a Danny girl, a freezing cold lake, jump in and you will feel great!

A MEMORABLE EVENT IN YOUR LIFE: Going to the BAFTA's was very memorable. I was nominated for best short film and I took my friend Danny (the comic book artist) along. We got all glammed up by professional make up artists and walked on the red carpets with film stars and celebrities and drank too much tequila and then we took the night bus home because we were too frugal to get a taxi. I loved that. To belong to all and everything and nothing. By the way, I didn't win the BAFTA but that wasn't really that important.

© Monika Forsberg

A FUN MEMORY: Going to the Clermont-Ferrand film festival with my eldest son who was only 4 at the time. We stayed in a hotel, played pin ball in cafes, watched loads of films and ate chips with mayonnaise. And it was raging winter and we'd come there in our summer clothes. It was cold. It was great fun.

YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD AS AN ARTIST: The lines are often blurred as an artists. I donate art for charity auctions and give up time for volunteering and give advice to people needing something they think I can give. I've learnt over the years that you have to sometimes just say no. Just because I work from home and manage my own time I do need time to work and my family is my main priority.

© Monika Forsberg

THE NEXT CHAPTER IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE: I will be exhibiting at Surtex with the Cloverly Art Collective in May and that'll be exciting. I'm working on some new products for the beautiful people of eeBoo which is very fun and not much like a "proper job." I really want to do more book work and so am playing about with some ideas. I also have ideas for larger scale pictures - we live in London where space is sparse so my work is very tiny to fit into little boxes and to not take up too much space. I think I need to do an exhibition to justify making LARGE pictures.!

A HELPFUL TIP TO OTHER ARTISTS: When drawing observe carefully and draw fast.

© Monika Forsberg

Designing with Kids in Mind - Artist Bee Brown

The Moon from My Attic will be attending Surtex as press again this year. It has been our tradition for the past 4 years to run free promotional ads for exhibiting Artists; we'll start on Monday May 4th for the whole week.

At the show, we will be around to interview and to report on trends and the National Stationery Show.

Meanwhile I am very happy to publish this artist who will also be at Surtex this year. Her name is Bee Brown, a U.K based Illustrator who also has a blog at www.beebrown-hive.blogspot.co.uk.

Bee is trained as a graphic designer but has been lucky enough to work as a freelance Illustrator since leaving art school and has always had a small studio at home. "I'm also a mum to 2 energetic little boys, but I find balancing my creative and family life is a good combination for me," she says.

Bee shares with us more details about her life as an artist:

YOUR FAVORITE DESIGN/ART STYLE: I don't really have a favourite design style as such. Inspiration can be found from a variety of sources, but I do love to keep an eye out for what's new, fresh and exciting in the design world. I am very drawn to fun, strong, bold graphic images both from a pictorial and typographic point of view.

THE MAIN INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR WORK: I love designing with kids in mind, so they are my inspiration. Its fun thinking of characters and ideas they might be drawn to to look at in books, wear on their clothes, hang on their walls and just generally have in their lives.

THREE (or less) KEY NOTES ON ART & LICENSING: I think I would have this to say to anyone wanting to work in art and licensing: Just keep going. Keep believing and keep making work. Follow your heart and work hard.

WHAT YOU REALLY LOVE, I.E. YOUR PASSION: My daily passions are simple: my boys, beautiful, strong colour palettes, drawing out ideas and being in the fresh air. Oh, and good food!

WHAT YOU DON'T REALLY LIKE: Things I'm not keen on - rainy, miserable days when I can't get outside and my electricity supply packing up!

A FAVORITE SOMETHING: My favourite something would have to be my Mac - oh, and my iPhone! I love technology.

A MEMORABLE EVENT IN YOUR LIFE: It's hard to pick a single, memorable event in my life, but one that stands out from a design perspective would have to be when my work was first accepted by the Association of Illustrators for their annual illustration event which at the time was called 'Images'. I had submitted some maps that I had illustrated for a children's book published by Harper Collins. Never in a million years did I think they would get through the stellar judging panel but they did! I remember reading the letter that came through the post and the subsequent shaking all over - my knees went to jelly! I was in complete shock! It was both a real honour and very exciting to see my work hang in the Royal College of Art in London, have it featured in the accompanying catalogue and then see it tour the country in the traveling exhibition.

A FUN MEMORY: A fun memory would have to be my honeymoon with my hubbie. We travelled to Bali.

YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD AS AN ARTIST: Before and just after I married, I used to teach drawing and graphic design at my then local art school. I'm naturally quite shy but I used to love it. It was so rewarding working with the students, watching them change and develop over the weeks and months and building those relationships. My husband and I then started to travel a bit with work and then when we moved to Paris in France, I had to say goodbye to that part of my life. I'm glad I had those opportunities to contribute and maybe I will again at some point in the future.

THE NEXT CHAPTER IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE: The next chapter in my creative life I hope will be the most fun yet ... the world of print and pattern! I have just been lucky enough to sign with the very amazing and super lovely U.S based agent Jennifer Nelson. I have my sights set on developing what I hope will be my very own recognizable style and brand of work, which I would love to see printed on array of different products and in children's books. I'm hoping that along with Jennifer's expert knowledge and help we will get there!

A HELPFUL TIP TO OTHER ARTISTS: Gosh, offering advice to other artists is so tricky! We are all so different but I think if I had to offer something it would be to try to always keep yourself fresh and to keep looking at the world with a sense of wonder and fun, just like when you were a child.

Bee is represented by Jennifer Nelson Artists.