Inspired by Nature - Artist Valerie Greeley

In preparation for Surtex I've been working to get more collections completed but also to create art pieces for some promo/marketing that I will be publishing in trade mags and so on. Starting next week I will be publishing free ads on this blog of newbies and established art licensing artists exhibiting at Surtex. 

And this will be my first interview to be tweetted - I'm very happy to host this interview with a wonderful artist who has been in licensing for quite sometime. Her name is Valerie Greeley.

Artist Valerie Greeley

She lives in Cheshire, England with her husband. She has two sons and one grandson. Her background is in design – she studied Textile design at Manchester Metropolitan University and her career in art spans three decades.

TMFMA: What brought you to art in the first place? I can't remember a time that it was not part of my life. When I graduated from university I became a freelance textile designer, working directly with manufacturers and also through agents. Later I moved into stationery and children's books. I have lived for most of my working life in and around the pottery producing areas of Stoke-on-Trent and found freelance work with many of the factories there.

© Valerie Greeley

TMFMA: What's your favorite medium or tool/s you create with? I prefer watercolor for the very detailed pieces but have tried to keep up with new technology, so sometimes I combine traditional drawing and painting with digital effect. I very rarely do a piece of work entirely digitally, most pieces start with a drawing by hand in the time honored way. When I worked on the illustrations for "The Bird with the Rainbow Tail" I used a black pen drawing and worked patterns and textures digitally. For textile designs and work that requires color separation I sometimes work in gouache, mixing up eighteen different pots of paint!

© Valerie Greeley

TMFMA: Who or what has inspired you in your art? As a student I was very influenced by the exponents of the Arts and Crafts Movement, in particular Walter Crane. I am drawn to decorative work and love Japanese textiles and wood engravings. Above all I am inspired by nature and find inspiration in the woodlands and gardens around my home.

TMFMA: How long have you been doing art licensing? My career has many ups and downs, for many years I was fortunate enough to have a publisher who allowed me to create children's picture books. In the mid nineties, just as things were beginning to get difficult for picture book publishers, I received a letter from an art editor at Amcal who had seen my books in the USA. She invited me to submit my work for their publishing program. We did calendars, note cards, etc.

© Valerie Greeley

This was my first introduction into the world of royalty based licensing although prior to this I had done some flat fee licensing, we just did not call it licensing then. For many years after leaving university I sold work outright, mainly for textiles and stationery and ceramic decals. Things have changed so much since then.

TMFMA: Do you work with an agent or do you represent yourself? I work with Advocate Art and have been with them for over three years. I also do some work independently as my contract allows.

TMFMA: What do you suggest new artists do to present themselves to the world of licensing for the first time? I learned a lot from other artists, I did Surtex several times which was enormously helpful and I would recommend taking part in the show if possible. In the UK we have The Spring Fair, all good places to learn the ins and outs of the business.

© Valerie Greeley

TMFMA: What advice would you give other artists that are considering the art-licensing field? This may seem rather obvious but you need to keep good records. Invest in a good scanner, learn Photoshop, digitize your work and make back up copies. Give every design a number and a name and keep everything on file. I now have over 600 images and cannot possibly keep them all in my head! Print out physical copies in case your computer crashes and email high-resolution files to yourself. Make copies in a lower resolution for email submissions and keep any layered files separate. Play to your strengths and try to be true to yourself and above all keep an optimistic frame of mind.

More lovely artwork by Valerie 

© Valerie Greeley

Website: http://www.valeriegreeley.com/

Blog: http://acornmoon.blogspot.co.uk/

FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Acornmoon/121610441197407

"White is the Moon" link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1470109751

Style, Theme and Technique in Art Licensing - Artist Julie Dobson Miner

This week I want to explore more about a style my guest artist Julie Dobson Miner refers to as "diverse, ranging from realistic (often with a contemporary twist), to fun, whimsical character-based artwork that shows a childlike innocence."

Artist Julie Dobson Miner

Julie says: "Even since early childhood, I've known I wanted to be an artist. My mom let me have a corner of the basement where I'd sit and work on my creations, usually working with colored construction paper and chalk. I would come home from school, make peanut butter toast and go downstairs and immerse myself in creating my own little world." Her agent, Carol White of Artworks! Licensing has said (and it tickles Julie) "I wanna be in your world." Many times she suggests themes to work on and at the end of the projects comes up with some clever collection names, Julie says. "My favorite theme, even as a child, has been Halloween, closely followed by Winter and Christmas themes."

© Julie Dobson Miner - Jolly Jingle Snowmen

When her first son Jesse started preschool, Julie went back to school to study graphic design and illustration. A year after she graduated her second son Sean was born and she spent her first years freelancing in an ad agency and for companies like General Mills and 3M. She was offered full time employment but she missed working in hand rendered imagery and wanted to be more available to her family.

"I took a watercolor class and I was hooked! Within a few years, I opened a gallery studio in a quaint little Minnesotan town called White Bear Lake. I had a gallery of my work, taught watercolor classes, and continued with my graphic design. I won a few awards for my watercolors and was featured a few times on a local cable television station teaching my watercolor techniques." One of the shows she put together was on the elements and principles of design and she gave the same talk to Minnesota Watercolor Society.

Inspirational Botanical Art – Artist Karen Kluglein

I have been working on developing more ideas for art to be licensed and fine tuning my initial collections as a result of last week's review from my local art licensing group. If you don't have one in your area you might want to start one up, it's so fun and rewarding!

And for a new week of beautiful and inspirational art I invited artist Karen Kluglein for an interview. Her mother was a watercolorist and her father a woodworker, so she comes from an artistic background.

Artist Karen Kluglein

"People always ask if I learned how to paint from my mother but I did not", Karen says – "she painted at the kitchen table when my sister and I were in school and so I never saw her paint until she had her own studio later in life. Our work looks very similar both in subject and style and though I have worked hard to perfect it I have also been lucky."

Karen went to the School of Visual Arts for illustration and was freelance primarily in advertising and food packaging for about 20 years. When computers took over and illustration was no longer done by hand she eventually discovered botanical painting.

Karen's food packaging

She says: "I went to an American Society of Botanical Art Exhibition and knew that my work was a perfect fit. The ASBA has members from all over the world. It is a specialized art. Shows are judged for composition, scientific and color accuracy, detail, etc. Most people looking at the work would not see what judges would appreciate."

She has also received awards and recognition in the botanical painting field relatively quickly – "I am always trying to push myself a little further whether it is being keenly aware of composition or adding whimsy or depth to my paintings, as there is always something to strive for."

Botanical paintings by Karen

Karen adds: "I love working with watercolor. Soon after I began my botanical work I started painting on vellum which is animal skin. Having been a vegetarian for many years I try to make each painting the very best I can so the vellum is not going to waste and the painting will be treasured."

She also says she was lucky to have had the luxury of time to spend many hours drawing while in high school. They had an experimental program where they had a certain amount of free time each day. She was known to always be in the art room drawing and she knows this helped her drafting skills tremendously. Karin also had a professor while she attended Visual Arts, Marvin Mattelson, whose wife was her representative during her illustration years. He was her mentor.

© Karen Kluglain - Lilacs

"Right now I am working on some commissions for a woman who is creating a one of a kind book. She has chosen botanical artists working on vellum to contribute to her project. It is going to be very beautiful. I also teach at the New York Botanical Garden in Manhattan and on the eastern end of Long Island. I exhibit in the ASBA shows so my time is divided in a few different areas" – Karen says.

Karen does not yet have her art licensed. It is something she is interested in but would like to make sure she finds the right fit for her work. "Because it is so detailed and delicate I often think it would be suitable for fine china where it would not loose detail in the printing. I often feel my life has unfolded in phases and licensing may be the next phase for me!"

For more of Karen's beautiful artwork see her website.

A Christmas Licensing Special - Artist Wendy Edelson

© 2011 - Alex Colombo

Christmas is around the corner and brings with it a message of peace and hope for a prosperous new year ahead. To help me fully illustrate the spirit of this holidays season I invited a special guest, artist Wendy Edelson, to share her story with us.

I asked Wendy what kind of projects she is working on and she said: "Somehow, all my projects are about Christmas, the Holidays and snow! Sometimes I feel like the Christmas Illustrator...I never really thought about going in that direction...it seems to have chosen me."

Artist Wendy Edelson

She also added: "Right now I'm working on the illustrations for two children's books and I have two licensing projects on my drawing board, as well. One book is about 'The Christmas Truce,' the incredible spontaneous cease-fire that occurred along the Western Front on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1914, during WW1.

This project required an amazing research into a subject I knew virtually nothing about and is really different from so much of what I have been doing recently. It's been really challenging and interesting drawing German and British soldiers, trenches...all the details of 1914 accurately! A lot harder than painting bunnies!"

© Wendy Edelson - Skater

"The other project is illustrating a picture book version of Over The River and Through the Woods." Wendy is just about finished with the drawings for the spreads and this project has been exactly in "my comfort zone," she says, "a dappled horse and sleigh, patterned clothing, animals, country scenes and SNOW!"

But she isn't done...Wendy has more in the works. She says: "As far as licensing, I'm currently working on a request for art from a possible new client, so this involves snowmen and I'm working on ideas for Holiday 2013 for my fabric line."

She continues telling me: "In the next day or two I will finally begin painting again! I have spent over a month drawing, drawing, drawing all these projects and, for me, the drawing is definitely the WORK!

© Wendy Edelson - GingerMan Puzzle

I wish elves could do the drawing while I sleep. All my work is traditionally created and the painting is the fun part...for me, painting is a blast...by the time I sit down to paint, all the decisions and details have been decided, the anatomy and pattern and design figured out and the painting, the playing with color is what all that work was for!"

Wendy's adventure in the art world all began innocently enough when she was two, drawing way across the unfolding landscape of America in the back of the family station wagon, moving from Manhattan to Los Angeles. "I arrived at our new home surrounded by orange and eucalyptus trees, forevermore in love with drawing, having made the decision to Be An Artist during my first road trip.

Fast forward a couple more years to me and my Mom at an ubiquitous shopping center. See me transfixed in front of the window of a small stationary and art supply store. I was mesmerized, gazing rapt, in awe of what had become a Shrine. There, front and center, was a complete set of Prismacolor Colored Pencils. Until this moment all I'd every drawn with was crayons and I'd painted with drippy poster paints...but these pencils were calling to my Soul.

© Wendy Edelson - Snowman Border

My Mom who had walked ahead of me, came back to where I stood and looked, in a hushed and reverent voice I whispered to her,'those are what REAL ARTISTS use!!!' How I knew about Prismacolors or knew that "Real Artists" used them, I have no idea. In a moment of Pure Parental Perfection my Mom grabbed my hand and bought them for me. My path was chosen and I set out upon it."

© Wendy Edelson - Greenery Pattern

"In the Velveteen Rabbit, a child's love forever transformed a stuffed toy into a Real Rabbit, likewise an early moment of pure faith and love opened wide a little girl's vision. Everyday my Dream and Desire is to create work that somehow allows me to go to bed at night feeling like a 'Real Artist'," Wendy added.

Wendy is a self taught artist; her plans for going to college were put aside when she decided to try working instead and left for New York with a big black portfolio at the age of 17. Wendy says: "My life has been almost all about the work, drawing and painting. Over the years I've moved several times, back and forth from New York and Vermont to the Pacific Northwest and back again; currently I'm living in the Pacific Northwest, planning another move back to the Northeast again, this time to stay. I've married, had a son, fallen in love with dogs and gardening, learned how to cook and speak Italian. In the rare times away from my drawing board I've traveled through Asia, Indonesia and Europe and lived in Mexico for 3 years."

What brought Wendy to create art in the first place? It had to be "that cross country trip in the station wagon," she says. "It just sort of poured out of me and I simply couldn't stop; it truly was more of a calling than a conscious decision."

© Wendy Edelson - CookieJar Print

What excites her is a challenge, an unfamiliar subject, an unfamiliar medium, a scary deadline, a new relationship with a new client, the unknown, flying without a net and color – "color always excites me" - she adds.

Watercolors are her favorite paint; she loves the transparency - "Lately I've begun to use acrylics, the Golden fluids, I love using them as a sort of base to layer watercolors over. If I paint an underpainting with them, say the patterned bark of trees, I can glaze layers of color over that and not worry about the pattern below dissolving at all. Glazing and layering coats of paint so that they seem to glow, that's what I love best but it can be very time consuming," she says.

© Wendy Edelson - Expect

Her inspiration? When she was a child her father gave her books illustrated by Howard Pyle, pen and ink, black and white, which she says "inspired me enormously and definitely implanted a love of pattern and detail. My father was a sculptor, he carved wood and would carve horses, tired work horses and people from the trunks of trees. His studio was filled with those books of photographs of people and animals in motion and anatomy books. I wanted to be with my father so I would draw while he sculpted, and he wouldn't let me stop until he'd decided my drawing was correct. He'd say, 'the foreshortening in that foot is wrong, draw it again!' Sometimes I'd have to draw something twenty times; hard but great training. That still happens but now I have to be my father's voice."

Wendy is also an accomplished licensed artist and so I asked her about it. She has been formally licensing her art for about 7 years. Before that, as a commercial illustrator, she had images of hers re-used so that when she heard about "licensing” it sounded perfect and made a lot of sense to her.

© Wendy Edelson - Tossed Animals

She says: "One of the things I like about licensing is that it's a kind of vacation from the character driven illustration of children's books. In my books I have to create the characters consistently in various poses and moods. With my licensed art I can paint plants, flowers, objects, or animals and take a rest from the people. The two paths, licensing and children's books happily satisfy two different sides of what I love to do. Whenever I do a lot of one, I long to get back to the other."

Wendy is represented by an illustration agent and also a licensing agent. She also has quite a few "house accounts," clients she works with on her own. "I write lots of letters to publishers and clients that I would like to work with, and then, if we connect, continue either on my own or have them contact the proper agent. I'm pretty informal in my approach so I'm happy to have the expertise of agents in the business world." Wendy spends 7 days a week painting, she says.

"I guess what has already been said so many times, by so many other people that one should have as many collections as possible ready to go, and definitely a look, a recognizable style, a theme, something that sets them apart from everyone else", she suggests to newbies.

© Wendy Edelson - Snowman Bunny Border

She also adds: "My work is very personal, it's how I see. I see the world close up and I see in detail, rather than in graphic flat color and bold shapes. The recent trends seem to have been diametrically opposed to my style but I believe that one has to be true to one's own self, that if one's style is really different than what is currently popular one has a choice to make, to try to interpret the trend in one's particular hand or simply keep doing what feels true to one's self and hope that the pendulum swings back a bit. I think that there is a bit more movement towards traditional work and detail, I feel that change. I find that I am known for a very detailed illustration style and clients seek me out for that. Things have been quite tight in the market but they seem to be easing up a bit."

© Wendy Edelson - So many Bunnies Fabric

A couple of other tips she gives to us newbies are these: "One needs to be always looking, whenever one is in a store, anywhere and one sees something that resonates with them, their style; look to see who makes it, write it down and look them up on the Internet.

Just the other day, I saw really cute bowls with a snowman design filled with candy placed on the counters of my bank. My teller dumped all the candy out for me so I could write down the name of the manufacturer that was on the bottom of the bowl. Ideas and possible connections are everywhere! And, above all, be patient and willing to create MOUNTAINS of work for no immediate financial reward. One can easily work a year in advance so, especially in the beginning or during lean times, it can be a bit insecure financially. This makes it even more important that you love what you are doing, and that you have a recognizable look/style of your own."

© Wendy Edelson - Gabriel's Rhino

Wendy's take on trends is also very helpful. She says: "I think art licensing is always evolving, always changing, trends are, just that, trends, as soon as you notice a trend everywhere, it's probably too late to jump on the bandwagon. I find the best thing for me has been to create art that I love creating for myself, and hopefully that people who enjoy my work would enjoy this year, two years from now...indefinitely.

I illustrate books and create art for licensing, and I really only have one style. It's recognizable and the images for books are similar to the art I create for my fabric lines, for cards, for puzzles. I am working on tabletop and various decorative pieces for home and garden now and it is a fascinating process learning how to interpret my style for all these different items. I find I'm working 7 days a week at this point, but it's all fine. I feel truly fortunate and blessed to be able to have a foot in both the children's book and the art licensing worlds."

© Wendy Edelson - Scarf Stripe

www.wendyedelson.com

www.elevenlemons.blogspot.com 

I wish you all happy holidays! 

Style, Theme and Technique - Whimsy Retro-Chic

I have been more and more intrigued by art created with a theme in mind - a theme seems to be a vital part of the overall communication in an illustration or a design. Many great masters painted by theme, successful architects and designers have created thematic pieces, and most popular music follows a similar formula. 

Since we already defined the word Theme and explored a bit about the Whimsical and Folk styles in past articles, today I want to introduce a new concept with two additional terms. According to the New Oxford American dictionary:

Retro - imitative of a style, fashion, or design from the recent past. 

Chic - elegantly and stylishly fashionable.

Artist Monica Lee and her dog

Hmmm ... what would be a whimsy retro-chic style? And how would a thematic design apply to such style? What are the techniques that make it so popular and so well loved? Well, all these questions are answered by a very fun and fashionista artist, who will help illustrate the point: Monica Lee! - She is an illustrator, licensed artist and textile designer. Her sources of inspiration - books, interior design and fashion - are sources which are also close to my heart. She has done a fabulous job creating around these concepts. She says, "my main source of inspiration are books - I have so many! Interior design and fashion get ideas going. I am also inspired by the joy of everyday life, the small things that make it beautiful. The aroma of fresh coffee, a curious child, the sound of laughter. I am an eternal optimist, I think the world is bright and everyday is worth enjoying!"

Monica defines her artistic style as clean, fresh and feminine. She likes to use expressive line work and she tends to use a clear color palette. She thinks that it comes from her background as a watercolorist - "No muddy colors allowed!".

© Monica Lee

Monica paints, blogs, and gabs over at her little spot of sunshine on the web, she says. She also enjoys watching trends in all sorts of areas from publishing, to fashion, to craft, to the gift market and interpreting them into her art. Incorporating writing and encouragement in her art has become a passion of hers.

"I suppose my underlying artistic theme has to do with femininity. Whether I am designing something sophisticated or childlike the line work has a delicate hand to it. I do really enjoy chic girly art. I have illustrated book covers for several tween book series. I surround myself with interesting women and was a flight attendant for years so I think I appreciate what makes women tick" - Monica says.

© Monica Lee

Everything she does is hand drawn. She creates art by hand and then goes into Photoshop and paints it. Digital color is bright and offers a lot of options but she also watercolors some of her collections and then scans it all. She says she has become a master at scanning watercolor. She even paints the work in pieces, scans it, then merges it in Photoshop, which keeps everything clean and crisp.

I asked Monica what is exciting about her creative work and she said, " the end result is always the most exciting part. I love when the art resonates with someone, makes them smile or laugh. As much as I get a kick out of the process of creating, I am really creating for others. I am not the 'art for arts sake' kind of person like so many others. I am more of an 'art for people' sake. I am coming to realize that that statement doesn't just mean I am a commercial artist, it means that I am offering my skills, ideas and vision to share with others. In the end I want to bring beauty and hope as well as some fun into the world."

© Monica Lee

Fabric collections are always exciting for Monica because she feels like she is setting a mood, telling a story though line and color. She likes that other people can take the fabric and create their own masterpieces with them. She also is trying to carve out time to load up art prints onto her etsy site - "I have my fabrics and a few pieces of art there now but I want to add more fine art prints as well as 3-D art. I am just trying to figure out how to make the time and space for it in my brain (and in my studio!)" - Monica says. "Years ago (and I mean years) I owned my own greeting card company, Monica Lee Studios so I was involved with the gift industry and even though I went on to be a mom and to work on other art, a few licensing contracts found me. I felt pretty comfortable in the gift arena because A) I am a shopper (believe it or not some artist are NOT shoppers and don’t frequent gift stores! and B) I was a greeting card sales rep for a short while (one of my past lives)." 

© Monica Lee

A couple of years ago, maybe 2 or 3 she says, Monica got serious and really geared her portfolio towards licensing. She still enjoys doing work for publishing but licensing requires a monstrous amount of work in her portfolio so it has taken over her life. "I enjoy this type of work since I tend to gear my art towards the consumer anyway." As far as trade shows go, Monica got around; she has attended CHA and she attends the NYC gift shows. She has attended the International Quilt Market and she also exhibits at Surtex in NYC and Atlanta. It has been several years since she has been but she will be attending in January 2012, she says. "Trade shows revive me! Although it may be seeing and mingling with people that revive me. I am very much a people person which may be a bit odd for an artist who spends a large amount of time working alone."

© Monica Lee

One piece of advice from Monica to other artists is this: "I think one of the best tips I can give is not to compare yourself or your work to others. You really need to run your own race." She started a series on her blog called the Care and Feeding of a Dream; this is a series based on an essay she wrote some time ago but as she revisits it, she is reapplying all the lessons to herself, she says, even though she is at a different stage in her career.

Her goals? She always has so many, she says. In fact Monica is in the process of trying to prioritize them right now. She has two books that she would like to get published and has plans to design and sell embroidery patterns and maybe even a couple of sewing patterns.

© Monica Lee

She also has some new licensors on board that she is super excited about. Since she has become passionate about blogging, she is pretty dedicated to keeping her blog fresh and interesting. "Those are all my business goals, and my art goals are to create more space (physically as well as emotionally) to create larger textile art that marry line, stitching and fibers," Monica says.

Your comments are welcomed. Please enter them in the below comment section.

Inspired by Nature - Licensed Artist Bambi Papais

I have now blogged for almost two months about my adventures in the art licensing field. I've been reading up on blogs, following forums, going to local licensing meetings, and also networking with several helpful and friendly artists who have shared with me some of their experiences. I'll continue to publish their advice, tips & tricks as part of my new series of editorials called Art Licensing Tips & Tricks - the first article came out a couple of days ago in case you missed it. 

It appears that two major underlying threads to be successful in this profession are creating art for products and research. Whether one decides to have an agent or venture alone into the industry, it seems that those two factors are key. And this is also what our talented guest artist Bambi Papais tells us today.

Artist Bambi Papais

The Moon from My Attic: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your art? I've had an interest in art as long as I can remember.  As a child, I remember coloring and doodling as a big part of growing up. Through the years, art has always been  a part of my life. I started painting with watercolors in the early eighties and have continued with it ever since. I'm basically self taught with a handful of workshops over the years. Though I do dabble with colored pencil, acrylic and a few other mediums, I really prefer watercolor as I know it so well and I love the look you can get from it.
 

TMFMA:  What is exciting about your creative work? Vivid color and fun patterns!! My work ranges from serious, realistic botanicals to whimsical fun crazy colored flowers with frogs. I tend to paint loads of tulips with vibrant multicolored patterns on their petals and usually a frog (maybe even a fairy) or bug hanging around. These types of paintings often make people do a double take to see what it is that is catching their eye. It might be a frog with a party hat hiding in the flowers. And the flowers aren't always your traditional colors.  

© Bambi Papais

TMFMA: Is there a person or thing that has influenced you in your artistic efforts? What inspires you? I have several favorite artists both past and present whose work I love and have been influenced by. Even though I certainly don't paint like them, their artwork is just so delicious I hope little bits of it are imprinted in my brain for reference. There are so many good artists around, it's hard just to name a few but ... Past: Cicely Mary Barker, Kate Greenaway, Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish. And present: Daniel Merriman, Patience Brewster, Marjolein Bastin (there are tons more, but these a few off the top of my head). I'm inspired with the whimsy and the imaginary aspect that many of these artists present while still offering a realistic approach. I'm inspired by nature. I LOVE flowers and gardens and things growing. Birds and butterflies are amazing!!!  A hummingbird flitting by or a shy bluebird, what a treat!
 

TMFMA: Tell us your experience as an art licensing artist - In the early 90's there were some trade shows called "Art Buyers Caravan." I exhibited in Southern California and San Francisco with the ABC shows. That was some good exposure at the time. Artists were just starting to get in the licensing business. About the same time a small card company licensed my work for his card line. That card company was represented at several gift shows (which was my first exposure to the Gift Show business). Though that card company is no longer in business, he had such good exposure at the time, that a larger company, Bentley Publishing Group contacted me and I worked with them for several years both in the print department and licensing. The Bentley Group acted as my agent in licensing for many years.

© Bambi Papais

They were able to get my work on many products such as throws, rugs, stationery, fabric, figurines, puzzles, gift bags, stitchery and other  items. In working with them, they "matched" my artwork to the right manufacturers and there was always a discussion to make sure we were all in agreement. I was a guest with the Bentley Group at a licensing show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York a few years ago. It was very exciting to walk the show and see what was going on in the world of licensing. It was an eye opener to see how big the licensing business is now. It was also very gracious of them to let me be their guest! I would say if anyone was thinking about exhibiting in a trade show, go visit one first, even if you have to pay a fee it would be worth it. Exhibiting in any trade show is very costly, so do some research first. Now, since there are helpful licensing groups such as found on Linkedin, an artist can get tons of help from fellow artists for all kinds of information.  

© Bambi Papais

TMFMA: What would be your most fundamental advice to new aspiring licensing artists? Keep researching and reading (oh, and creating, too). There is so much good information out there. Persevere!! Trends come and go, don't get hurt when they go, be ready for the next something good around the corner. 

TMFMA: What are your future aspirations and goals? It was a wonderful experience to work with the Bentley Publishing Group but I have decided to give it a try on my own.  Sooo ... if the right agent came along ... I don’t know ... maybe. Even though I am not actually new at this, I feel new due to the fact that I'm trying it on my own. We’ll see and I'm very excited. I have some great opportunities happening!!!  

 

Visit Bambi's website and shop or find her on Facebook.

Licensing Artist Maia Ferrell and Folk Art, a Family Affair

I created a new banner for the blog that will give a little glimpse of what the style of my artwork will be for licensing... and I completed the first batch of conceptual designs. I started scanning them and tried out a couple of ideas in Photoshop/Illustrator. It seems like it will work well and I am getting excited about my collections!

To share even more excitement I have a very inspiring interview with licensing artist Maia Ferrell. She was an artist and product designer for Natural Life for a few years and had record breaking sales (which is what convinced her to go out on her own) but nothing was under her own name. She considers herself an emerging artist and will be exhibiting in Atlanta this coming January through Painted Planet Licensing, her agent's booth.  Her colorful website is full of joy and catchy patterns for licensing. She also has a beautiful new shop on Etsy.

Maia Ferrell and her Daugher Lucia

1. The Moon from My Attic: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your art?  Sure! I grew up in Atlantic Beach, Florida with a wonderful family. Ever since I can remember my mom was pushing me to pursue my artwork and always supported whatever direction I wanted to go in creatively. My childhood was very colorful. Our walls were filled with outsider art, folk art and a lot of my great-grandmothers art. My great-grandmother, Gisella Loeffler, was a famous artist in Taos, New Mexico. 

(image by tartanscottie.com)

She is a huge inspiration to me and I feel like I connect with her creatively through color pallets and folk florals, although I was never lucky enough to meet her. I consider my work mixed-media because it usually combines a few mediums such as watercolor, acrylics, spray paint, pens, markers ... but a definite is always Adobe Illustrator. 

© Maia Ferrell

2. TMFMA:  What is exciting about your creative work? It is exciting to me to think that someone might display my work in their home and love it. Whenever I buy art or look at my great-grandmother's art, there is something inside me that just loves it so much and I just hope that when someone purchases something of mine, they feel that same thing. And it is exciting that I have gotten to this point, it seems like it has been a long road and I know there is still a longer one ahead.

3. TMFMA: Is there a person or thing that has influenced you in your artistic efforts? What inspires you? Well I suppose I answered that with my great-grandmother but I am very inspired by fabrics and patterns. I get a lot of inspiration from vintage, folk floral patterns. It seems like there is inspiration everywhere these days, so many wonderful artists ... I just never know what is going to inspire me. I could discover one amazing floral fabric and all of a sudden it triggers something and I can create a whole line based off of that. I love it when that happens! I read a lot of blogs, print and pattern is my favorite.

© Maia Ferrell

4. TMFMA: What project are you currently working on?  Currently, I am creating stationery products - greeting cards, boxed notes, invites, etc. I am constantly building my licensing portfolio with different ideas, different themes. That seems to be the most important work I can do, you never know what will catch the eye of someone. 

5. TMFMA: Tell us of your experience as an art licensing artist. I think it is really hard. I think it is amazing to be able to do what you love! But there is a lot of waiting and a lot of anticipation. You have to have a thick skin, a ton of hope and be willing to adapt your style. But when just one company takes interest in your work, that makes it all worth it. Doing research on different companies to find out who is looking for artists or to find a company where your artwork is a good match is a full-time job in itself.

When I first broke out on my own, I was feeling overwhelmed with building a licensing portfolio and trying to find new companies and building a website ... then I realized it would be much easier if I designated days for artwork and days for research. So usually about 3 days a week I design and then 2 days a week I do research. Everytime I leave the house, I carry my composition book with me. It is filled with company names that I see in stores, boutiques or online. I spend a lot of time in independent bookstores, they usually carry a large amount of stationery products from companies I wasn't aware of. 

© Maia Ferrell

I find Linkedin to be especially useful in researching companies as well. As far as my style of artwork, I look for trend-setting companies that use a lot of color, pattern and also they have to incorporate digital artwork. I try to find out which artists just signed with what companies, so I can figure out what that company was looking for. I try to find and connect with contacts in the industry, even if they are not with a company that would be interested in my work.

It is a pretty small circle, it seems like someone always knows someone that could be of more assistance. Most people are so kind, everyone wants to help. My agent is all over this kind of work, too. She has a lot of contacts and has a lot of meetings with companies ... but I think it is really important to know what is going on in your industry and perhaps I might make a contact somewhere along the way that might be very beneficial to both of us. 

© Maia Ferrell

I am happy I signed with an agent. It is hard to keep up with everything and extremely expensive when you are just starting to get your name out there. I have a 10 month old at home so I am already about to pull my hair out with balancing everything. It is nice knowing that someone is still working on getting my artwork out there when I am not able to. It is also nice to have the support, a friend ... things get frustrating and everything is so up and down, it is nice to have someone to talk to.

If you are just starting out, the first thing I suggest is finding a great web designer and building a fabulous site that showcases your work. Then you can start sending out your link to agents and companies from there and they will know you are professional and serious. 

© Maia Ferrell

6. TMFMA: Any important tips and tricks you can share or anything else you'd like to share?  Yes, be willing to wear different hats. A good friend of mine in the industry has taught me this and I am still learning it ... You  have to be willing to have your artwork for you and have your artwork for licensing. As much as you may love some of your work and think it would be so perfect on a certain product, it may not be ... so you have to be willing to accept that and find a different way to get that artwork out in the world, such as Etsy or local art shows. 

7. TMFMA: What are your future aspirations and goals? I want to master my craft. I want to be at the stage where there is a consistency or a rhythm. Where I feel confident in what I am producing. I don't feel that yet and I am not sure I ever will but I know if I keep working as much as I can, I am headed in the right direction.