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.

Bold, Whimsical and Colorful Designs - Interview with Creative Director Mary Beth Freet

© 2012 Alex Colombo The last couple of weeks have been so fun and busy but also full of nice but unexpected turns of events ... I am now represented by Montage Licensing, a wonderful licensing agency owned by long-term successul licensing artist Kimberly Montgomery – I always planned to represent myself but this great deal came about and I am happy to have signed up with her! Additionally, I finished my new website, which is now up and running; if you wish to take a peek you can find it here, at AlexColombo.com. It is just about the perfect time to have one to display my first set of everyday/florals and holidays collections! More coming soon...! And in tune with the world of art licensing, agents, artists and inspirational designs, here is a fun and full-of-good news interview with Mary Beth Freet. Artist & Creative Director Mary Beth Freet The Moon from My Attic: Please introduce yourself - Hello, my name is Mary Beth Freet and I am the Creative Director of Pink Light Design, DBA Pink Chandelier. You can see our current products that are licensed on our blog. TMFMA: Can you please tell us your story in art licensing? I began my journey in art licensing when I first exhibited at Surtex in 2009. It was an amazing experience! My goal was to become the next Lilla Rogers Studio! I had walked Surtex the year before and was so blown away by their artist's designs and I wanted to do something similar. In December of 2008 I started Pink Light and work diligently for the next five months to be ready to showcase my designs at Surtex in May.  I went with the intention of learning as I went and I took every opportunity to learn from experience, my clients, and my peers. In the past few years PInk Light has grown quickly and I now represent over 12 artists from around the world. Pink Light's style is bold, graphic, whimsical, and colorful. In 2010 I launched "Pink Chandelier" which is a more sophisticated take on our fun designs.  © Pink Light Design TMFMA: As a designer, what are the challenges in this current market? How do you meet them? The challenges from my perspective is finding great artists who have time to really create great pieces throughout the year. Also, patience is very important in the licensing world. It can sometimes be a year or so before a design will be chosen. But if you have patience, it can definitely be worth it.  TMFMA: As an art licensing agent, how do you find a new artist? Do you go by referrals or do you go through websites, portfolios, blogs or on-line shops? Or do prefer to meet them in person at licensing shows? What do you look for? © Pink Light Desi I find most of my artists through the print and pattern blog. I typically will do a call for designs and then I go through all of them to find artists who will fit our style. Furthermore, I look for artists who have a large portfolio of great designs. This can be a difficult process because an artist may have one or two really great pieces and it's hard to really get a feeling for their depth and talent. I also look for artists who have experience in the mass market because in the licensing business it is important that the artwork be sellable across a wide range of products and age ranges. I find that artists who do have this "mass market" experience, those who have worked in-house for retailers, understand the process and design needs and are much more successful in designing collections and understanding client requests for custom work.  © Pink Light Design TMFMA: Do you employ POD (Print on Demand) or other online sites to license your art or do you only work with traditional manufacturers? I aim to work mostly with traditional manufacturers at this point.  TMFMA: What's you view of the current market and trends? I feel like the current market is great. I started my business in what others viewed as a "down economy" but I don't share this point of view. I believe that you can do anything that you set your mind to, regardless of what others prefer to believe. Therefore, the market is always full of possibilities. There are always people who will need great designs and as long as you can offer a service that will bring your clients success, it's a win-win situation.  © Pink Light Design Regarding trends, the biggest thing that I am seeing now is that people want an experience and an overall "feeling" with their designs. In the same way that customers love a unique store experience or a great vacation, or the feel of a beautiful fabric or textured paper, they want that same feeling with their designs. Create artwork that will take them away, if just for a moment.  TMFMA: How do you see the future of licensing? With just a few years in, I see it as a personal learning experience. The great thing about licensing is that there really are no rules. At the same time, artists need to educate themselves and understand their value in order to be really successful in the licensing business. Artists need to offer something fresh and new that manufacturers cannot get from an in-house artists or purchase outright at a trade show. Therefore, it can be a challenging task but well worth the effort and journey if you bring your passion for art and business with you!  © Pink Light Design TMFMA: Can you share your current design projects? We have so many designs that are out there right now. Take a look at our blog to see some of our artist's work. Our fabrics can be found through Robert Kaufman. We have stationery products launching at Target in March and April and will be available year round. These are under the Pink Chandelier brand and they are AMAZING!! Stay tuned for more info. We have designs licensed with Design Design that are in Papyrus stores. We have scrapbook artwork with Studio G for Valentines Day that will be available at Walmart Stores. We have cell phone cases through Uncommon that are in Apple Stores worldwide. We had many gift bags and gift boxes in Target for the holidays just to name a few.  © Pink Light Design TMFMA: What are some of your upcoming licensing projects? We work with numerous manufacturers and are continually meeting new clients at trade shows. We will show at The Licensing Expo in Las Vegas in June for the first time and plan to move into more character licensing in the next year. Off the top of my head...in 2012...Angela Nickeas has folders and notebooks coming out for Back to School product with Class Act. Diana Skylacos has a paper tableware collection launching with Design Design. Lucy Sturgess, Jen Da Silva and Angela Brumby have fabric collections launching with Studio e fabrics. Mary Beth Freet has notebooks, folders, binders launching with Class Act to be in Target and Walmart stores. Nina Seven has a scrapbook collection with Momenta, paper tableware with Unique Industries, and fabric with Robert Kaufman. Elizabeth Caldwell has a fabric collection with Robert Kaufman. Jane Dixon and Mary Beth Freet have planners to be launched with Andrews McMeel.  © Pink Light Design Various artists have greeting cards licensed with Design Design. Jennifer Cepeda has a scrapbooking collection to launch with Momenta. Elizabeth Caldwell and Jen Da Silva have wall decals that will launch with Roommates Peel and Stick. Jen Da Silva, Angela Nickeas and Mary Beth Freet have wall art that will launch with Oopsy Daisy. Mary Beth Freet has a fabric collection that will launch with Robert Kaufman. It will be a FUN YEAR!!!!  TMFMA: What advice can you give to new artists to help them learn and do art licensing? Don't be afraid to ask questions. People are always willing to help. Have a big portfolio. You cannot expect to keep sending out the same designs and get them picked up. Clients want fresh, fresh, fresh, new, new, new. Take classes and learn as you go. Get experience working with buyers in some capacity. This will help you understand the process. Oftentimes, decisions are made that have little to do with your artwork. Buyers have to take so many things into consideration. Understanding WHAT they are looking for and what other factors they have to consider will 100% make a difference in what you bring to the market. Make mistakes and learn from them. Most of all, follow your heart and have fun!  Your comments are welcome.

An Art Licensing True Story - Artist Joseph Holodook

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! – I've been working on my holiday themes – it's fun to figure out some appropriate patterns for Christmas, which in itself has never been my favorite subject to illustrate...but I needed some cards to send out so I started to design around this topic with an eye to art licensing. I came up with some hand painted, whimsical folk style images - can't show them yet, they first need to be copyrighted. So please be patient for a little longer, I will soon be able to share some of my portfolio and licensing collections ... I am almost there!

In the meantime, I want to share this special story by artist Joseph Holodook. His licensing tale is very fun and unique!

Artist Joseph Holodook at work

Joseph is an Illustrator and painter of Americana landscapes and is represented in the commercial art market by Porterfield's Fine Art. His original artwork, prints and cards are sold through fineartamerica.com.

When Joseph paints an Americana landscape he paints with acrylic and some gouache. Joe says, "I paint at a drawing table; for my Folk art paintings a good ruler and architects square are a must. The paint I use is acrylic premixed in small squeeze bottles. They're inexpensive and come in a great array of colors. I do mix them though to come up with a particular hue I need for a piece." He also uses a good stretched canvas, usually 18x24 or 22x28 and small detail brushes sable number 1, 0/10, and 0/20. He affirms, "I always like sable brushes whether I'm using acrylic, gouache or oil."

Artist Joseph Holodook

His style of work is Americana Folk Art – "plain and simple," Joe says. It has elements of surroundings in them. He lives in the small town of Hudson in the Historic Hudson River Valley of New York State. Lots of old farms and houses nestled along creeks with the Catskill mountains looming in the distance like a great sleeping giant. "I think I'm inspired to paint by everyday life, such as a happen chance observation between a mother helping her child. The interaction between people makes for great inspiration," Joseph says. 

I asked Joseph what was exciting about his creative work and he said, "getting the chance to express your thoughts and feelings in your work, and learning a little something along the way. It could be an occupation you're depicting in a scene or the way people lived in a certain time or the architecture of a building. I find them all exciting."

© Joseph Holodook - Layering background lawn, sandy road

His favorite themes are family and friends. "I put them or their names in most of my paintings and try to evoke their personalities in them. Everyone in the image must be doing something. It adds life and interest to a piece". When Joseph comes up with an idea for a painting he sees the picture totally completed as if it were on a postcard in front of him. He says, "I sketch out the idea as fast as I can, not wanting to lose a single detail."
One of his most liked techniques is layering in color for backgrounds. It adds depth to a relatively flat plane. Joe says, "the treatment I give the mountains is of a cut away tree demarcation line. I think it comes from looking at the old Catskill mountains I've hiked many times. I think it's important to add anchoring the buildings down at the corners. Since you're dealing with a flat on flat plane in a Folk Art painting the buildings need a bush or flowers, pot or barrel on corner to help the eye give solid placement to the building."

Anchoring detail

But what about licensing? How long has Joseph done licensing? He says, "how long has Porterfield's Fine Art Licensing been around? A long time. When I sent Porterfield's a letter with four photograph samples of my work I didn't know anything about art licensing. Then Lance Klass, the founder and owner of Porterfield's, wrote me back saying he looked forward to representing my work in the market place. I didn't know what to do. After about a week of trying to find out about art licensing at the library and book store, Lance called me and the conversation went as follows: Lance - 'Hello my name is Lance Klass of Porterfield's fine Art Licensing. May I please speak to Joseph Holodook?' Me - 'Speaking'... silence ...Lance: 'Oh my God, you're just a kid! I had thought you had been in the business for years as an illustrator.'

"My portfolio at the time consisted of the four images I sent him. He was under the impression I had a large stash of work. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Lance took me under his wing and he, along with his wife Mimi, guided me along. So, many grey hairs later I am still painting whimsical Americana Folk art to holiday favorites."

© Joseph Holodook - Mountain Detail

Lance Klass confirmed Joseph's story and they get along like great old friends to this day!

Joseph's advice to other artists that are considering the art licensing field as a professional career is this: "The next time you go to a department store take a good look around. You'll find licensed art everywhere, from stationary to seasonal goods. They all have licensed art on them. Always produce new art because if your successful with a piece, they will always come back for more. I have a good dear friend who went to school for commercial art. Now that her children have grown she would like to get back into the field. Don't be afraid of showing your art. Be willing to take constructive criticism. A licensing agent wants you to succeed. That's how they, and you, make money." 

© Joseph Holodook - Romanchuk Restoration

Joseph additionally says: "Listen to what your client wants and try your best to provide them with it. Your art my be good, but your commercial art is only good if it is used commercially."

Your comments are welcomed. 

Please enter them in the below comment section.

Are You Organized for Art Licensing? An Interview with Artist Carolyn Gavin

This past week I listened in to a great free webinar by Teliha Draheim of Image West Design on how to sell commercial art. And I also got to participate in a local art licensing meeting which shared artwork reviews and other useful ideas. My next couple of months will be very busy completing my portfolio and basic collections that I will then present to the group for the January meeting critique - very exciting!

This week I'd like to introduce an artist from Canada who has been very busy creating art for licensing and her own wholesale stationary business. 

The Moon from My Attic: Please introduce yourself. Hello, I'm Carolyn Gavin. I'm the principal designer for ecojot. We're based out of Toronto, Canada and create gorgeous stationery using 100% recycled materials only. We also have a donation program where we donate books and pencils to kids in need around the world. We have just been to Haiti for a week where we gave away 22,000 workbooks, as part of the schoolbag - the schoolbag on Facebook. An amazing, rewarding and emotionally grueling trip for my partners who went. 

Artist Carolyn Gavin with her bulldog Ziggy

I also have an agent Lilla Rogers and she handles all my freelance and licensing projects.

TMFMA: What's exciting about your creative work? I get to create exactly what I want (generally) and see it printed on our stationery. It's great when I see someone using one of our books.

TMFMA: Who or what has inspired you in your art? I grew up in a hot country with lots of color, texture and pattern around me. I think that is what's in my soul and is reflected in my work. Nowdays I try and travel as much as I can and experience other cultures which influence my work. I love central America - the exotic colors and patterns from Belize, Guatamala and Mexico. I love African fabrics and Indian patterns and colors.

© Carolyn Gavin

TMFMA: What's your favorite medium or tool/s you create with? I've recently gone back to painting again which I love and started off doing – I use gouache and acrylics mainly. I also like pen and ink. Digital is also what I know and have been using for a long time. Programs like Illustrator and Photoshop are quite amazing!

TMFMA: Can you share a favorite technique you routinely use in your art work? I paint, then scan in and then combine paint with digital. I like the look.

TMFMA: How long have you been doing art licensing? I was lucky enough to get signed by Lilla Rogers Studio more than 3 years ago. She takes only a few submissions a year, so I feel special that way. This has enabled me to create incredible fabric and scrapbooking collections as well as editorials and one of my favourites...packaging design. I also like the fact that the designs are used on other materials besides paper.

© Carolyn Gavin

It was totally by chance that I hooked up with my agent. As they say timing is everything. I happened to meet her at Surtex while I was doing the National Stationery Show. I had no portfolio but just an ecojot catalogue (I guess that's a portfolio of sorts). Anyhow, the timing was obviously right and she signed me up right away after that show. She also must have felt that my look was right for her at the time. I felt REALLY lucky to be signed by Lilla – I guess it could have happened the traditional way where I would have sent her my work. I must say I hadn't even considered an agent at that point. I had been working in the gift and design industry for over 20 years, so I guess I had reached a point where my work was ready for market even though I didn't know it or consciously seek out ways of expanding it. 

© Carolyn Gavin

Lilla Rogers Studio gets over 1000 submissions a year, so in doing that you really have to stand out and have something special and something that strikes a cord for them. Something they NEED at the time. They have nearly 40 artists signed with them and each one seems to offer something unique to the fold.

© Carolyn Gavin

Before signing with me, I had an interview with Lilla where she asked me all kinds of questions. One that comes to mind is, "are you organized?" I think this is extremely important in that there is a lot to do besides designing great art. Labeling, saving correctly, billing, communicating with clients, getting files ready for shows and so on.

And I don't think it's a question of how many pieces you need to submit to an agent. I think it's based on the quality, the style, the uniqueness, the saleability and then a sense of who you are and if they can build a relationship with you. It's kind of like a family in a way and Lilla is the mother ship!

TMFMA: Please give us your analysis of the market based on your own experience and contacts. I think it's extremely tough right now, so we have diversified our North American base and now sell to Mexico, Scandinavia and Australia.

Your comments are welcomed. Please enter them 

in the comment section below.

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.

Style, Theme and Technique in Art Licensing - Contemporary Whimscal Folk Art

In this issue I want to explore a bit more the contemporary whimsical style, but this time with a twist of folk – and since folk is such a broad genre, in upcoming weeks I will be hosting more artists to fully illustrate it in its different representations.

The words Style, Theme and Technique were three basic terms defined in my first article in this series.  It's now time to define what Contemporary, Whimsical and Folk mean since we'll talk about them extensively. 

 According to the New Oxford American dictionary:

Contemporary - following modern ideas or fashion in style or design. Whimsical - playfully quaint or fanciful, esp. in an appealing and amusing way. Folk - of or relating to the traditional art or culture of a community or nation, or originating from the beliefs and opinions of ordinary people.

As a way of example, my own style has evolved much over the years and I ended up with a bit of a fusion of creative concepts (also the name of my design studio) with an "organic" and crafty twist so I call it contemporary whimsical-folk. I was curious about what that meant to other successful art licensing artists. 

© Cherish Flieder / Something to Cherish

I welcome this week licensed artist Cherish Flieder. Her illustrations have been considered whimsical, elegant and fresh while also being called "folksy." In her "Something to Cherish" style she focuses on simple and graceful shapes that build up her little stories or the particular emotion she's trying to convey. Beauty, kindness and whimsy are three things that she feels strongly about, and they are at the core of her art style. She believes many people want to surround themselves with things that highlight the good and fun parts of life and give our minds a much-needed balance. 

And as for the theme, her art is not tied to any theme but rather inspired by them. When Cherish first developed her style, she wanted an approach that could work with a plethora of topics. However, she has a few categories that encompass many of her recent creations such as nature, femininity, faith and family. She's always on the look out for themes that could develop into her next art licensing collection. Travel, museums, hiking, reading and shopping are all wonderful sources for that next spark of an idea.

© Cherish Flieder / Something to Cherish

When Cherish studied at Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, she was infamous for experimenting with different mediums and mixing them together on the same illustration. Pastels, oils, alkyds, egg-temperas, acrylics, charcoals, watercolors, gouache, colored pencils, digital painting and more… they all went into the mixing bowl of opportunity.

However, since she never could stop experimenting, she didn't think she would ever settle for one technique to call her own. That was until the day, several years later, when she was deeply contemplating about where she wanted to begin her career in art licensing.

As a young artist, Cherish's favorite medium had always been watercolor. She found out that deep down inside, it still is: "I love the way I can glaze with liquid color and watch it build up, light to dark. I love the purity and fragility that it brings as it transforms and settles before it dries."

© Cherish Flieder / Something to Cherish

This is the story on how she came up with a very unique technique to represent her style and themes. "One summer night, as I was painting in my studio, I had a bookmark project near me for which I was using embroidery floss as the tassels. As I looked at that thread, I wondered how awesome it would be if I actually stitched on my watercolor paintings! I had never seen anything like it before, although I knew instantly they would work together. After all, I paint on 100% cotton paper and I had lots of embroidery design experience in my background as a textile artist.

It turns out that the love of embroidery that mother spent teaching me as a child, which she got from her grandmother, actually came to settle with me too, just in a slightly different way." So, Cherish went for it and she was instantly like a little kid carrying around her latest artistic creation, sharing it with everyone she knew. She also started sharing it with clients and immediately found herself embroidering on commissioned illustration assignments.

© Cherish Flieder / Something to Cherish

"There is something about the contrasting textures of the paper and the 3-D stitched threads that are so light-hearted and fun as you see them dance in the light. The best part is that it is handmade." Cherish wants the human touch and whimsical qualities to come through the stitches and breathe life into her illustrations.

Now, has she stopped experimenting you ask? Absolutely not! That is how great discoveries are made. But, she is content that she have found a watercolor-embroidery style that for her is "Something to Cherish."

Style, Theme and Technique in Art Licensing - Contemporary Whimiscal

This is a new series of editorials on styles, themes and techniques, as they pertain to art licensing - I realized that this is where my thoughts are right now while preparing my own collections. What's my message, and what about my style? What themes am I going to develop? And what are the best techniques to bring them to life?

I think a few basic, general definitions of the key terms will help enlighten the quest. According to the New Oxford American dictionary:

• Style - a manner of doing something; a way of painting, writing, composing, building, etc., characteristic of a particular period, place, person, or movement.

• Theme - the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic.

• Technique - a way of carrying out a particular task, esp. the execution or performance of an artistic work or a scientific procedure; a skill or ability in a particular field.

In the next several weeks I want to publish articles about other artists who are willing to share and help illustrate the styles, themes and techniques that could be employed for creating art for licensing; we can all learn from each other.

In this first article I will show an example of a beautiful whimsical style of textile work created by Australian artist Natalie Ryan - she loves painting using a loosely layered water-color technique when creating adult designs while her children's designs are bright, whimsical and inspired by picture book stories. For these, she uses thematic approach of 'telling a story' within her designs.

Natalie Ryan's design

To tell you a little bit about Natalie, she grew up on a farm in the state of Victoria, Australia, from a long line of farming families. Her grandmothers though had an interest in painting and textile handcrafts.

She graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Textile Design in 1995, pre computer era, and has managed to avoid designing on the computer ever since, apart from a few stripes, checks and basic jacquard designs.

Natalie was employed as a textile designer at the Australian bed linen company Sheridan before traveling overseas and settling in London for two years, where she freelanced for a home furnishing textile design studio.
 

Natalie Ryan's design

Once she returned to Melbourne she was employed as a textile designer at Linen House, another bed linen company. In 2005 she was given the opportunity to design the children's bed linen range ‘Hiccups’, which soon took up most of her design time. A few months ago she decided to become a freelance artist and started exploring the possibilities of licensing her artwork.

She has collaborated alongside some great mentors during her career, and one in particular is the successful licensing artist Chris Chun, who is now based in Thailand.

Natalie's favorite painting medium is Designers Gouache – she tends to stick to the Winsor and Newton range for reliability and pigment fastness. They're my favorite ones, too.  She enjoys using a variety of printmaking techniques in her design work including lino-cut, mono print and woodblock, and she loves her tin of Faber Castell Polychromos pencils (they travel with her everywhere).

© Natalie Ryan

She has a few projects in the works designing bed linens for children and adults. She is also pretty busy designing for a couple of customers who contacted her via her blog.  It goes to show how important having a blog is to get your name out there. You never know who might be reading!

Art licensing is definitely something she'd like to tackle over the next few months. Her to-do list includes designing cards and stationery, designing a fabric collection, designing for tabletop and she would love to try her hand at children’s book illustration. She has recently started taking lessons in Adobe Illustrator.

Here are some additional images of her lovely designs.

© Natalie Ryan

© Natalie Ryan