Work in Progress

I've been thinking that I don't have much black and white art in my portfolio, and what I do have is in pen and ink, not the computer like all my other work, so I need to remedy this. I'm working on a few vignettes, that I think would work well for a tween chapter book, or something like that, and I'm using the same nerdy-girl character from one of my pieces which you can find here. I like her a lot, and even though I didn't have braces or glasses in middle school, I kinda identify with her. So here are a few sketches I've come up with.

illustration Friday - adrift

A rubber ducky...adrift in the bath....

NYIGF 2010

Hi Everyone! I just got back late last night from NYC (oh how I hate 95 in NY/CT....) and I've had a good night's sleep and I'm ready to share a few pics with you all. As I've mentioned, this was my first time walking the Gift Fair, and also exhibiting there as well, since this is the first time the organizers of the show have included a Licensing Gallery, of which I'm a part of, and it was a great experience. The show itself its ENORMOUS, much bigger than the National Stationery Show, and the types of exhibitors are all over the board. There were a few paper-related booths (greeting cards, stationery), but I didn't see any scrapbooking. What I did see was everything else you could think of, plus a whole lot more. Bedding, rugs, pillows, candles, fragrances, jewelry, trinkets, signs, clocks, frames, baby clothes, kitchen items, handbags... the list goes on and on. Companies range from big designer names that we all recognize (ie: Jonathan Adler) to tiny mom & pop businesses. I saw one famous person - the Barefoot Contessa! She was at the Stonewall Kitchen booth, signing autographs - the line was pretty long so I didn't get one, but I did say hello to the worker bees at the booth, since Stonewall Kitchen itself is just across the river from me in Maine, and when you meet someone from your home area when traveling, you have that instant connection, so of course I had to say "I live in Portsmouth!". The BC herself looks just like she does on tv. And she was very smiley to all the people surrounding her.

My corner of the booth. There were 4 of us who do licensing that Kolea represents, and we share the booth. The first 3 panels are my work, with my mockups at the bottom.

This is the backside of the little wall - I've got another panel here as well.



The Licensing Gallery itself was very small - maybe around 8 or 10 booths, most of which I recognized from Surtex, but the traffic seemed to be really great. I only walked the whole show on Sunday, the first day of the Licensing Gallery, and Kolea was very happy with the amount of people stopping by. I don't hang out too long at my own booth during these shows, since Kolea is usually very busy with potential clients. What I spend most of my time doing is walking the show, and handing out samples of my work to the companies that say they use licensed art and look like they'd be a good fit with me, and collect their business cards in return. I met a lot of people and companies I never would have without this tradeshow, so hopefully some things come out of this. I try to get 2 business cards from them all (one for me, one for Kolea), though K walks the show herself, doing the same thing.

Here's my handout:

The Gift Fair ends tomorrow, so if you're in the NY area, come on by to the Javit's center, booth 7775, Artists of Kolea, and see all of my work.

Now its back to reality, and hopefully a little relaxation :)

Off to the show!

Hi Everyone! Tomorrow I'm leaving for New York to see some friends and to attend NYIGF. Here's a sneak peak at some of the collections that I'm debuting.... I like to make some goodies with my art to decorate the booth, and this is what I've come up with this year. Wish me luck!

Frame and clipboard with art from Sugar Pop.

Binder with paper and pencils and pencil cup with art from Make Believe.
Frame and key holder with art from Fresh.
Lamp, tissue box and plaques for a kid's room with art from Circus.

This is what I've been up to....

I've spent the last I don't know how many weeks getting ready for NYIGF, and this evening finds me painting, glueing, and sewing a whole lotta fun stuff with my artwork on it, to decorate my booth. I just finished this tissue box cover, with artwork from my new Circus collection, and I think its darling :) I used iron-on transfer paper and my ol' reliable Epson Photo 1280 printer, and ironed on the art to white cotton fabric, and put this little guy together. Forgive the photo... I know its kinda dark, but I'm dead on my feet tired and I'm about to go to bed. I'll post more and nicer photos of all my booth mock-ups when they're all finished. Whoo hoo!

Check this out!

My illustrator's critique group has joined the online world and we have a shiny brand-new blog which you can see at Smells Like Crayons. I'm so proud to be a member of this talented group of women. Go on over and check out my introductory post and see the full color version of this sketch here.

Go team go!

Losing my mind...

hello all you out in blog-land,

I've been working what feels like nonstop, getting all my artwork ready for my next tradeshow, the New York International Gift Fair, in a few weeks.  And oh my lord I'm cracking already :)  Here's a peak at my newest collection - Circus - debuting at the show.  This will be my first time at NYIGF.... it starts January 30th, in NYC, at the Javit's.... wish me luck!