Jennifer illustrates summer vacation for FLOW Magazine!

One of our favorite clients (and likely one of your favorite reads) is FLOW Magazine. Every assignment is so very clever and creative and their products are just THE best! Of course, we think they pick the very best artists too! Watch this charming little video to get an overview of FLOW's Vakantieboek (Vacation Book) 2016!

FLOW's Vakantieboek (Vacation Book) 2016  is out now! Jennifer's paper doll delights me and readers around the world as we slide in summer relaxation mode!

You can purchase the book here! Happy Swimming! - Jennifer

Everything I hoped the internet would be!

Hurry quick for a giveaway TODAY! Jennifer Orkin Lewis (aka: August Wren). Jennifer is giving away this lovely print on her Instagram today!

Good luck! - (the other) Jennifer

Jennifer Orkin Lewis is a Smart Creative Woman!

I am so happy to share Jennifer's interview with the multi-talented and infinitely fascinating, Monica Lee this week on her podcast, Smart Creative Women.

Jennifer Orkin Lewis (aka August Wren) at work in her studio.

Here is how Monica sums up the interview: 
"Jennifer is a hot new artist that has been around for some time.  After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design as a textile stylist designing prints for children’s clothing and lingerie, she raised her family, designed textiles and worked away. Fast forward several years she started a daily sketch book project that reignited her career in a huge way! I love her story and how she is such a hot ticket after working as an artist for the last 20 years (that’s pretty much the best kind of story).  Tune in and listen to  her journey,  it’s a refreshing one! Her  work is inspired by the everyday small things,  a bird in a tree, a garden, crowds of people, a beautiful table with luscious food and her clients (like Kate Spade home and Abrams Books!)  are eating up her style, her voice and her point of view. Can’t wait to see what she does next!"

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. You can find August Wren at her widely-followed Instagram, 30 minute painting a day. Enjoy! - (the other) Jennifer

JNA artists in FLOW!

Wow, wow, wow! I am SO HAPPY to see the artists featured in FLOW this month! If you don't know, Flow - check them out here. You can subscribe to the magazine, Flow Weekly, find inspiring blogs + articles + great links to illustrators worldwide, and more! Design delights abound!

Both Jennifer and Anisa are featured this month!

Jennifer Orkin Lewis's (August Wren) gorgeous feature!

Complete with stunning postcards to mail!

This is one of Anisa's pieces that first caught my eye.

More exciting work to share in future issues and a book! Enjoy! - Jennifer

Recap of Amazing Show in NYC

Yesterday I participated in a show at Dixon Place called The Secret City (a little theater on the lower east side in Manhattan). Its a variety, cabaret, service celebrating the arts. One of my lovely followers, Maritza is involved in the production and sent along an email to see if I'd like to be involved. It sounded a little different, weird, odd but fun. It was one of those times where it felt right to just say yes and see what would happen. And the theme was COLOR!! I decided to do 9 22x30" monochromatic paintings in a rainbow show of color, I chose mainly a table top theme so I would know what to do each time I went to work.

I painted these in acrylic and gouache, It was fabulously fun, I've been wanting to paint larger for some time but just never seem to get to it. But in reality 3 weeks wasn't enough time to paint so many, I got 5 done. Here are 4 plus a purple one...

But the wall behind the stage where I was going to hang my work was huge and I wanted impact. So I chose 13 pieces of art from my sketchbooks and blew them up to 30x43" and had them printed. I scan all my art at 400dpi, for this I used an app called alien skin blowup that converts the art to vector for a sec, blows it up to whatever size and then returns it to pixels, It WORKS!!

At home on Saturday my husband and I put command strips on the back of each piece so when we got there we could just hang it up. It still took over an hour, there were singers, and musicians and dancers all practicing at the same time. But it happened. Everyone was so welcoming and fun. When the show started, the MC, Chris Wells came out, who had been in jeans and a very plain button down shirt like this:

What a hoot! He was funny and interesting. There was great music, poetry, stories and meditation. A dancer from American Ballet theater danced a gorgeous blues piece, we laughed and and really enjoyed ourselves. Everyone involved was so professionaland creative. They brought me up to ask questions, which I have a video of but cant seem to upload, If I can figure it out I will add it later. Thanks for looking! - Jennifer

Please see my whole sketchbook project here

August Wren meets Maira Kalman

Last winter, I went to the Julie Saul Gallery to see some of Maira Kalman's work from her new book and MEET her! For me it was like meeting the most famous movie star ever, I was in heaven!! 

There weren't too many people there so I got a bit over enthusiastic and talked a lot, maybe too much... But whoa, she is really lovely and kind. It made my week! - Jennifer

August Wren (right)  talking with Maira Kalman (left)

Her observations on life and her painting really speak to me. I found this interview with her on The Great Discontent, it's a fabulous read, she has a great story!

Jennifer graces SURTEX 2015 with her sublime beauties.

This week, I am counting down the (3!) days until SURTEX by featuring sneak peeks of each artist's work. Hold on to your horses, Jennifer is a knock out.

I fell in love with Jennifer the instant I saw her work. Great painters are few and far between and this one is as special as they come. Jennifer's work evokes joy, delight and a unique perspective on this world.  I am so fortunate to receive a painting from her nearly every day. Can imagine a more lucky inbox? Jennifer is currently working on her second (self-authored) book, a commission for hope chests for 3 lucky CT girls, loads of cards, and repeats for children's clothing in Brazil. Keep your eye on Jennifer, she is flying to high places... and I am SO LUCKY to be along for the ride!  Come meet Jennifer and see her jaw-dropping work @ Booth #355 or contact me to see hundreds of her images in our archives.- (the other) Jennifer

Going with my Gut

I started this years sketchbook with the grand plan to use a much bigger sketchbook. 9x11".  I thought it would give me the chance to experiment with new techniques and I would have to loosen up more to fit a painting in more space in 30 minutes. It did do those things.. But I felt stressed and that isn't the point of this project at all. After a month and a half I finally gave myself permission to go back to a smaller book, 5x8". 

I could have increased my time limit, it is my project after all. But I have lots of other work,  paid work, other personal projects, getting ready for Surtex, living my life. It's hard to admit I can't handle what I set out to do but life is about making the compromises that make me happy. I am so much happier painting the sketchbook at this size. I can do larger paintings at other times. My moral is to go with your gut and do what makes you happy! - Jennifer

Reflections on PRINTSOURCE (January 2015)

Jennifer Orkin Lewis and I met at PRINTSOURCE in NYC just before we announced the launch of the studio. This was my 6th time and every year I learn so much! The artwork pulls your eyes in all directions. It was good to see familiar faces and meet some new friends too! Hearing what trends and subject matter clients are looking for is truly invaluable. We walked and walked and stopped for a yummy lunch!

Many say fashion sets the surface design trends, and I have to say that point of view is definitely worth considering. We saw emerging trends such as: animal skins and spots, REALLY big plaids, folk (and boho), patchwork and blurry florals. We saw subject matter ranging from kitchen, animals (the perennial woodland creatures + zoo), nautical, floral, baby to winter holiday and even a few zebras!

So, now I am making my lists of where we are currently working and where we will be soon!

And who knows, maybe we will score a license on some fancy PJs one day!?! You think so too!?! Call me, 781-643-2002 and let's make it happen! - Jennifer

You can find information about the PRINTSOURCE shows here (also in April and August each year). If you are interested in learning more about trends, see the wonderful PRINTSOURCE trend blog here.

Thank you!

What can I say except “thank you”?  The response to our launch has been overwhelming. It has only been a week since we opened for business and already we’ve had more than 10,000 visits to this site, 1081 new Instagram followers, 770 Facebook followers, and 182 Twitter-ers! Plus, our first three inquiries from the press(!?!). It’s really gratifying to see so much enthusiasm for what we’re doing here.

Lauren Lowen

On top of that we’ve had requests from 187 artists seeking representation. Thanks for your confidence! We’re keeping things small for now but I really appreciate hearing from illustrators and I LOVE seeing your amazing work. There’s a lot of talent out there and we’ll add to our roster before too long.

Victoria Johnson

The biggest and best news is that we have already assigned 9 illustration jobs. Considering that our official grand opening was last Sunday (and there was a major US holiday last week) that’s a truly amazing accomplishment. Thanks especially to our new clients for awarding us these projects. We are working our hardest to make you happy and keep you coming back. Making great art is what we love best!

Jennifer Orkin Lewis (August Wren)

Monika Forsberg

That’s all for now. It’s really busy here and it’s time to get back to work! - Jennifer

Cakebarring

It was so much fun to read about the book I illustrated last summer on HuffPost today. Audrey Shulman @sittinginbarswithcake writes about her adventures of a year of baking cakes and bringing them to bars to get a boyfriend. Her writing is much better than mine so read it here, It's fun. Its way cooler than just a regular cookbook as some friends have mentioned! I can show the final cover and it's on Amazon for preorder, due out April 7th. I can't wait to show the 75 other interior illustrations! It's super colorful, pretty and cool. Enjoy! - Jennifer