Merrily Ever After with TAG

TAG and our artist, Janna Krupinski, have come up with the most adorable and jolly line of holiday homeware! Just look at these fabulous dishes!

And adorable oh-so-Chrstimassy pillows!

These mugs are my absolute favorite to use during the Christmas season. I love the variety! You can have a set where no two cups match, yet they all go together.

Above all, one of my very favorite things is seeing how a drawing of Santa can turn into three dimensional items like mugs and pillows. Janna’s work is pure delight—and drinking from her art is a special treat!

Rachel Grant Taps Into Taproot

Taproot is a wonderful magazine, filled with crafts, recipes, plants, knitting projects, and more. It captures the same variety of homegrown joy that Rachel Grant’s work often captures. You see the work and feel a little more cozy. You realize that maybe the peace and love you’ve been looking for have been around you all along and, if they haven’t, it’s within your power to cultivate them. Both the magazine and Rachel’s art contain that special spark of inspiration.

So, when Taproot reached out, interested in Rachel’s work, it made such sense!

This wonderful piece, commissioned by Taproot, looked beautiful next to the corresponding article about adopting a letter writing practice. Between these two works, I can safely say I’m going to do a little research into letter writing and see if I can make a new friend during this time of social distancing!

Miriam Bos for Berry Bros & Rudd Ltd

Last year, Miriam had the pleasure of working with the award-winning wine and spirits company, Berry Bros & Rudd Ltd. In addition to making art for their fantastic catalog, they used her work to decorate their Christmas-themed windows in London. Look how beautiful!

And here’s a selection of her artwork in their beautiful catalog. The festive selection of wine pairs so perfectly with Miriam’s sweet holiday touches. Plus, I always love an appearance of her father Christmas. Simply magical.

Much like this fantastic work for Berry Bros + Rudd, Miriam is wonderful at creating whimsical art for any occassion or in any subject matter. We are so lucky to have her!

Illustrating Dolly Parton's America

Christine De Carvalho loves Dolly Parton. So, when New York Public Radio contacted us, interested in commissioning Christine for an upcoming Dolly Parton Podcast, we were over the moon! When the agency gets to share big news like that with an artist, it is a great day—and this one made for a great week!

Christine worked with WNYC to create not only the gorgeous Dolly Parton’s America cover but also art for each of the seven episodes. The end result was fabulous! It always amazes me how collaboration can lead to wonderful work. Oftentimes, it can challenge an artist to try new things or explore areas they never considered before.

When the podcast came out, we were beyond thrilled to share with the rest of the world this amazing project. Plus, the podcast is one of the best I’ve ever heard! In fact, the New Yorker declared it the best podcast of 2019. But don’t take our word for it! If you haven’t had a listen, you can check out the podcast here.

I’m pleased to share that Christine just recently finished another dream project and is available for commissions, as are all of our fabulous artists. Whether you’re looking for art for that Elvis Costello podcast you’ve been working on or you have a greeting card you’d like to be “just so.”

Heather's Rosemary Magazine Cover

This image was licensed from a personal project. I wanted to explore the splendor of the jewelry that would adorn a Mother Nature figure. I’m a huge fan of jewelry by Art Nouveau designer Rene Lalique and was inspired by his nature themes and the luminous quality captured in his colors.

As this piece neared completion I loved that the figure seemed to be glowing from within. I imagined her glow came from trusting her intuition and gathering strength from her inner peace. And like a moth to the flame, that inner peace attracts others to our goodness and joy. Which is why I was thrilled when Rosemary magazine licensed this piece for their homeschooling magazine, what a perfect message for parents trusting in their unique voice to educate their children.

My work is drawn digitally in Procreate. I start with a very rough sketch and refine as I add layers of color and textures to mimic traditional media.

www.heatherpowersart.com

Dylan and Fringe Delight!

Beautiful mugs, perfect planners, sweet notebooks.. Just look at this haul from Fringe! Dylan’s work suits each product perfectly. Any of these would be a excellent gift for the special people in your life—including YOU!

And who can believe these adorable pouches with matching fringe from Fringe?! Love the color coordination on these.

Seeing Dylan’s beautiful work brought to life on these goodies has been such a thrill. Her unique color palette and gorgeous florals lend such charm to this unique line of products. We hope to work with Fringe again soon!

Rae Ritchie for Generation Wild

Towards the end of last year, I worked on an Instagram follower-lead social media campaign for an outdoor nonprofit in Colorado called Generation Wild. I worked with a team of writers and creatives to interpret an illustrated version of a previously created mascot named Wilder, a half goat, half Yeti who’s goal is to get children off the screens and get outside.

We then threw it out to the company’s followers to choose what Wilder did as he raced the sun on the winter solstice. This was definitely a quick turnaround “hot potato” project that was both challenging and incredibly fun. We even had an animator work with some of the illustrations to really bring it to life for the social media platforms. The style of this project, we decided to really play up Wilder’s beautiful coat with lots of texture and movement. Otherwise, I really tried to keep the compositions simple and focused, both for readability and for time-saving purposes.

You can check out the campaign on Instagram at @generationwildcolorado. A book version is now available as well! - Rae

Malin's Children's Book!

I am excited to share my illustrations for Johanna Olsson’s picture book One Child More or Less… What is the Difference Really?

I was so happy to illustrate this book with a fantastic little story about fear, friendship and imagination. I was given a lot of freedom and I also designed the cover, which I really enjoyed!

Since this was my first children’s book, I must confess to maybe starting in the "wrong" end of things. I divided the text into different thumbnail images and started sketching and painting the images that I felt the most inspired by. That left the images I felt less inspired by, which were more difficult to get done! In hindsight I see the point with sketching up the whole book before starting to paint. But it all worked out in the end!

I made the backgrounds first and then I painted the characters separately so I could easily exchange them if I was not happy. That I would do again, I really enjoyed working like that.

I am so pleased with this little book, it was so fun to make. I became really fond of the little girl called "Virva"- I can relate to her since I also moved a lot as a child. Initially you never think you will get any friends but then like magic, you do.

One Child More or Less… What is the Difference Really? is available in Swedish, and may be ordered here.

Kelly Angelovic's Marvelous Mural!

A few weeks ago, a client and friend of mine (Todd Walsh, owner of Market Real Estate here in Boulder, CO) reached out, wanting to do something big to uplift and unite our community.

Todd sent over pictures of the wall he wanted covered with my artwork, and together we decided on the phrase, We Are All In This Together. 

I sent him the following two sketches. The first idea was purely type driven. The second sketch was more conceptual, with several different buildings/houses and a banner winding around the buildings, sharing our message of togetherness even though we are apart. 

Todd gave me the freedom to follow my own artistic vision (best client ever), and here is the end result.

Using a vibrant color palette (to uplift and inspire hope), I wanted to include several people doing what we're all doing while staying home (reading, online learning, comforting one another through our collective uncertainty). The plants represent our growth, and the butterflies our evolution. My favorite part is the children literally climbing the walls as they play (as the mother of two elementary school aged children, I can really relate to this one). 

 Here are a few shots of the installation process as well.

This was one of the most meaningful and exciting projects I have ever had the opportunity to work on. Thank you so much to Todd and Market Real Estate for having the overall vision to make this happen. We truly are all in this together. 

Jill Howarth's Scholastic Book Project!

Over the past 5 years, I have had the honor to work with the great folks at Scholastic on a series of re-designed classics book covers for the Scholastic Reading Club. From Alice in Wonderland to Little Women (with 15 covers in between!) this entire series has been a joy to work on. Anytime you can combine lettering with characters, not to mention on a product that gets great affordable literature into young hands, is a win.

On all of these covers, the parameters were fairly open, other than the top consideration that it reduces to thumbnail size clearly with good contrast for optimum readability.

Here are some initial pencils on the first title I worked on (and still one of my favorites) Alice in Wonderland. The book was to include a pocket watch pendant, so I incorporated the watch into the lettering in some of the sketches. Option 3 was chosen, with the caveat that Alice needed to be aged up. Simply lengthening her torso, cinching and lowering the waist and bingo, you have a tween Alice!

When going to color, I went with a dark background which ended itself to her mysterious decent into Wonderland as well as providing contrast and readability for the title. Favorite part? Angry flowers, of course!

Regroup + Recharge

It’s the end of February and a lot of you are probably just gotten back into the swing of things after the NYC trade shows.  Even if you haven’t gone to a trade show, there are often big events and massive efforts that will occur throughout your time as an artist.  Because of the nature of these events, which often require a ton of creativity, ingenuity, organization, and travel, they can be thoroughly depleting (nevermind the even bigger effort if you’re an introvert!).

So, how does one regroup and get back their energy after such an event?  

For JNA, after a trip, this is our ideal way to recharge, if we can manage it!: 
First, follow through.  Recently, my son broke his first board in karate.  It was amazing to see these kids approach the boards all gung-ho only to have their hands slow down when it came to the board.  Child after child, they tried, got nervous, got even more nervous, and the board didn’t break.  Then they finally realized they truly had to act like they were aiming for the floor.  When they got over all the emotions and fears about following through, BAM! The board broke. This is all a long way of explaining that finishing what you start when you go to a trade show or land a commission is of the utmost importance to make it a true success.  
 
Going out and getting new contacts or meeting with publishers is great but it is almost useless if you don’t follow through.  You may be tired.  You may be feeling nervous that nothing good came out of the trip.  After all the work you might be tempted to wait and follow-up “later”.  However, if you really want to recharge your batteries and get back that energy, following through and making a plan is essential.  It releases your brain from the mental burden of having left things undone and also ensures that you’ve done all you need to, to make the effort a success.  
 
First, write a report for yourself on how it went. Whether it’s a trade show, a commission, or a visit to a book fair, this can be an excellent tool. Write down what worked, what didn’t, what strategies you might want to use next time or things you’d like to learn about for the future. This report is a great way to collect your thoughts and milk every experience for the information you may not have processed while you were in the thick of it. It is also the perfect tool to prepare for future experiences.
 
Next follow-up with clients. Even if it’s just a thank you email that postpones more action until after you’ve recovered. For example, "Dear Pedro, thank you so much for meeting with me in New York. I will be in touch soon with that pitch we talked about.”  Then, schedule when you will send the pitch (or whatever it is). Or, if you are up for it, send the pitch with the email and the entire thing is off your plate for the time being.
 
Then, take a break.  I can’t recommend enough making time for a break as part of the planning process before a big event or commission even really begins. Give yourself what time you need to follow through—maybe one or two days, then schedule your break, again giving yourself whatever time you need to feel recharged. Set the auto-respond on your email and take that break! I encourage you to make it a real break where you don’t check your email or even think about work. Do something that you enjoy and that feeds your soul!
 
That’s it!  After the break is over, get back to work 🙂.  Coming back to the daily grind will be much easier after this series of steps. You will feel more creative, more open to new jobs, and more ready to tackle the next big effort that comes your way.
 
If you’d like to share ways you recharge your batteries after a major event, we’d love to hear about it!  Jennifer and I offer Advice for Artists in a variety of ways, reach out if we can be a help to you. – Cathy

While you are there, don’t forget to sign up for our Advice for Artists Newsletter too!

Kelly Angelovic's most recent book project!

Kelly’s most recent book “Yes,Sisters” (just out this month) is already receiving 5-star ratings! Including this to-the-point review on Amazon:

“This book is a game-changer. The power of Yes combined with sisterhood! Great read!”

Kelly says, “This was such a fun project! Anything that promotes women and sisterhood speaks to my soul. Initially, the client asked for a sketch that showed 3-5 multi-ethnic women encircling the title, with botanical and seaside elements to connect them. I submitted the following two sketches based on this idea.”

“Ultimately, we decided that this idea felt too busy, so we pared things down and proceeded from this revised sketch instead,” she says.

“For color, the client suggested a palette based on some of my existing work. I’m so pleased with how it all turned out!”

See the books promotional video:

You can order a copy of it here.

Anthropologie soaps and cozy pajamas from Malin Gyllensvaan

I knew from the second I first saw Malin’s work, I HAD to represent her. Just look at her lovely, exquisitely detailed fine art. The graphite and the painterly hand are a brilliant and unusual combination. Her palettes are as delicate as her line.

Since she joined JNA, Malin has worked with clients on products such as stationery, books, blankets and product gift packaging. She has also designed holiday items, clothing, bedding and fabrics. Now come these luscious soaps and pajamas for Anthropologie. I love them so much, I bought a pair for my Mom and my son’s girlfriend too!

Both are available now, just search Malin Gyllensvaan on Anthropologie.com

BLUE PRINT SAN FRANCISCO, what a whirl!

JNA went to BLUE PRINT in San Francisco. We were so happy to meet with Christine and Kelly who came to the show too. As always, it was fantastic to catch up with friends: Ben and Abby, Brenda and Paul as well as many others.

The keen Kelly Angelovic…

… and crackerjack, Christine de Carvalho!

Cathy and I have such a wonderful time traveling together, we have become quite good friends over the last year and… well, great hilarity ensued when we rented a little yellow car and took to the streets of San Francisco. From shrimp grits to the Golden Gate, we love that town!

See you at ARTFUL REBELS in NYC in 1-3 FEB 2020! :) Jennifer

Too good to be true?

Advice is tricky.  Recently, I watched a video aimed at helping artists with marketing.  There was a big focus on just doing what you love and watching the money come in.  Would you believe, I actually started to feel insecure when they started talking numbers?  I thought, "I must be doing something wrong!  Why isn't this as easy for me as it is for them?"  Then, I came out from under the video's spell.  I remembered all the hard work that happens behind the scenes.  I remembered that it is very rarely a case of creating something, putting it online, and watching the money walk through the door.  Being in this business, I know that it is much more complicated than that.

I could only imagine the impact of watching a video like this could have on someone just starting out or someone who works their butt off, alone at home, to get their work licensed.  Constantly hearing about how work was manifested through putting it out into the universe or how a dream job just magically dropped into a successful artist’s lap would shake even the strongest, artist's confidence.  Worse than this, it usually just isn’t true.  People are quick to forget their hard work in the face of success and everyone wants a positive story to share.  This can result in misinformation being distributed on what it actually takes create success.

This misinformation and the idea that there is such a thing as “making it” exacerbates the FOMO we all experience.  It also creates a huge space for people to come in and exploit the gap by offering less-than-helpful classes and workshops on how to get big as an artist.  It is alarming the amount of money artists can spend in the hopes of making it.  Especially when they are often paying for information that is not valuable or realistic.

As a result, it is vital to be discriminating on what advice you accept (or pay for) and which you leave behind.  And that includes the advice you're reading right now!  Whenever I consume new information, I constantly check in with my reactions.  Am I feeling enlightened?  Challenged in a positive way?  Motivated?  Great!  I’m going to keep going.

On the other hand, do I feel like I’m missing out?  Discouraged?  Confused why this has worked so well for other people and not me?  If the answer to any of these is yes, I pick apart what I’m watching to rebuild my sense of self, and the industry, which I know to be true.  Even if you don’t know the industry well, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

After all, one of the most important resources you have as an artist is your self-regard.  Keeping your positivity and confidence in-tact will protect you from burnout and keep you creating work that you, and clients, will love.  As our close-knit and positive community grows, it is vital to make sure you are consuming information that nourishes and motivates you.  By vetting who you follow on Social Media, what newsletters and blogs you read, and what classes you take, you are doing vital work for your career and your self. —Jennifer

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YOU GUYS ARE LOADED WITH SMARTS!: I love your questions. That's why we have a terrific Facebook group where we can all share our knowledge. Join me here in our supergroup - the conversation is already underway!

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2019 Blue Print NYC Recap

As always, we had a wonderful time at Blue Print in New York City! I wanted to take a few minutes and share some of the highlights from one of our favorite events.

• Meeting clients and artists from all over the world. It was such a pleasure to meet and catch-up with artists and clients that we typically only get to contact online. There were people from India, Australia, England, and also right in New York City. Putting faces to names as well as finding out new names and faces is one of the best parts of the trade show!

• Setting up our booth. As simple as it sounds, I can think of nothing more pleasant than the energetic buzz of a trade show gearing up. Walking into Shop Studio, with its special, bright white space and hearing artists chatting along with the clang of seats being opened and banners going up is just magical. Getting organized and seeing our booth take form was such fun!

• Licensing, selling, and sharing our gorgeous artwork! Of course, I saved the best for last. There is no better feeling than having a visitor come to our booth, ask to see one of our many portfolios, and hearing them fall in love with our artists. Some visitors ask to have galleries sent and others instantly know what they want and purchase or license it onsite.

If you weren’t able to join us at Blue Print and are interested in seeing our artists’ work, please feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to put a gallery together for you!

NYC Tourism, JNA Style!

Spring in New York City! What could be better? Maybe enjoying beautiful, fresh art from our 12 artists while you’re there??! Today, we’ve put together a little JNA-style guide for a trip to NYC!

Let’s start by seeing Jennifer Orkin Lewis’s bold florals after you enjoy the delightful flowers of Central Park!

Or, how about getting lost in the graphite lines of our new artist, Malin Gyllensvaan, to celebrate not getting lost in New York’s sensible grid layout?

Enjoy the winter wonderlands and clever art of Jill Howarth after doing some year-round holiday shopping in Little Italy at Christmas in New York!

Fall in love with Janna Krupinski’s whimsical creations like this incredible mer-cat, then meet some exciting aquatic life at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island.

Now, I know what you think we’re going to recommend when you look at this amazingly graceful piece from our newest artist, Christine De Carvalho. Her florals and animals beckon to locations exotic and wild. Alas, there is no tiger at the Central Park Zoo! A trip to the American Museum of Natural History is in order. Lions, tigers, and bears at that one—oh, and flowers!

After visiting New York’s City’s oldest magic shop, Tannen’s, drop in and let Rae Ritchie’s enchanting scenes and repeats cast a spell on you!

Lauren Lowen’s cool-cat art will certainly be a primer for a visit to one of the hippest spots in town, the Chelsea Market. Don’t forget to bring your top-knot!

This one, we recommend first thing in the morning. Come by our booth, look at Miriam’s delightfully bright art long enough that it gives you a big energy boost (it won’t take long, I promise) and then hop on over to Hudson Yard to climb their brand new public masterpiece, Vessel!

Another new artists for JNA, Dylan Mierzwinski, creates deliciously fun ink and paint illustrations that are a perfect dessert after visiting Bemelmans Bar in the Upper East Side, where your eyes can feast on walls covered with fanciful illustrations by Ludwig Bemelmans, himself.

Find yourself in a fairyland of colors and graceful characters looking at Bee Brown’s gorgeous prints right before heading out to see a performance at the New York Ballet!

Rachel Grant’s invitation is clear: you must go to a Brooklyn Bakery! But first, indulge in a viewing of her fabulous birds, florals, seascapes and storefronts. Then, head on over to the Hot Bread Kitchen.

Finally, before you leave, you have got to check out Kelly Angelovic’s incredible work! Her powerful pro-woman pieces demand a visit to that gorgeous green lady, the Statue of Liberty, before your trip ends.

Rae Ritchie's Illustration for The Boston Globe

Hello there! I’m very excited and grateful to share a piece I was fortunate enough to work on for The Boston Globe! This lovely piece was written by Gail Thorell Schilling and is a touching account of her father’s lifelong love of gardening and the comfort it provided for him; and thus in his passing, the comfort his garden still brings the author. I was honored to work on this project and wanted to share a little bit of the process with you!

Upon reading the piece, I knew flowers and foliage would be the focus, so I felt right at home! I worked on a few thumbnail sketches, and the art director and I chose to further explore a landscape concept with a mighty spruce as the main focus. 

I had a lot of fun creating this piece and helping bring Gail’s story to life. Check out the time-lapse video below to watch me paint it! Cheers!

View this post on Instagram

A little look into the process for this Boston Globe piece! #timelapsepainting #illustration #floralpainting

A post shared by Rae Ritchie (@rae.ritchie) on Nov 6, 2017 at 6:51am PST

Bring it on, Blue Print NYC!

One of our favorite times of year is here! That’s right, Blue Print is fast approaching!! This particular trade show means so many wonderful things for us, here at JNA. First of all, it means the trees are in bloom and colors are popping out everywhere. Second, and more importantly, it means that we are about to share so much of what we love about our business with so many people!

This year, we have an abundance to share. We have three fabulous new artists, a new agent, and so many new florals, Christmas images, repeats, and gorgeous pieces of fresh-from-the-printer art! Every morning, I have the joy of waking up to an inbox filled with new images from our 12 artists and they just blow me away. I cannot wait to see them printed out, nice and big, for my eyes to feast on.

In fact, the artists are working with our printer right now to get those gorgeous prints into my hands and, eventually, into yours! Preparation is in full-swing. Prints are being bar-coded, sorted (there’s a behind-the-scenes peek at our how we organize them below) and filed into their proper spots. Artists’ portfolio books are on the way to JNA from all over the world. And, who could forget, we are busy creating an awesome booth that reflects our enthusiasm for the all the people we’ll meet!

Speaking of, we hope to meet you! JNA’s booth will be in the Shop Studio, 528 West 39th Street and the show runs from May 20th - 23rd. We highly encourage you to make an appointment, so you don’t have to wait to view our wonderful art.

Well, we’ve got to get back to work.. only 3 weeks left!

Trip Recap: Bologna Children's Book Fair

We’ve just come back from a whirlwind trip to the fabulous Bologna Children’s Book Fair. It was our first time attending the fair and we are already talking about plans for next year!  Not only did we get to share our artists’ work with fantastic publishers, but we got to discover new publishers and artists from around the world, too. It was a great experience in a tremendous setting!

Upon entering Bologna Fiere, the location of the event, we were greeted by walls and walls plastered in artists’ flyers, business cards, and postcards.   It was a creative mishmash of beautiful work that varied wildly in styles. We couldn’t resist putting up flyers of our artists’ work and adding to the inspiring tumble of images.  Beyond the artist walls was a large meeting area where presentations and discussions were held throughout the day, much of it focused on illustration and illustrators.

From there, we entered halls dedicated to publishers’ booths.  Two halls contained mostly English-speaking countries and three were non-English speaking.  The style and size of booths varied. Some looked like giant houses while others were simple and let their gorgeous books do the talking.  With the red backdrop of Bologna Fiere, it was eye-candy trough and through.

One of the highlights of our trip was meeting with publishers and sharing our artists’ work and book pitches.  We were able to meet people we’d only worked with virtually on books and we also got to meet new publishers that we are excited at the prospect of working with.  

Special thanks to Caroline for the pic!

Another highlight was an Advice for Artists’ dinner we had in the old center of Bologna.  Meeting people we’d been chatting with online for years was exciting! Artists’ shared their experience of meeting with publishers and portfolio reviews they received, as well as tips and tricks to get a chance to meet their favorite publishers.  The food, conversation and company were fantastic!

Overall, Bologna Children’s Book fair was a magical little foray into the world of children’s books.  The energy of the fair was fresh and exciting and we cannot wait to go again!