Updates and such and such

So what's been happening since I last blogged you ask? Well...LOTS of art making, a new computer, still pinching myself that I'm represented by Lilla Rogers Studio, 8K+ instagram followers, and I took up needle punching (I'll show pics of that in a separate post once I have a few things to show).

Can I just say that upgrading from a 5 year old 17" laptop to a 27" sparkly new desktop has been AMAZING?! I must've had the patience of a preschool teacher while I was working on that lappy. Now I have the patience of a preschooler if my file takes longer than .3 seconds to save. Seriously. Having the large screen also revealed a major flaw in my website. My images were all different sizes and I couldn't tell on the smaller screen. It was bugging me for a while- so tonight I decided to re-size all my images and make them consistent. I also updated my landing page with that big kitty illo that I reworked from a MATS assignment. rawr.

WHAT THE WHAT?!

Wow. Just WOW. I'm not sure if I'm even ready to write this post- it's all so surreal. But here goes...I am so excited to say that I won the Special Studio Award of being represented by Lilla Rogers Studio! (Read their post HERE) This final round of the Global Talent Search was pretty intense! We were to design two boards of a home decor line based on a trend board given to us by Margo Tantau (Art Director for Midwest CBK). I chose "Vintage Cottage" and just started brainstorming. I knew I wanted to do some animal/floral platters so I jumped right in. And actually, those are the only items that stayed in from start to finish. I have about 3 other boards worth of illustrated products that did not make the final. The whole time I just tried to stay confident and true to myself. I knew that if I was designing things out of fear of losing, my work wouldn't come across as strong. Here's what I ended up submitting:

I love where I landed with these boards. I knew that perhaps it wasn't the most commercial stuff- but I also knew that Lilla liked my quirkiness. Now I need to do a shout-out to some awesome peoples. My hubs and family for being the ultimate support crew! Emily Balsley and Candice Hartsough McDonald for encouraging me to take MATS a year ago and being super artists to bounce ideas off of! Also a shout out to the other finalists- I know Lilla's choice couldn't have been easy. And then a mega CONGRATS to Kate Mason- the grand prize winner and Clairice Gifford- my fellow studio prize winner! 

Now....how do I get that rug made?!

GTS Round 2

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

This assignment brought up some (ok, a meeeelllion) questions for me:
-How do I do 110% without looking heavy handed?
-How can I wrestle an idea that I can't get out of my head?
-and then all the other questions that were floating around all week: too simple? too busy? not quirky enough? is the illustration really shining? does it look like i'm considering every aspect?
(rinse & repeat)

The idea of "Night & Day" came to me pretty early in the brainstorming process. I tried to shake it to consider other ideas but I just kept coming back to it. I knew it would be a strong way for me to show my love for plants/flowers and there was a lot of breathing room and play for me in this idea. So I embraced it and ran. With only a week and a few days to create there's not much room for completely changing ideas. Thankfully the piece came together fairly quickly over the course of four days. And that left a few days for tweaking... Background or no background? Should the hands stay or should they go? Do we like the purple tone or should it go back to teal? Add in a small tin or let the main set really shine? Background or no background (this question was still being debated up until the very end)?

Obviously I answered the questions and chopped away at the doubt bit by bit by considering every detail. I looked at how the piece compared to my portfolio (yes- it looks like my work). Does it stand up to what I consider my strongest pieces? (yes- it holds its own). Would I be interested in this piece at a store? (yes- i would be drawn in and then delighted by the nocturnal pangolin and interesting flowers) Could this be used in other markets? (yes- I could see it working even better in the paper market) Am I enjoying myself while I make it? (YES!)

Holy crow. No wonder I am exhausted- it was a lot of questioning/answering! But i'm feeling good with what I submitted and that's all I can hope for at the end of the day. Now it's time to rest, make more art, try not to stress too much, and wait.

You can vote for me HERE and read all about our brief HERE. xoxo

GTS Semi Finalist!

I am beyond thrilled that I made it into the top 50 for Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search! The assignment was to design a pattern to be used on a shoe for a hip/quirky 20-something girl in NYC- so of course I would include a ghost and a shuttlecock. haha. You can see the other semi finalists here. Working with Lilla and her team would be a total life-changing dream come true. She and the artists she reps are total rockstars! Now I'm going to go lock myself in my studio for the next two weeks (though maybe I'll have some bubbly first!) xoxo

MATS Home Decor Week 5 + roundup

Week 5 (the final week :( ) in the Make Art That Sells Home Decor course focused on wood and textures/mark making. I started the week with markers and inks and soon realized I needed to do something totally different. I created the three 11x14 paintings over the course of a few days- building layer after layer until i had the desired effect (in person they are very textural). I've been lusting over a bunch of the abstract painters' work I follow on instagram and really wanted to do my spin on some abstract-ness coupled with a tiny still life. To make these pieces more functional I thought a plant shelf would be the perfect addition. That nesting terrarium set came towards the end of the week after many walks, some mild procrastination, and an hour or so of out-loud brainstorming. I think the idea is really fun (though perhaps a bit impractical).

We were also encouraged to put together at least one piece from each week to show a full collection.

I think i ended up creating a fun, hip (but not unapproachably cool), modern collection that I'm really proud of. I definitely made some tweaks to a few of the products from each week (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) to make it all a bit more cohesive. 

So what would I give this course on a scale of 1-5? For me it was a total 5- I feel like I was able to experiment just enough to keep growing but there was enough structure to not make me loose my mind. I loved being stretched in new ways- like allowing myself to dream of products that don't even exist. I adored the fast pace of a 5-week course but if i was working another job during the day i don't know how i'd get it all done. I am also glad I had already taken MATS A/B (mostly to be used to the pace and format). Also one of the best things about the class is the community that forms. Between the classmates (who are amazing and supportive and rockstars) to Lilla and Margo (who are such excellent mentors- totally encouraging, relatable, and engaging)- you really feel supported during the craziness. 

Now it's time to update my website, list some new products in my etsy shops, work on a few commissioned projects, and prep for the Global Talent Search (don't worry- if you don't know what that is- i'll be talking all about it for (hopefully) a few months). Cheers!

MATS Home Decor Weeks 1 + 2

When I heard about the newest Make Art That Sells course about designing a home decor collection- i had to sign up. I'm two weeks in and I'm trilled that I did! It's making my brain work in different ways- rather than just creating the illustrations- i get to think about specific products that could be made with my art on it! Week one focused on metal with birds- here's what I came up with:

This one came together so fluidly- birds+triangles+bird sounds+a few flowers all with a fairly limited color palette. Week 2 was fabric with flowers week. I knew I wanted to push myself and show MORE! I started here:

I was feeling happy about this one- light and airy, very neutral. But then I got a push from Lilla to consider varying the density of my patterns. I realized I had illustrated a lot of stem-y botanicals and didn't have much counterpoint to the airy/neutral side. So we went to this:

Getting better...I like how the lettering in the dark grey tea towel relates to week one. But I was still hating on my table lamps and rick rack. So here is where I landed next:

Since there are quite a few different bits and pieces in this- my goal was that you could pick any 3 and they would relate in some way. I love how the hanging lamp turned out- very neutral but dense. Probably the most fun thing was thinking about trims and pom poms and MEGA pom poms! But this version was a bit too busy- like there were one or two too many elements. So i tweaked and nudged till i got this:

and now i'll step fully away. (at least for a few hours) ;)

Thinking about versatility

Before all these Make Art That Sells courses I'd never really thought about the overall versatility of my artwork. What Lilla preaches is "Icons, icons, icons!"- so that individual bits of art can be reused on a variety of products and in many different ways. Learning this and seeing that even my hand-painted work is basically layers of icons ready to be dismantled and rearranged is pretty thrilling. I wanted to show the last two bootcamp assignments and how I've altered them to be used in more than one way.

First is the patterned sea life plate. Here is what I submitted for bootcamp, followed by a new landing illo for my website and a repeat pattern that will be up on Spoonflower soon.

Then we have an editorial assignment about digital nomads for June's bootcamp, followed by a Facebook header, and a pattern for my Spoonflower shop (i'm still waiting on samples for these patterns before they will be available for sale).

So there you have it- trying out being as versatile as possible while still being myself. (also- if you can't tell- i think i'm kinda obsessed with these muted colors with pops of dark coral and mustard) 

I'm failing at #The100DayProject and it's ok by me

Let me just preface this by saying that I think The 100 Day Project is wonderful. Creativity is definitely a muscle that needs to be worked. If you don't use it, you loose it. And committing to anything for an extended amount of time (especially beyond 30 days) creates habits. I didn't floss regularly for years- and then all of a sudden i just did it everyday. Now it's been 5 years and i can count on my hands the number of days i've missed flossing. (Enough about my dental hygiene- back to art.) One day I will do something like #The100DayProject and be "successful." This time around I failed pretty quick and I'm ok with that. It didn't make me a failure. It taught me about the valley (stick with me).

I began #The100DayProject by picking something that i wanted to improve on- warming up by doing a little drawing or painting before diving into working on a project. My intentions were good- I was excited and then I was sick one day and super busy the next- so I stockpiled a few warmups to show on instagram. And then it happened. I went into the valley. The creative black hole. The art void.

Sounds pretty dark and gloomy doesn't it? It can be and it definitely has been in the past. For me, the valley appears after having a few weeks of intense creative highs. New work, new success, crazy productivity! Wheeeeeee! But up ahead is the valley. When I see it coming I can prepare and am usually only in it for 2-3 days. If I don't see it- i find myself a bit caught off guard and that can add some extra time of wondering what the heck is going on.

So what happens in the valley? The bad: self doubt, ugly inner critic, jealousy, basically all that nasty stuff that derails creativity and overall happiness. The good: reflection, brainstorming, rest. The key is recognizing and embracing it. Using it for good can take many forms:
-Taking long walks and just thinking
-Reading magazines and books
-Listening to podcasts (The Accidental Creative is wonderful for the valley)
-Doing busy work or organization in your studio
-Playing with or learning a new medium
-Writing blog posts about the valley ;)
-Making lists. Lists of cute animals (otters!), lists of dream clients (Hygee & West!), lists of funny sounding body parts (medulla oblongata!). You get the picture.

This year it's been all about learning about myself as an artist- what I like most, what i'm best at, where I want to be in 5 years, etc. Learning about the valley, being able to see it coming a mile away, and using it for good has allowed those peak creativity-productivity times reach even new heights.

But what really brings on the valley? Does it line up with lunar cycles? Does it show up faster after eating ice cream? Will it always be there after meeting a big deadline? I think it's different for everyone and it can change without warning. Sometimes after a big project I am rip roaring and ready to go for the next one; sometimes I need to rest in the valley for a few days. Meditating and starting a (mostly) daily yoga routine (check out Yoga with Adriene) has really helped me tune into knowing when the valley is calling. And now that I know there is good work to be done there (see list above)- I'm totally down with hanging out in the valley. Plus- have you google-imaged "valley"? Yeah- it's pretty awesome. Even the dark and scary ones make me feel like "dude- if I went through that valley- i'd come out the other side pretty darn bad-ass!" (And probably feeling like i could take on anything- cue creativity-productivity!)

So that's that. This time around my version of #The100DayProject might take more like 132 days- and if that's "failing"- then that's ok with me. Oh, and if you ever find yourself in a valley and need a fellow creative/friend to show you around- feel free to give me a shout!

MATS B - Round-up

Welp- here are all the Make Art That Sells part B assignments. Kinda fun to have them all together and realize just how much work I created in five weeks. I was also working on a few commissioned pieces during that time- but I think my favorite non-MATS piece i did was my llama pattern!

MATS B Week 4 - Editorial

Good gracious- i'm so far behind on my blogging. Time to catch-up! Week 4 in Make Art that Sells B was one of my favorite (and arguably most successful) weeks yet. I knew it would be a map assignment and I was kind of dreading that I needed to do a map of Dubuque, Iowa. Then I found out that we could do a map of where we lived OR a favorite place. I could do Yosemite or Bloomington, IN, or somewhere else! But then I thought about it- and realized that illustrating Dubuque was a good opportunity to really look at our new city and challenge myself. (Thankfully Dubuque does have a lot of interesting old buildings, a river, and a noticeable german/irish Catholic influence). Here's what I made:

I adore how it turned out! It was so fun to draw such a variety of icons- from a nun and trout to an eagle and trolley!

MATS B Week 3 - Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking. I must admit I was kind of dreading this week since I am not a scrapbooker and haven't felt much of a connection to a lot of the scrapbook market. But the mini assignment that was provided was airships- blimps, dirigibles, balloons! love it! I just wanted to have some fun with it at first so I painted up this piece:

Then I got started on the assignment. The truly freeing part about this week was just being able to make a ton of little icons and then puzzle-piece them together. So on Wednesday I painted my shapes and words:

I wanted to go kinda steampunk-light and focus on nautical adventure. About an hour into work on Thursday I realized that Juni didn't have school the next day and my mom was coming to visit. So I pushed hard and finished it up on Thursday night:

I like how it turned out. However I think some things get a little lost since it's all very much a similar tone. My favorite things are the whale weather vane, the birds, and the fact that i got to letter "ahoy-hoy" and "huzzah." On Sunday I was able to sit down and paint during Juniper's nap...

And then on Monday I procrastinated by making these guys:

Can you tell that it's been kinda a grey week here in Dubuque? Maybe some warmer weather and sunshine will add a little more color to my art. ha! Now time to work work work!

MATS B WEEK 2 - Baby/Kids Apparel

ah seahorses! I feel like ive been doing a lot of ocean illustrations for Oopsy Daisy (coming this summer i think)- but I was excited to go at it again in a new way. Right away the idea of "Hide and SEAk" came to me and though i tried to think of other ideas- it just stuck around. So i went with the bad pun. I got to a point with my main pattern where I wanted to settle on the color scheme. Here are some color drafts that I sent around to some trusted illustrator friends and the MATS community to get some votes on:

from this I narrowed it down to the off white and dark blue...

Here I blocked in some potential coordinate color ideas. I was leaning toward the lighter colors but something needed to change...

 Then I switched out the blues for the olives and it felt fresh but kinda vintage and fun! So I went to work and came up with the final....

and quickly realized that this was crazy-boat-overload. So i tweaked it till I had this...

ah so much better! Juniper definitely needs some eyeball leggings asap! 

But wait! there's more! 

So I still had that pretty sweet darker color scheme and some time on my hands (well, a morning at least). So I decided to jump on the llama train (yes, there is a llama train) and made this...

i'm kinda obsessed and now I definitely need to get this licensed and made into a sheet/comforter/pillow set! 

Thankful indeed

Wow- so I ended up making 22 new illustrations for my #25thankfuldays thingy I did during this holiday season. Somedays I made two a day to prep for going on vacation, most days I made one a day. It was fun and enriching to think about just a few of the things I am thankful for (this could have been #1,000thankfuldays). Anyhoo- here are my faves from this little series:

Thanks for following along- hope you have wonderful holidays! I know 2015 is going to be full of exciting new adventures- can't wait!

MATS Part A - Round-up

Welp- here they are. My first five weeks of Lilla Rogers's Make Art That Sells course. Looking at them all together- i feel proud of what I made. My favorite is week 2's whistling goat plates and I think my weakest is week 1's root veggie pattern. I feel so fortunate to have been in 4/5 of Lilla's reviews (week 1 did not make it). I went into the course knowing that there was a high likelihood of not having any of my work reviewed. She talks about 15-20 pieces every week and with a class of about 200- well- you do the numbers. I truly feel like I learned so much while she talked about other people's work- that even if my work was not talked about- I would not have felt too disappointed. Creating this work propelled me into mega-productivity. Besides these 5 pieces I made a bunch more work in the 5 weeks:

The recipe, teeth, gems, and reef illos were re-worked from illustrations I had already made. Space cats and doll patterns were completely new, and the botanicals were for Audi Magazine. I also did a site-redesign and kept up with sales from my etsy shops and wholesale accounts. Basically the past five weeks proves my theory that I am most productive when I am juggling lots of gigs. Although I don't think I can quite keep up this pace 100% of the time- I am starting a 25-day holiday thankfulness countdown. I'm illustrating 25 things I am thankful for this holiday season. You can follow along on instagram. Here's the first one:

MATS WEEK 5 - gift market

The final week of Make Art That Sells focused on the gift market. So fun! We illustrated "hyper lush" zippered pouches and were free to also include a few other products. Lilla had us gather and illustrate our collections (or things we love) early in the week to use for the final. Since I don't really collect anything I ended up illustrating bouquets I had made back during my florist days. For my extra products I didn't want to just re-use the same bouquets from the pouch so I created 3 little critters to "wear" the bouquets on their little noggins! Here's the first version where I included basically everything I had and the kitchen sink:

I felt so fortunate to have Lilla review my piece and make some suggestions on ways to improve. I needed to focus on one color-way and design the page a bit more. Here's what I came up with:

I really love the more muted version- and the page layout feels fresher. It was a great note to end on and I feel really excited about the months ahead! (And MATS part B in the spring!!)

MATS Week 4 - Wall Art

I am in disbelief that four weeks have already gone by. Last week was wall art- I challenged myself to stay away from my typical process of paint/scan/photoshop collage/edit/add detail. I wanted to do it all by hand. I found last week fun, invigorating, agonizing, and difficult. For some reason- even though this was supposed to be our "free and easy" week- I really struggled. We each had a color scheme based on our bday (mine was blue/green), we needed it to be square, abstract, include some floral imagery, and a word or phrase. We were also encouraged to use collage elements. To me this felt like more "restrictions" than the previous week's "illustrate Tortoise & Hare, use hand-lettering" assignment. But I can see how many people found the wall art more enjoyable.

I'll show you what I ended up with- and then the steps that got me there...

There are many layers of gesso on this bad-boy- but I actually really like how it turned out. Although it feels different than my other work- it still has aspects of it that resonate with the other pieces. One of the hardest things for me was choosing a word. I didn't want to go super-inspirational and I didn't want to go too obscure. "Forage" fell perfectly in the middle between "Discover" and "Paidia & Ludus" (hub's suggestion). 

I started three canvases at once- all covered in a patchwork of green/blue inky squares. Here are parts of the two that did not make the cut:

There are elements in each that I like- but I'm so pleased with the minimal imagery and maximal texture I was able to get in my finished piece. I'm currently in the home stretch of week 5- can't wait to show you how this Make Art That Sells part A ends up!

Also- if you haven't seen my website update (full of new work)- check it out HERE!

2015 Calendars in shop!

If you follow me on instagram (@katievernonart) - you'll have seen snippets of these over the last few weeks. They are finally done! I've used herbs, plants, and colors that promote specific positive outcomes and intertwined them all in lovely "Healing Wreaths." I'm very please with how they turned out and haven't picked a favorite yet. 

These 11x14 wall calendars are available right now in my etsy shop ($25)- and prints without the calendar will be up soon.