Two Can Art Collection Partners with Tervis

For any one who isn't aware the Two Can Art Collection is a collaborative body of work that I do with my son Noah who is autistic. Noah paints all of the beautiful textures that I than take and create images from. I am so thrilled to be partnering with Tervis to bring his images into the world on Tumblers. Tervis is such an incredible company and I love the people there. Working with them has been absolutely wonderful. One of the best things about being at the Atlanta Gift Show was getting to meet so many of Tervis team. They made me feel like part of their family. They set up a special area to launch the line with a card explaining Two Can Art is about. There are 6 images of birds in this group.  What is even better is that Tervis is donating 5% to Autism Speaks and an organization in our own community that helps individuals with autism. Tervis has these up on their website. http://www.tervis.com/ The Two Can Art images start with the Blue Jays to the Humming Bird. Bed Bath and Beyond also carries several Tervis tumblers.
We've also started a Two Can Art facebook page to see what else is coming from the collection.https://www.facebook.com/TwoCanArt

Atlanta Gift Show

I just returned from the Atlanta Gift Show. It was a whirlwind of appointments and showroom visits. I am amazed at the size and scope of the show. There are 4 buildings and 18 floors of an array of products. Building 2 was the main building I spent time in. There was so much incredible art on product and it was great to see so many artists that I know from facebook or personally in the showrooms. Here is a photo from one of the showrooms that have my images on cutting boards and coasters. I will do a separate post on the Two Can Art images. All in all it was a really great trip and I am very excited about things to come.

Illustration Friday Topic is Tail

What better example of the importance of the tail (feathers in this case) than the peacock? This image is from the Two Can Art Collection that I do with my son Noah who is autistic. He paints all of the textures that I then assemble into images.

Illustration Friday topic is Underwater

I have quite a few images that fit this topic, but I really like this image and even though it may have been seen before it is still a favorite of mine. Hey it's my blog I guess I can just do that! This is oils on board. I initially did it based on a story from a member of my writing critique group.

Illustration Friday topic is Onomatopoeia......WAH!

I had to think about this one. I thought the WAHHHHH noisy
baby would fit the bill.

Illustration Friday Topic is Rescue

It seemed fitting to put the commissioned piece I did for the Humane Society of the United States up for the topic, rescue.
The organization http://www.humanesociety.org/. does so much in many areas affecting the well being of animals. They are a wonderful organization.

Flag Sample for Christmas

I just received a sample of the flag I did that will be in Lowes this year for Christmas. Always fun to get samples.

Illustration Friday topic is Power

There are so many ways to think about the word power. My first thoughts are about the power of nature, especially the sea. Maybe because I've been living near the ocean for several years and have seen what some of those gigantic waves can do. There is also power in the beauty the sea gives us not to mention all of the creatures that live in it's depths. The image here is from the Two Can Art collection of work that I do with my son, Noah's painted textures. Those who know me know that Noah is autistic and that he creates painted textures that are wonderful using a variety of techniques. I take his textures and use them to create images.

Illustration Friday Topic is Fresh

I went through a phase of painting vegetables and did this image of red peppers in oils. After starting to do images using Noah's painted textures I did a different version of the red peppers using his textures. I really love exploring different ways of creating. Who knows what the next red peppers will look like.

Illustration Friday topic is Jungle

The first thing I thought of when I saw this topic was an image I did years ago. I was playing around with the idea of a rousseau kind of feel in an amazonian jungle. There are some things I still like about this image, but there are others I would go back and change. It's interesting looking back on previous work.

Illustration Friday Topic is Robot

I haven't posted on my personal blog for a while. Things have been very busy. I exhibited for the first time solo at the big licensing show, Surtex in NY in May. I've been doing follow ups from the show since. I wrote a little about the show in the previous post. I also just finished a book dummy that a publisher is interested in. (fingers crossed on that one)
I have also been posting on a regular basis to my Illustrator's Market blog that features illustrators from all different markets. I love looking at illustrator's work and reading the stories of their journeys.
Here is the link. http://theillustratorsmarket.blogspot.com/.
I happen to have a pattern I designed that fits the robot topic today. I like that whole retro look. It's fun to play around with a different feel.

My Surtex Experience

I think everyone's experience at the Surtex show is individual. Having read and talked to so many others that have already exhibited was a big help as far as expectations go. I have always been there through an agent in the past so this was the first time I exhibited on my own. I had so much fun and was really happy with how everything went. I ended up doing paper banners and was really pleased with them.They were easy to hang and the printer did a fabulous job. I was nervous about having them shipped directly to the hotel and didn't see them until setup. It all worked out. Phew!  I'd made a little dummy of the booth before hand to determine where all the panels were going to go and the design. I used both notebooks and an i-pad for my portfolio.  That worked well for me. I think some clients liked the notebooks better, so it was good having both.Casey Spencer a talented designer helped me in my booth. She was such a great help in many ways including set up and pull down. We also had a lot of fun!

The show had some quiet moments, but the booth in general was pretty busy.

 I did a lot of prep work before the show reaching out to companies that I'd worked with in the past or that were familiar with me to make appointments. I loved connecting directly with the people at companies. It's so nice to put faces with people I've known on the phone or internet for years. I had been told that Tuesday is usually really dead, but I found it as busy for me as the previous days.

Another great thing was getting to meet so many other artists. I had the nicest neighbors to my booth and several artists stopped by to say hello. Great to meet so many of you! I also got to meet several at a get together one of the companies I work with did at an Irish pub Monday evening. I'll be doing interviews with several of them on The Illustrator's Market blog in the near future.

The most exciting part was the positive reception of the Two Can Art collection that I do with my son, Noah. For those that don't know, Noah is autistic and paints beautiful textures that I then use to create images. This collection is really special to me.

Overall, I had a really exciting and fun time at the show. I am now doing follow up. There are some promising leads that look really good.

Ready for Surtex

I have everything on my checklist completed to exhibit at the Surtex Show in New York. Heading out this coming Friday. The show starts on the 19th and goes through the 21st. My wall panels are getting shipped to my hotel my bags are already full of everything I am carting there. My appointments are made. I will be posting about my experiences here and on the Illustrator's Market blog. It will be really fun to meet so many other artists that are attending the show. A mix of business and fun.

Two Can Art Card Samples

This is the first product I have gotten samples of with a Two Can Art image on it. That is the collection I do with Noah,
my son. He painted all of these textures that I created a garden from.