Introducing Malin Gyllensvaan!

The first time I saw Malin’s art, it sparked my imagination.  Her combination of graphite and paint was so unique, her sensibility so lavish and refined.  I felt surrounded by opulent beauty.  I traveled into the graceful curve of her lines.  I swam in her florals.  I said to myself, “I must sign this artist!”  That was back in August.  Every step along the way has been a confirmation of that decision; from her wonderful sense of humor and warmth on our artist retreat in Lake Como, to the glee I feel each time we pour over a new piece of Malin’s work.

Malin comes with an incredible arts background.  She graduated college in 2001 and immediately began working as an employed textile designer for a variety of companies, including Ikea, H&M, Wrangler, and many more.  When she had her first chid in 2013, she decided to start freelancing and has not looked back since (lucky for us!). We are simply thrilled to be included in her impressive roster of experience!

As I got to know Malin better, I came to understand the roots of her unique style.  She is a self-proclaimed “sucker” for old textiles, especially embroidered silk, and she finds inspiration from the art and crafts movement.  Most of her work starts with florals because they contain all the aspects of art that Malin loves.  They are rich in color, texture and shape.  Painting them puts her in a relaxed, meditative state of mind.  It amazes me to think how these things translate onto the page and could cause me, living thousands of miles away, to feel that same sort of meditative enchantment from just seeing her work.

We could not be happier to introduce this wonderful artist to you today and to be representing her!  Below are some of our favorite pieces.  If you’re interested in licensing her work and seeing more of what she has to offer, please feel free to request a gallery.  

I hope you enjoy her delicious images as much as I do.

-Cathy

Artsy Emojis by Bee Brown

Hi Everyone!

Earlier this year Jennifer contacted me with news of an interesting new project: Would I like to design some "Artsy Emojis" for a project being developed by the lovely Barbara Rucci and her design studio?

As a Graphic Designer by training I jumped at the chance. How cool! I've never had the opportunity to work on an App before and as a mum to two boys addicted to messaging on their iPhones and iPods, I was hoping to win a bit of credibility there too!

Barbara had a very clear idea of the kind of images she wanted to incorporate into her App so we rigged up a shared page on Pinterest where she could show me in quite specific detail the look she was after. This made my job much easier because I could see right from the outset the approach she desired: fun, quirky and colorful. I was excited to begin.

We started in the usual way with me responding to her list of subject matter with a series of simple black and white sketches. In total we worked on around 100 drawings for the App which we tackled in groups of 20 or so at a time. Once Barbara had approved these, the sketches went on to be made into vector shapes in Illustrator and then color was added. 

This is what Barbara has to say about the app and how it all came to be: "I started designing all of the emojis myself, but then realized I would never get this app done on my own. So I hired this crazy-talented illustrator named Bee Brown to draw about 100 of the emojis. I drew about 30 myself. Bee is really good at animals and faces, something that is not particularly my strength. I am very grateful to Bee for creating these drawings that are so whimsical and beguiling and F.U.N.! They are exactly what I was imagining."

"The emojis cover all types of categories, not just art supplies. There are flower and feather emojis, nature and beach emojis, food and dessert emojis, transportation and holiday emojis, and party emojis. They really are all so beautiful, I can’t wait for you to see them!"

Artsy Emoji's can now be downloaded from the Apple App Store! 
I hope you enjoy using them as much as we enjoyed creating them! - Bee

Welcome Kelly Angelovic!

What? We have another incredible new illustrator coming on board at Jennifer Nelson Artists? Can you stand the excitement?

Yes, we’re proud as can be to announce that Kelly Angelovic is joining our little group! Wait till you see her lettering work, it’s angelic.

Kelly is carrying on a family tradition. Her mother was a graphic designer, so she grew up in a household where artistic endeavors were encouraged. After attending school for business (Colorado) and graphic design (Seattle), Kelly established her studio in 2008. It wasn’t until her daughter was born in 2011, that she fell head over heels in love with the art of image making. Lucky for us!

Specializing in surface pattern design, lettering and illustration, Kelly is grateful every day to have the opportunity to follow the whispers of her heart. Being an illustrator makes Kelly’s soul sparkle.

When she isn’t in her studio, Kelly can be found with her family enjoying all that Colorado has to offer... and likely trick-or-treating this weekend!

If you would like to see a custom gallery of Kelly's work, just ask! We have loads of her splendid work and I really, really love to share!  Oh - and one last thing, Happy Halloween! —Jennifer

It’s BIG Announcement time again!

We’re just bursting with joy to announce that we have added another amazingly talented artist to our roster. Please join me in welcoming Rae Ritchie to Jennifer Nelson Artists!

Rae started out just about 10 years ago, designing fashion accessories for women and kids. Although she liked doing creative work for major retailers, it was creating prints and graphics for her products that made her feel most alive.

Since Rae was always painting on the side anyway, she decided to take the next step and shift her focus to fabric design and illustration for greeting cards, stationery, gifts and apparel. And we’re glad she did!

These watercolor and gouache illustrations are created in a sunny little room in Rae’s home, at what must be the tiniest desk in Minneapolis. How can such big art come from such a small desk? That’s where Rae’s enormous talent comes in!

Inspired by the lushness of nature, classic children's books and old photographs, Rae lives with her husband and their cat Sméagol. 

To see some of Rae’s gorgeous illustration work, visit our site here.

Nearly 2 years of Greeting Cards from Jennifer Nelson Artlsts!

In January, we will celebrate two years in the business - these are the cards we currently have out in the marketplace. Enjoy!

Enter To Win A FREE Workshop!

The big day is coming. My three-day workshop on Modern Thrive entitled “How To Get An Agent (And Do I Really Need One?)” will be here before you know it. March 16th to be exact. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m really eager to share a ton of useful information with you. If you haven’t signed up yet, click here. 

Although I have included every bit of important info I can think of, there are always questions. So I’m leaving a few minutes in each session to answer pertinent questions about the topic. To make this even more fun than it already is, I’m giving away one FREE workshop (a $97 value) to a lucky winner. To be automatically entered, just post a relevant question in the comments section below. I’ll choose the winner at random on Monday, March 7th. It’s so easy. (One question per person, please.)

Have you already signed up? Don’t worry! If you’re randomly chosen as the winner I’ll simply refund your payment.

I’m looking forward to reading your questions. And I’m anticipating a great three days giving you the benefit of my knowledge and experience. See you on March 16th! - Jennifer

That "warm and fuzzy" feeling...

Of course, it’s always nice to get publicity and it helps generate awareness for our eight talented artists and the wonderful work they do. That’s a given.
 
More important is the satisfaction in being recognized by our peers in the industry. Knowing that all of our hard work building this agency over the past few months has not gone unnoticed gives us a great deal of pride, both personally and professionally. We’re feeling all warm and fuzzy inside to see these gorgeous spreads in such a prestigious magazine.

Perhaps the best part – the warmest and fuzziest aspect – is the validation of our approach to art, to business, and to life in general. We’re nice people, we work with wonderful clients, and our artists strive to do their best. What we have created here is more than an agency, it’s a community. Artists working with agents serving clients with the most beautiful artwork we can deliver. We truly feel that we’re making the world a better place, just by being here doing what we do.

The thing is, we’re all in this together. (You can take this to mean the licensing industry, the art world, or just being alive on Planet Earth in 2015.) 

A very happy me!

Next week, we add our 8th artist to the agency - and once again, I can barely contain myself! Tune in on Wednesday to help us celebrate!

Finally, thank YOU for being part of this community. Your continued support is what keeps us going. Magazine articles like this one only confirm what we already know – we all have art in common and we’re overjoyed to have you here with us.

My fondest regards, Jennifer

News about a New Newsletter

Would you be interested in a JNA newsletter that goes directly from agent to artist? Can you agree to keep it just between us?

And maybe you could benefit from some of my coping skills. You might like to hear how I deal with insecurities, celebrate victories, and create balanced life. (Life isn’t just art. There must also be pancakes!)

So, if you are game (and I really hope you are), please sign up here and be sure to check the “I am interested in: representation +/or advice for artists” box.

Hope to hear from you! - Jennifer

As you probably know, we send out a newsletter every few weeks which goes to thousands (yikes!) of folks in the art world. Most are art buyers, some are business associates, some are graphic designers. And some are artists just like you! But I realized that there may be a need for a newsletter that goes to artists only.

After all, there are some inside tips I can offer to artists that I don’t necessarily want everyone to know. When it comes to how to negotiate a contract, how to market your work to art directors, how to promote yourself through social media – that’s information I would like to share only with the artists themselves.

I am hoping to share some practical tidbits on licensing, reveal how art buyers search the web, and coach you on how to get the most out of your online hours.

This is the kind of thing that happens during my Advice For Artists sessions, where I do one-on-one coaching with illustrators over Skype. It has been very helpful to artists and for me too!

My sketchbook featured in RISDxyz alumni magazine

I was really thrilled to be asked by RISD if they could feature my sketchbook project in the quarterly xyz alumni magazine. To have the association with RISD after all these years is so special to me. In addition to this, I created a card that all alumni will receive as an email on their birthday, so if you are graduated from RISD be sure they have your birthdate! - Jennifer

This was a very BIG week for our little company.... and tomorrow brings another great chapter.

SURTEX 2015 was 100% complete success for us! We were very kindly received by clients and artists alike. At every turn, I felt the warmth of smiles and fond gazes from so many of you. One sweet Texan, said she could tell with every comment I share, every post I write that I love my job, that I truly desire success for the JNA artists and I am committed to being a positive force in this community. My eyes pricked up a bit, as I could not have conveyed my sentiments better in my own words. Here are a few photos from the show... see our Instagram (right) for even more! We warmly welcome our new manufacturing licenses in baby layette, greeting cards, wallpaper, children's books, bedding, journals, cake decorating, balloons and more. The artists have lots of work to do and I have loads of contracts to solidify! Mark your calendars, next year SURTEX is 15-17 MAY 2016!

Not to be outdone by all the SURTEX woo-ha... TOMORROW, we announce our newest artist and I can hardly wait! Check this spot and our newsletter to find out who I am lucky enough to represent next! - Jennifer