BLUE PRINT is just around the corner!

Jennifer Nelson Artists, will be exhibiting at the upcoming Blue Print Surface Design and Print Show in New York City on August 8-10th, 2016. 

Artwork left to right: Bee Brown, Anisa Makhoul, Miriam Bos, Jennifer Orkin Lewis, Jill McDonald, Jill Howarth and Lauren Lowen.

“Blue Print is a very important show for us, since it focuses exactly on what we do,” said Jennifer Nelson from her Boston-area office. “Meeting with companies in these industries is essential to our business.”

Creating, licensing and selling art for surface design and print products is at the core of their operation at Jennifer Nelson Artists. Representing seven top illustrators, JNA specializes in a quirky, feminine look that is popular on all sorts of goods from greeting cards to dish towels. “We know that our customers will be at Blue Print and we look forward to seeing them again and showing off some of our artists’ latest work.” 

Launched in January of 2015, Jennifer Nelson Artists already boasts a roster of top illustrators: Anisa Makhoul, Bee Brown, Jennifer Orkin Lewis,Jill Howarth, Jill McDonald, Lauren Lowen, and introducing Miriam Bos! 

Jennifer Nelson Artists is a Boston-based illustration agency representing talented artists whose work is available for licensing, purchasing as well as commissions. JNA can be reached at (781) 643-2002, on Instagram or by email.

 

SHOW DATES:
August 8-10, 2016

SHOW TIMES:
Monday, August 8th - 9:00-6:00
Tuesday, August 9th- 9:00-6:00
Wednesday, August 10th- 9:00-6:00

LOCATION: 
404 Tenth Avenue
(between 32nd and 33rd Streets)
New York, NY 10001

Welcome Miriam Bos!

I love my job for many reasons: The fun of seeing fresh new artwork come in, the sense of pride when we meet a new client who wants to work with us, the satisfaction of a job well done.

But the absolute best-est part of the job is welcoming a new artist to the fold! Today I would like to introduce – Ta-daa! – Miriam Bos!

If ever there was an artist who fit right in with our talent group it’s Miriam. Take a look at these samples of her work and see if you don’t agree.

Come see Miriam and all the JNA artists' fantastic work at BLUE PRINT!
8-10 AUGUST in NYC!

Miriam lives in The Netherlands where I was lucky enough to live a long time ago. Her last name “Bos,” pronounced close to our english "boss," and is Dutch for “forest.” She and her husband love the woods and take bicycle trips to explore the area around their city of Apeldoorn. You can sense her love of nature when you see her gorgeous renderings of plants and animals.

Starting out as a children’s illustrator, Miriam jumped into surface and pattern design a few years ago and hasn’t looked back. She already has two fabric design collections to her name with many more to come, I’m sure.

Miriam has a quirky style mixing both traditional and digital techniques. The result is sheer delight! Please join me in welcoming Miriam Bos to Jennifer Nelson Artists!

As always, if you would like us to put together a custom gallery request, just ask! Send an email, or follow our daily posts on Instagram. Kindly, Jennifer

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

Bee's illustration for 'Project Calm'

Hi Jennifer! I was super pleased when Project Calm magazine contacted me a little while ago, requesting to use my Terrarium Home illustration to accompany an article they were making in their Summer edition on 'Our Home'. Project calm is a fun magazine that focuses on how to incorporate mindful practices into our daily living, and they do this through articles on journaling, gardening, meditation and crafting amongst other topics.

I just thought it would be fun to show you images of the finished illustration, the magazine cover and how they used the illustration in the article! Enjoy! Bee xox

You see the sampler magazine here. And Bee Brown's work here!

Recorded LIVE from SURTEX 2016

Here we are LIVE from SURTEX with Anne Bollman! 

Attention world: Jill Howarth is here!

We’re pleased as can be to announce that a charming new illustrator has joined us here at Jennifer Nelson Artists. Just take one look at Jill Howarth’s work and you’ll see why.

Jill Howarth has a background in children’s design for the toy industry, and you can see she has a real knack for it. There’s a palpable joy to her work along with that child-like sense of wonder that makes her illustrations perfect for a wide array of products. Now that Jill Howarth is on board I’m eager to start making deals for greeting cards, wrapping paper, bedding, and so much more.

One in a series of Old Maid Cards

Join me in welcoming Jill Howarth to the fold! You may have noticed that I’m using her full name rather than just “Jill.” That’s because we already have the amazing Jill McDonald working with this small agency and I want to avoid confusion. It’s like a first grade class that has four Jennifers and everyone is called by her first and last name. (Actually, we have two Jennifers here, too!)

Although the name’s the same, both of our Jills and all of our other artists create artwork that’s delightfully different and equally great. Each illustrator has a unique vision that sets her apart and brings sheer joy to every project.

Who will be the first to commission a piece of gorgeous illustration from Jill Howarth, or to license one of her lovely existing works? Will it be you? Contact me to see more! - 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

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

Jennifer on Print & Pattern!

As always we are just DELIGHTED to be on Print & Pattern! Marie ran a lovely feature on Jennifer Orkin Lewis this week! Enjoy! - (the other) Jennifer!

Lauren Lowen’s Blueprint Show Poster (And 4 Fun Facts About It!)

Hello! I am so happy to show the poster I designed for Blueprint’s third (yes, third!) show coming up this May 12-16 in New York City. Everyone at Jennifer Nelson Artists was honored to have one of us create it. Paul Turk, the show organizer and also awesome Big Cheese of Cinnamon Joe, gave me a lot of freedom. I designed two sketches which you can see here, and Paul selected the busy New York scene, which totally captures the energy of both the city and Blueprint.

I have always had a soft spot for posters. In fact, a common assignment I would give to my pre-college students was to do a mock poster for a favorite musician or band. They’re just so much fun! I love the chance to combine my lettering and illustration into a piece, so this project was perfect for me.  Luckily, the hand lettering contributed to the feeling Paul was going for- that handmade, raw kind of look that’s full of texture. He’s so on trend!

When designing a poster, it’s important to remember that the main function is all about communication. If the viewer can’t get the info they need almost instantly, it fails. When designing, I knew the exhibitor names and show information had to be clear and obvious. Of course, little Lauren Lowen just had to be ambitious and submit a really busy, colorful idea! But by making sure the lettering dominated first, I was able to have fun with everything else and it all came together. To help the message, I made sure to keep the Blueprint header design and color scheme it has had the last two shows. By keeping the same look and just doing a more hand done version, I kept the branding intact (I also kept the staggering blue and orange exhibitor names as a call back to previous posters). Since we wanted to hand letter the exhibitor names,  I used Myriad Pro as my “skeleton” in Photoshop and hand drew on top. I got a completely original font out of it that fits the poster, but this step made sure that the names were somewhat consistent and easier to read.

Here are 4 Fun facts about the poster you probably didn’t know!

1. The 615 on the taxi is a shout out to Nashville’s area code. I am based right outside Music City (and yes, my husband is a musician. I can play classical kazoo, thank you).
2. The mermaid was inspired by urban legends speculating what lurks underneath the streets of New York City. While most stories talk about huge abandoned pet alligators or radioactive rats, I decided it would be fun to have a more fantastical interpretation.
3.  Originally I wanted to draw Paul as the taxi driver, but I thought he might be shy about that idea. I have always loved Paul’s moustache, so the Walrus because a sort of avatar for him (the walrus is the moustache champ of the animal kingdom). I’m not saying Paul looks like a walrus, mind you. No. Also, this is a very handsome, classy Walrus. He’s well read and knows his fine wines (and drives a taxi, apparently).
4.  Paul and I have actually crossed paths before when I was an in-house designer at a large paper & gift company. It was always a good day when he would visit our art department!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about the process behind the Blueprint Show poster. Jennifer Nelson Artists will be there this May, so please say hello and schedule an appointment with us! - Lauren

Hello! My name is Anisa.

WEEK ONE: Flow Magazine has asked me to blog for them on Wednesdays all month.  We thought it would be fun to share these posts over here too! 

I was born in Lansing, Michigan, and I was a very creative child.  I was always interested in sewing or painting, or anything that involved colors. I studied printmaking at Minneapolis College of Art & Design.  

After college I just wanted to travel the U.S.  so I funded my trip by sewing hand made dresses, and selling them at music concerts, It was a great way to see my country.  It also started me into a business printing, sewing and later manufacturing my own clothing. 

I made clothes and sold under the label Makool for many years.  When I gave birth to my son 5 years ago, my love for travel and adventure won again and we decided to move from Portland, Oregon to Amsterdam, NL.  

Anisa at work.

While living in Amsterdam I fell in love with the canal houses and the bicycles and I began painting and drawing. I started taking classes in illustration, and before I knew it I had a new career.  

Last year we moved back from Amsterdam, to Portland.  Portland is on the West Coast of the U.S. right above California.  It's in a temperate rain forest.  It rains a lot here, but the rain makes it very green.  

The city is covered in moss, ferns, fog and old growth trees.  It feels good to live here, the city seems to glow green, it’s very healing.  I missed this living in Amsterdam. 

I’m excited to share my creative process as well as some of my inspiration over the next few weeks.  I hope you’ll visit my website and follow me on Instagram.

Enjoy! - Anisa

WEEK TWO: I thought today it would be nice if I gave you a tour of my new studio. Part of the incentive for me to move to Portland from Amsterdam was that I would have a new house. Our house was finished last June and we were able to move in after a long wait. My favorite room is my studio, it’s open with concrete floors and floor to ceiling windows facing the south. It’s a L shape so it’s hard to photograph, also on the day I took these picture we had some unexpected sunshine in Portland, it’s very rare.

You can see my cat “Happy Kids T.V.”, showing you the butterflies I did for this month’s issue of Flow. She’s a Devon Rex cat and she likes to come to my studio and find things she can attack. 

This is where I spend the majority of my time. I like to draw with pencils or calligraphy pens, and paint with gouache, ink, or acrylic. I mostly don’t keep sketch books unless I’m traveling. I prefer to make a bunch of drawings, and tape them to the wall. I work with my drawings in photoshop and I find that having them taped to the wall, lets me see everything I have without toggling through folders. 

Thanks for stopping by my studio. Next week I’m going to introduce you to some of my friends. - Anisa

WEEK THREE: 

This week I wanted to show you how I stay creative and social.  Having creative social outlets helps me to stay inspired, by thinking about making art in different ways. 

Portland is a very creative city, I feel fortunate to be a part of the art community.  Last year a group of women artists started an event called “Ladies Drawing Night”, it a private group,  when I was asked to join I was very excited.  The group meets once a month, we get together to sit around a table, drink wine, share snacks, and make art.  This has connected me with some amazingly talented local women, whom I admire, and it’s been a great resource.  Last month I brought my camera along to share a picture with you. 

(pictured here, from the right around the table is  Lena Podesta, Adrienne Vita, Vera Brosgol, Peg Serena, Tara Lilly, Kinoko Evans, and the little blue person on pink paper is by Rilla Alexander) 

Another project I do with friends is “Stamp Art Club”, once a month we each make a postage stamp based on a theme.  There are four of us, and we make these images to share on  Instagram.  We have a hashtag #stampartclub if you’d like to view the whole project. 

The artists are Tara Lilly from Portland, Oregon, Monika Forsberg from London, and Kate Mason from Australia.

One great thing about stamp art club is that it keeps me in touch with friends who live far away.   We are doing a project together so we can’t fall out of touch, also it insures that I have one playful assignment every month that’s just for myself.  So much of what you do as an illustrator is making work for clients, constantly thinking about what the client wants can get tiresome. 

I hope to encourage other creatives out there to begin some sort of “creative playground”, someplace where there’s no pressure just connecting with other artists in fun ways.  It can help to get you out of your own head, and the connections you'll make are priceless. - Anisa

View fullsize

WEEK 4: I used to think I couldn’t draw, but now I think drawing is like a muscle if you don’t use it’s not very strong and the more you use it the better it works.  

When I was in college, I always got C’s in drawing no matter how much energy I put into the class. This was discouraging for me and I only took the required amount of drawing to graduate art school.  I ended up studying photography and printmaking.  

After college I went on to teach myself how to sew and design patterns for clothing.  I did some screen printing on the clothing, but not very much.  I spent the next 10 years building up a business, selling hand made clothing designs.  Meanwhile I always felt something was missing.  I noticed myself spending time on the internet admiring the work of artists and illustrators. 

It was when I moved from Portland to Amsterdam that I stopped the clothing business it just wasn’t possible to move it.  I had a lot of time to be alone with my creativity which was really nagging me.  I felt lost not having a creative outlet.  One day when I was on Amazon shopping for books a suggestion caught my eye. It was Lilla Rogers “I just like to make things”, the title alone spoke to me and I ordered the book.  Shortly after, I began taking her classes, and things just snowballed from there.  Today I couldn’t imagine not drawing and painting every day, it feels like I’ve been doing this my whole life. 

Here’s a suggestion to get into drawing.  Give yourself an assignment.  I used to tell myself I’m just going to draw an object 50 times.  I discovered if you draw a chicken 50 times it’s not possible to have 50 bad drawings of a chicken a few of them will be interesting and pretty good. It’s a great way to get yourself into drawing and to discover your style. 

Thanks you for spending the month with me, I loved blogging every week.  - Anisa

Bee's Jolly Circus Growth Chart for Samsung

Hi Everyone! I was really thrilled to find some wonderful samples in the mail today of a wall chart that I created last summer. Their brief asked me to come up with some happy animal shapes having fun in a circus setting and positioned in a kind of fun 'animal stack' format.

I love drawing happy, colorful animals so this was a dream brief for me! 

The process was a very simple one: I started off by making some quick pencil sketches which once approved, were then scanned into Illustrator and coloured up. The lovely team of in-house designers finished off the file by placing in the measuring scale and voila!, we were done! Enjoy - Bee

Bee's tight sketches show the client what they can expect.

Here is a snippet of one of the first round of pencil sketches, a colour proof of the final finished growth chart and a photo of the packaged product, ready for retail

The irony of being too busy to write a blog...

There’s something ironic about writing a blog explaining how you’re too busy to write a blog. So be it!

The past few months have been ridiculously busy here. And that’s a good thing! But I miss having the time to chat with our clients and artists friends.

December is a busy month for most people, with holidays and shopping and family. For us, it’s even busier as we exhibited at our first trade show: Blue Print NYC. We had a great time being in New York City, meeting people in person we had only spoken with on the phone, and doing quite a bit of business right there at the show. Our wonderful artist Jennifer Orkin Lewis brought her watercolors and was painting portraits of attendees live and in-person. Such a cool experience! We broadcast some of it live on Periscope while posting photos to Instagram and Facebook right from the event. 

In January we were back in NYC for Printsource. Once again we had a booth and enjoyed meeting and greeting both artists and art buyers in a sometimes hectic but always friendly atmosphere. If you didn’t make it this time we’ll be back again in August. Send a note to say you’re coming so we can plan to meet there. It’s a terrific show for the surface texture industry.

We barely had time to catch our breath before we had to be in the air for a trip to Atlanta. (Less than 24 hours between getting home from Printsource and boarding a flight to Georgia. Yes, I managed to squeeze in a shower.) I met our amazing artist, Lauren Lowen there. The Atlanta Gift & Home Show is not only a wonderful show, but Atlanta is my home town. That meant spending quality time with my folks in between doing business at the show. It was fun, but exhausting. The very cool thing is that last year (the week before we hung out our shingle) - Lauren and I first met at this very show. JNA had no products, of course.... well, this year we are so pleased to say we have over 50!

With all that travel behind me, I have been working like mad on the mountain of follow-up. There are still calls and emails to return, and literally hundreds of inquiries to answer. But I’m not complaining! I love to be busy and I love my job.

I’ll blog again when I get a break. Meanwhile, feel free to get in touch when you need illustration for whatever project you have. I’m sure we can make you happy. – Jennifer

Happy Birthday to US!

We’re celebrating – it’s our first birthday! Yes, it was just last January that we launched Jennifer Nelson Artists and got to know all of you. The Little Agency That Could is now nearly one year old and there’s no better way to share the joy than to give one lucky winner a nice prize.

Anisa Makhoul's YAY! Cake

As you may know from our newsletters, we have almost daily sessions with artists offering information on all kinds of business issues. Done by Skype, I spend an hour with an artist giving advice on portfolios, contracts, marketing, even getting an agent. I answer whatever questions you may have and leave you better equipped for success in the art world.

Masthead design by Victoria Johnson

You can win a FREE one-on-one Advice For Artists session with me,  just by entering.

Post a comment below about what you’re interested in learning for 2016. It could be about illustration marketplace, how to negotiate fees, what to look for in an agent, or how to read the fine print on a contract. Whatever interests you most!

I’ll select a winner at random on January 20th and we can schedule an hour-long session together. It’s that easy.

Even if you’re not the lucky winner your input still helps me to decide what to discuss in future Advice for Artists newsletters so please participate.

Happy Birthday to (ALL of) us! - Jennifer 

Jennifer Nelson Artists + Heart 2 Art Talk!

This past Tuesday, I had the privilege of wonderful Periscope interview with Ann Was Here and Jeanetta Gonzalez, both illustrators, surface designers, very clever teachers & co-hosts of #Heart2ArtTalk.

It was so fun (even though I was a tad nervous)... we talked about newsletters, agents, treating your business like a business, building a client list and so much more. Click here to watch the Heart-to-Art interview. 

Anne Bollman, myself + Jeanetta Gonzalez

If you need advice on a personal basis, schedule an appointment with me for one of our hour-long Advice For Artists sessions. 

Happy New Year!

2015 was an banner year for us. We opened our doors to a welcoming community of clients and artists, international publications, our very first trade show, press beyond belief and client work dreams are made of. 

Jill McDonald's gorgeous lettering

Lauren Lowen rings in the New Year with hipsters

Bee Brown's charming bear greets the New Year!

Anisa and her studio mate send warmest regards (and stunning lettering) for 2016

Jennifer's florals greet 2016 with high style.

And Jessica's fabulous lettering and pinky oranges!

Here's to a even more stellar 2016! - Jennifer

Off to BLUEPRINT, with PRINTSOURCE close behind!

Whew, running a small business is loads of work! Good thing I LOVE it! 

We are ready for BLUEPRINT! The prints are sorted and packed in pretty folios, the banners are ready to pop up, the forms are ready to be filled, the postcards are all tucked into Monika's beautiful ZÜCA bag. I even have a few giveaways for lucky clients! Hope to see you there! 

SHOW DATES:
December 2-4, 2015

SHOW TIMES:
Wednesday Dec 2nd - 10:00-6:00
Thursday Dec 3rd- 9:00-6:00
Friday Dec 4th: 9:00-4:00

LOCATION: 
404 Tenth Avenue
(between 32nd and 33rd Streets)
NYC

Next stop, PRINTSOURCE! Send me a note to schedule an appointment for either (or both!) shows. - Jennifer

BLUE PRINT: Young Designer Competition announced

I am delighted to be selected as a judge in the BLUEPRINT competition! 

The competition is for two up and coming young designers to win their own booth space at next years Blue Print III show in New York. The venue for this show is the Metropolitan Suite, 2nd Floor, 123 W 18th Street, New York 10011, and the show is running from the 12th - 16th of May. This venue is in a fantastic area with lots of exciting shops and restaurants, and is well known to the artwork buyers that regularly visit New York. The show will give the winning designers the chance to exhibit alongside some of the best studios and designers in the world ! 

The other judges include:  Izzy Matthews at Peagreen, James Hartley at Gather No Moss, Abby Zweifel at Pomelo & Pomelo + Andrea Turk at Cinnamon Joe Studios.

I hope you will consider entering! Details on how to enter are here!

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