Art Everyday is daily artmaking project by Jan Avellana and is similar to a daily sketchbook, but with looser restraints. Everyday, the art will be different—little gouache paintings, handlettering, digital illustrations, to line art and even 3-dimensional works. Follow along to see the day’s creative offering! #JANART2015—here on Facebook, on Instagram—or here on the blog! Thank you! All images are available for licensing at [email protected]
Hear me Roaaaarrrr!!!
Art Everyday is daily artmaking project by Jan Avellana and is similar to a daily sketchbook, but with looser restraints. Everyday, the art will be different—little gouache paintings, handlettering, digital illustrations, to line art and even 3-dimensional works. Follow along to see the day’s creative offering! #JANART2015—here on Facebook, on Instagram—or here on the blog! Thank you! All images are available for licensing at [email protected]
When my boys were little, we’d feed the ducks at the stream near our place. Nearly always there would be a red cardinal perching on one of the low branches, asking for a bite of the bread we brough to feed the ducks. “Look! There’s Mr. Cardinal!” I’d say, pointing to the fiery red bird, my sons’ small, chubby finger, pointing too. The boys are bigger now, but they’ll still point out and say, “Look mom, it’s Mr. Cardinal!”
Art Everyday is daily artmaking project by Jan Avellana and is similar to a daily sketchbook, but with looser restraints. Everyday, the art will be different—little gouache paintings, handlettering, digital illustrations, to line art and even 3-dimensional works. Follow along to see the day’s creative offering! #JANART2015—here on Facebook, on Instagram—or here on the blog! Thank you! All images are available for licensing at [email protected]
My pee cat is going to be 22 years old next month! She is a fragile, light little thing by now, sleeping the day away. She never was much into mice, and in fact, ran away from the little motorized one we bought her when she was a wee kitten. But I imagine this cat is getting ready to pounce at any moment! Meow!
Thanks to so many of you for celebrating my very FIRST fabric collection with Windham Fabrics! I just wanted to encourage all of you artists out there who yearn for this kind of contract and who are making their way in the art licensing industry—keep going! It takes time and persistence, so don’t give up!
So, a fabric collection with Windham Fabrics!!! Woot! Yay! A “success” story, right?! Absolutely! But you know what? Once it hits retail stores in July 2015, it will have taken a little over TWO YEARS from inital concept to market—TWO YEARS. So when I say, it takes time and keep going, I mean it!
Here’s a brief timeline:
June 2013: Initial design for Lilla Roger’s class Make Art that Sells. I don’t like it—good ideas, but the execution was lame. It gets thrown into the “reject” pile. Mope and feel dejected.
February 2014: Respond to Uppercase Magazine’s open call for the upcoming Surface Pattern Design Guide. At the last minute, I rework the formely “rejected” design and decide to submit it to Janine at Uppercase for consideration. “What the heck”, I think, “no way I’m gonna get in, so just try!”
March 2, 2014: Janine Vangool, Editor of Uppercase Magazine emails me to let me know my reworked “rejected art” made it onto the cover of Uppercase Magazine’s Surface Pattern Design Guide. (Simultaneous weeping and yelling ensues—husband looks concerned.)
April 9, 2014: Mickey Krueger from Windham Fabrics contacts me via email to inquire about collaborating together on a fabric line, since he saw my art on the cover of Uppercase Magazine’s Surface Pattern Design Guide! Yay!
May 7, 2014: More awesomeness happens, and Janine Vangool at Uppercase launches the digital version of the design guide with my artwork on the cover (OMG it's real!!!), and an interview with myself and one with Mickey Krueger from Windham Fabrics. I just want to DIE of happiness!!!
Summer-Winter 2014: Work on patterns, go back and forth with Windham, correct colors, proof samples, wait for samples, do photoshoot for the lookbook.
Retake all of the photos from the first photoshoot because I should so NOT be taking my own product photos and why did I think I could do it?!! (Breathe again when the new photos are approved.)
January 2015: “A Nod to Mod”, my first fabric collection with Windham launches!
July 2015: My collection finally comes to market and is available at retail fabric stores!
So, artists, take some risks. Try. Submit. Answer those open calls, like those on the Uppercase Magazine’s site. Editor Janine Vangool is awesomesauce and is wonderful and fun to work with and her magazine is droolworthy (as if I have to tell YOU!), so just go. And be patient. Good things, like art careers, take time to grow. More soon!
XOXO,
Jan
Art Everyday is daily artmaking project by Jan Avellana and is similar to a daily sketchbook, but with looser restraints. Everyday, the art will be different—little gouache paintings, handlettering, digital illustrations, to line art and even 3-dimensional works. Follow along to see the day’s creative offering! #JANART2015—here on Facebook, on Instagram—or here on the blog! Thank you! All images are available for licensing at [email protected]
Mr. Elephant is starting us off, with a HIP! HIP! HOORAY! from his trunk, as he trumpets in a Happy New Year to us all! He likes eating creamy pasta and mint chocolate chip ice cream and enjoys a day at the beach with a good read in hand.
I hope you’ll join me! I’d love to hear your feedback and see which are your favorites, and maybe even take a request or two! Woot! Arty year 2015, here I come!
{The lookbook Cover art!!! Woot! Debuts at tradeshows January 2015, in retail stores July 2015}
Taaaadaaaahhhhh!
I’m ssoooooooo excited to be able to share with you my very FIRST collection with Windham Fabrics! It’s entitled Nod to Mod. Here’s a little bit of text from the lookbook Windham Fabrics created about where my inspiration came from:
“A Nod to Mod is Jan Avellana’s first collection with Windham Fabrics. The designs in this collection feature a modern vibe, and cheerful, bright colors. Some of the simplified and organic forms are a nod of homage to artists—such as Henri Matisse and Alexander Girard—whose mastery with graphic shapes and strong, flat color served as inspiration for this collection.”
{Big flooofy pillows with that rad, yummy, pompom fringe that I just luurrveeee!}
In addition to creating the designs, I also stylized and took all of the photographs for the lookbook—which proved beyond challenging since I quickly realized I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, AANNNNDDDD, I didn’t realize it would mean that I had to clean up my house!!!
{More poufs and puffs!}
{An elephant and a lampshade!!!}
{The wonder-cat who decided after a good long while that she may as well sit still and just get it over with}
If you are lucky enough to be attending one of the major fabric trade shows, and you see my line being offered by Windham Fabrics, I’d soooo love if you would take a picture and share it on Instagram or on my Facebook wall! :)
More soon, friends!
{ Cover pitch for my very first fabric collection with Windham Fabrics, January 2015 }
2014, you were a doozy. You were the year that undid me and I’m still not put back together yet. 2014, you were a half-year—with both mom and dad in hospice for most of the latter half of the year, and dad passing away in October, I can only really recall up to May...the rest of the year was a blur of loss and sorrow.
I am grateful for many people, for love, for family and friends, for hard learned lessons and for pruning. I am grateful, but tender and raw and missing so many things about my old life and mom (who is transistioning to living in a nursing home) and missing dad's presence.
I am looking forward to you 2015. May you be a whole lot better than 2014 was, and kinder too.
A month and a half ahem, a little while ago (*cough*) artist supernova Lisa Firke tagged me to participate in this “Artists Around the World Blog Hop”. I’m not sure how or who it began with, but it’s my turn. Meet Lisa (she’s the one behind the rabbit)!
Hi Lisa! ((waving)) I met Lisa in Lilla Roger’s Make Art that Sells course—take it so that you can meet people like Lisa or maybe even Lisa herself!
The woman creates the most beautiful, nuanced art, and is a prolific painter and illustrator. Among her works, I’m featuring a few of my favorites here:
{ Plate, Bowl and Mug surface pattern design :: contact Lisa here to license her art! }
{ Watercolor, Works on Paper }
In addition to these one of a kind pieces of art, Lisa also has two interesting projects under works. One is “Rabbit, Rabbit”:
and the other is Inky 500, which Lisa describes as “a personal challenge I set for myself during 2014”. AND she has a COOL video which you can watch here!
TAADDDAAAHHH!!
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Now, I’m supposed to asnwer these here questions. Go:
1. What are you writing/working on?
After a harrowing six months or so, I’m eeevvvveeerrr so sllllooowwwly making my way back to creating again. I am in the very painful OMG-I’m-Never-Gonna-Get-Back-to-Where-I-Was stage, but I’m practicing courage and starting.
{ Begin. | Sketchbook 2014 }
That being said, at the very tippy top of my creative to-do list is to finish up as much of my Kickstarter project as humanly possible before the year’s end. To that end, I’ve set up a new blog with writings that will be the core of my solo show sometime in 2015.
2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?
Um...see #1. Genre? What Genre?!
3. Why do you create?
It’s all about the love, baby, all about the love. I create because I can’t not create. When I’m not illustrating or painting or sketching I’m writing. It’s as necessary as breathing and a lot more fun! Creating helps keep me sane (thank you art) and helps me tap into my deep joy!
4. How does your creative process work?
Ha. Loaded question. Put it this way—I’m never more sure of my insecurities and neurosis than when I am creating! My process starts with a hunch, a yank of some kind—an idea that like a puppy dog doesn’t let go of the bone. I follow it up with sketches usually and if there’s still that zing I’ll go a little further in and see if I can develop the idea more fully. Lots of my ideas have lived in my sketchbooks for months or even years before I find a use for them. Then there’s lots of doubt, sprinkled with fear and anxiety and a period—usually after a work has been shown or published, when I hate what I’ve created. Eventually I’ll like it again, but not always. And if there’s a deadline there’s certain to be a good deal of panic thrown in there somewhere!
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Now, I get to tag two artists that I’d like you to know more about! The first is Crystal Neubauer.
{ Crystal Marie Neubauer the Fabulous! }
Crystal is everything I want to be when I grow up. She is a sister to me in every sense of the word and a wonderful artist and friend. I’ve gushed about her here before and this won’t be the last time, either! :) Her work is earthy, richly textured, with an intensity of spirit imbued in her work. Follow this girl, because she is on the rise!!!
The second artist you MUST follow is Lucy Banaji, who I met online in Lilla’s class, but who I really got to know when we shared a bed as roomies in New York City for our Surtex trip this past May. I highly recommend rooming together with near strangers because if they are your Lilla classmates, you will make the best friends!!!
{ Lucy on the left, Zoe Ingram, Barbara Chotiner and me, Surtex 2014, NYC }
She is hilarious, witty and one of my favoritest artists ever (who will be really surprised I have tagger her here, thank you Lucy!!!)
{ Screenprint | © Lucy Banaji http://www.lucybanaji.com/blog/ }
SEE??!!! Fresh! Whimsical, warm and witty, just like Lucy :)!
{ Nightlife | © Lucy Banaji http://www.lucybanaji.com/blog/2014/10/21/nightlife }
With YOU, and through the ridiculously-out-of-this-world-kind-anonymous-patron, who stepped in tonight to help me close the funding gap with a generous loan—my funding goal on Kickstarter has been met! Backers, rejoice! I’ll be joyfully working on getting your goodies out (please refer to the estimated delivery dates for various reward tiers). If you’ve selected a reward that allows you a choice of prints/options, I’ll be getting in touch with you next week :) to get more information.
Thank you for believing in me. Thank you reaching with me. Thank you for loving me with the success of this project, or not. The thought that my best work is still inside of me, waiting to be birthed fills me up with sunshine! I’m nervous at the road ahead, and hope that I can make art that makes you happy and proud that you backed my “Shine Bright” project.
Next week, I’ll be setting up a page here on my blog, where you can still select a reward (even tho' the project is officially done funding on Kickstarter). Anything else raised will help me to repay the loan that funded a portion of this project, so if you’d still like to give towards the project, that would be awesome!
:) Yay and Hooray and THANK YOU!!!
Jan