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mats promo 15a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor: (No. 6): Get inspired

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor: (No. 6): Get inspired

If you find yourself stuck in a creative rut, or feel that you have pigeon-holed yourself in one area and you need some fresh inspiration, this course will be fantastic for you. Not only do you get three trend boards to inspire you, but every week is packed with product eye candy to show you what is possible in the home décor market. Furthermore, Lilla and Margo set fun but challenging briefs that will push you outside your creative comfort zone and make you realise just what you are capable of. If you want to get inspired, don’t miss it!  Zoe Ingram’s Petit Bazaar collection for Midwest CBK, created in collaboration with Margo Feel like this is exactly what you need? Register now! Want to learn more about the Home Décor market? Sign up for our free video series here.


mats promo 16a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor (No. 5): Learn from anywhere

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor (No. 5): Learn from anywhere

Gone are the days when art school was the only place to learn how to make art and get into a professional art career. The Make Art That Sells online courses have helped thousands of artists build their careers from the comfort of their own homes and studios in all corners of the world. MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor is a five-week online course which is perfectly paced to get you building a commercially-viable presentation showcasing concepts for an entire home décor collection. Class posts go live daily for five weeks, and during those five weeks you have the opportunity to be included in a live review* by Lilla Rogers and Margo Tantau, as well as asking any questions you like. The private online classroom is accessible 24/7 from anywhere in the world on your desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile, and you can check in at a time to


mt18 Make Art That Sells A day in the life of an art director

A day in the life of an art director

Margo Tantau, co-teacher of our upcoming class ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’ spends a huge amount of her time on the road, mostly in Asia, where she visits the very factories where they make the 5000+ products she oversees each year. Here is a glimpse into her work travels, so you can see just what is involved in bringing your art to life on products. *This is an excerpt from our online class ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’ which begins on May 16. Book your spot here. A day in China… Visiting the ceramic factory #inasiaagain. This is how I’ve started tagging all my trip pictures. I am both fascinated and humbled by the experiences I have as I work. I take it all in with respect and appreciation for the fact that I am part of the cycle of life here.. but also merely an observer. I learn something every


mats promo 08a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor' (No. 4): Resources

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor’ (No. 4): Resources

The course is packed full of resources you can’t get anywhere else, including: Finishing notes for manufacturing in metal, ceramics, fabric, glass and wood/mdf (this is what helps you speak the language of the art directors, and get your products manufactured how you want) A series of Art Director’s Cheat Sheets, giving you tips on how to make an art director love you, and what to avoid if you don’t want to turn them off A host of templates for each substrate so you can mock up your art on a wide variety of products (let that imagination run wild as you start to see the extensive possibilities for your work…) Top tips on marketing from Lilla Rogers, so you can get noticed and get in front of the people you want to sell your work to A series of pep talks from Lilla to help you grow and flourish


mats promo 09a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor (No. 3): Industry insights

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor (No. 3): Industry insights

Each week in class we share an interview with someone who is rocking the home décor industry, and has valuable insight to share with you. This might be an art director who buys huge amounts of art for this market every year, sharing what they look for and where they look for it. Or it might be an artist who is flourishing in this area, sharing their tips for making pieces that fly off the shelves. It’s all hush-hush for now, but let’s just say we are talking about people like Land of Nod and Anthropologie favourite Molly Hatch… Ceramics by Molly Hatch Feel like this is exactly what you need? Register now! Want to learn more about the Home Décor market? Sign up for our free video series here.


mats promo 14a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor (No. 2): Creative briefs

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor (No. 2): Creative briefs

At the beginning of the course you will be provided with three cutting edge trend boards. These have been put together for you by art director Margo Tantau who oversees the production of more than 5,000 products a year and knows exactly what is hot and what is not. You will choose one of these trend boards as your guide and inspiration for the entire course. Each week you will get a mini exercise to loosen you up, and then a full Assignment to help you develop a professional-level portfolio piece. Each Assignment will be inspired by the trend board you choose, to ensure that the work you produce is on trend or ahead of trend. After the full five weeks, you will end up with an outstanding, commercially-viable and very current presentation of a full home décor collection, featuring products made from the five most popular substrates of METAL,


Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor: (No. 1): In-depth video training

Each week in class top art director Margo Tantau provides in-depth video-based training into how to design for a specific material, popularly used in the lucrative home décor market. Across the course Margo gives you insights into METAL, CERAMICS, FABRIC, GLASS and WOOD/MDF. Not only are the video trainings packed with a ton of eye candy, Margo explains what makes certain pieces great, helps you understand the manufacturing process, and shares secrets which will help you build your own compelling collections. Take a look at what is on offer with this short video: [vimeo]https://vimeo.com/124456512[/vimeo] Each training video is accompanied by a series of finishing notes to help you develop product presentations which speak to art directors, and show your understanding of the manufacturing process. This will make your work stand out head and shoulders above that of other artists, and encourage buyers to buy more from you, because you will


Screen Shot 2016 04 12 at 10.33.51 Make Art That Sells What is it really like to live a full time art career? The good, the bad and the ugly... and how to make it work

What is it really like to live a full time art career? The good, the bad and the ugly… and how to make it work

As someone who spent the first part of her career as an illustrator, paying the rent with the pictures she made, and the second part of her career representing professional artists, no-one knows better than Lilla how awesome, but also at times how difficult, a professional art career can be. In today’s short video Lilla shares why she loves this career choice, what is tough about it, and how to keep the motivation up for the longterm. [vimeo]https://vimeo.com/156548524[/vimeo] Lilla would love to hear what you thought – why not join her on Periscope on Tuesdays to chat? We hope this inspires you to stick with it!


showcase a1 Make Art That Sells MATS Student Showcase for Self-Paced A and B {part 9}

MATS Student Showcase for Self-Paced A and B {part 9}

We are so proud of our wonderful Make Art That Sells alumni and are pleased to showcase a  series of gorgeous work that is being produced in the Self-Paced MATS A and B classes. Today, we have student work from MATS A which helps students build a professional portfolio to sell art in 5 of the most lucrative markets: bolt fabric, home décor, children’s books, wall art, gift. *** Aimee Hartogh I am taking both Mats A and B, excited to take Boot Camp, I just finished Home Decor I am submitting work for the Bolt Fabric market What have you enjoyed most so far about the course? I have enjoyed every single thing about the class, it is impossible to choose just one. How is the MATS class helping you grow? This class is helping me grow by giving me direction. I now know where to put my energy, painting and


showcase b1 Make Art That Sells MATS Student Showcase for Self-Paced A and B {part 8}

MATS Student Showcase for Self-Paced A and B {part 8}

We are so proud of our wonderful Make Art That Sells alumni and are pleased to showcase a  series of gorgeous work that is being produced in the Self-Paced MATS A and B classes. Today, we have student work from MATS B which helps students build a professional portfolio to sell art in 5 of the most lucrative markets: paper, baby/children’s apparel & décor, scrapbooking, editorial, party paper. *** Carrie Chapko I’m taking MATS B and this is my submission for the scrapbook assignment. I love that art for this market could be used for other markets as well. What have you enjoyed most so far about the course? The thing that I’ve enjoyed most about my MATS experience is that I am pushing myself to make art that I wouldn’t normally think to create and experimenting with different mediums and styles. How is the MATS class helping you grow? I’ve found the