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MARGO TITLE Make Art That Sells How to make a great home decor collection

How to make a great home decor collection

Image credits: Sissy+Marley This is a guest blog post by Margo Tantau. Margo has co-written our brand new course, Creating Collections for Home Décor, with Lilla Rogers. She will also be speaking at MATS: The Global Art Gathering, our LIVE event in Brighton UK this June. How to make a great home decor collection Margo here. Today I’m going to give you some tips on how to make a great home decor collection. Home decor, as a rule, needs designs that can be LIVED with. I won’t be cliché and say “ageless and timeless”, but I will say, think about what the subject matter is, what kind of a home it might be going in, as well as what would potentially sell most broadly. Think of all the varieties of style that you see on the market, on Pinterest and in magazines. Designs that are sophisticated, clean, lovely, graphic, floral


Sandrine Monnier Make Art That Sells Brighton event poster design winner!

Brighton event poster design winner!

See the Brighton event poster design winner! As a one-off special assignment for our current Assignment Bootcamp class, we recently challenged class participants to design a poster for our upcoming LIVE Global Art Gathering event in Brighton, UK, in June. We were absolutely blown away by the response, and it was a difficult decision for Lilla, her studio ladies and our guest judge Judy Stevens, founder of Artists Open Houses Brighton. After much deliberation they decided that the winner is KATIE VERNON, whose stunning poster design completely captured the character of Brighton, a buzzing creative city on the south coast of England. Katie Vernon This is what the judges said about Katie’s piece: Style It was definitely one of the most original pieces shown. It stood out from the others. The style is highly evolved and rendered in a consistent manner throughout the poster. The icons on the body are


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Top tips for creating a home decor pitch

This is a guest blog post by Margo Tantau, VP of Creative at MidwestCBK. Margo has co-written our brand new course, Creating Collections for Home Décor, with Lilla Rogers. She will also be speaking at MATS: The Global Art Gathering, our LIVE event in Brighton UK this June. Top tips for creating a home decor pitch Hi, Margo here! So what top tips for creating a home decor pitch could I share with you that could take your work from good to fabulous (and even more commercial)? Well, I’ve been creating and selling home décor products for years, and my very favorite thing to do is to help grow the careers of creative people. So to that end  I have a few top tips for creating a home decor pitch. Vase shapes by Louise Gelderblom Here are some top tips for creating a home decor pitch. These are things that


mats bootcamp22 Make Art That Sells April 2015 Bootcamp gallery is live!

April 2015 Bootcamp gallery is live!

April 2015 Bootcamp gallery is live! The April gallery from our Make Art That Sells: Assignment Bootcamp class is now live! This month, we challenged our students to design a poster for our exciting Global Art Gathering taking place in Brighton, UK in June. The gallery features nearly 300 pieces of original art submitted as part of this live brief. There was so much fabulous work submitted in response to this brief, and we love the ongoing supportive energy in the Bootcamp community. What a generous, talented group of artists they are! Our next Bootcamp will be running in 2016, read more and jump on the waiting list here.


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How to leverage existing artwork for the home decor market

  Image credit: West Elm How to leverage existing artwork for the home decor market Is your mind buzzing with ideas about what your very own home décor line could look like? It’s not an impossible dream if only you have the right tools and knowledge at your fingertips. In fact, you are probably already half way there! Do you want to know how to leverage existing artwork for the home decor market? Then try this: Look through your archives and find the following: Your favorite color palettes Your favorite icons and motifs Your favorite prints and patterns Now it’s time to do some virtual shopping (or real shopping if you like!) – do one of the following this week: Take a field trip to your favorite shop (either in person or online) Study websites like apartmenttherapy.com. Look at the website of a home décor trade show like Maison et


mani Molly Broadley Make Art That Sells Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 5

Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 5

Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 5 Welcome to Part 5 of Manifesto Monday 2015, where we share some of the manifesto artwork submitted by our Make Art That Sells alumni. If you want to make stunning art like this, be sure to check out our raved-about online art courses. *** Dina Bernardin Marcia Biasiello Traci Bixby Molly Broadley Kate Cannon Shawn Carney  


mats square homedecor 1 Make Art That Sells Are you ready to design a home decor line?

Are you ready to design a home decor line?

Image credit: Jonathan Adler Are you ready to design a home decor line? Art agent Lilla Rogers here. One of the things I love about sharing my years of industry experience is helping artists build their confidence. One way I do this is by answering questions  (and I get asked a lot!). Some subjects come up over and over. One of them is readiness. Today I want to answer a very specific version of that question I was asked recently : “How do you know if you are ready to design a home décor line?” Home décor is one of those dream markets for many artists. There are a host of fabulous clients out there, it can be very lucrative, and it can be incredibly rewarding to see your work on anything from tiny decorations to enormous pieces of furniture. The additional income generated by a vast collection of home


MANI ANNA BERGER Make Art That Sells Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 4

Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 4

Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 4 Welcome to Part 4 of Manifesto Monday 2015, where we share some of the manifesto artwork submitted by our Make Art That Sells alumni. If you want to make stunning art like this, be sure to check out our raved-about online art courses. *** Lisa Atherton Sue Attwood Jan Avellana Karin Battazza Fenna Bee Anna Berger  


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Kelly Rae Roberts: An Accidental Artist

An interview with Kelly Rae Roberts Kelly Rae Roberts talks about being a possibilitarian, an accidental artist and how she lives her passion everyday while inspiring other to do the same through her art. All images are courtesy of Kelly Rae Roberts. Q. You define yourself as a “possibilitarian”. Can you explain what that means? Sure! I ran across a quote many years ago by Dr. Norman Peale: “Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities — always see them, for they’re always there.” I’ve been hooked on its meaning ever since. For me, it means seeing the bright light of my life’s horizon (even on the average days). It means cultivating joy and warmth, even if I’m struggling. It means following the whispers toward all that is possible for my life. Q. How did your art career


MANI BROOKE ALBRECHT Make Art That Sells Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 3

Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 3

Manifesto Monday 2015: Part 3 Welcome to Part 3 of Manifesto Monday 2015, where we share some of the manifesto artwork submitted by our Make Art That Sells alumni. If you want to make stunning art like this, be sure to check out our raved-about online art courses. *** Lesley Young Alexia Zotos Brooke Albrecht Sarah Alexander Christine Anderson Cécile Anne Noël