entering the product design arena

This summer and fall, I’ve been putting all of my energy into creating new drawings and paintings. I’ve let a lot of things go (including my hair and my badly neglected garden) to pursue my art, but I have no regrets. We only live once. But we still have to make a living, and this is partly why I decided to dip my toes into the product design arena. That, and I have to be honest–it’s really exciting to hold something you have created in your hands, drink from it, see it on your couch or a wall, or even carry your groceries in it.

I had completed a series of six paintings of vegetables and fruits for a delicatessen in the Traverse City area and, based on positive reactions to them, thought “why not put these images on tote bags?” And prints. And why not coffee mugs and notebooks, too? Of course, I didn’t plan far enough ahead to take advantage of the 2017 Christmas shopping season (I am very new at this and though I have plenty of cheerleaders, I have no helpers), but that’s okay. I needed time to pull all the pieces together, research “print on demand” companies, and then photograph and digitize my work to fit a variety of product shapes sizes. And begin the arduous process of uploading big files to websites that don’t always work as well as you want them to. This all proved to be excruciatingly time consuming. I am still tinkering with not only the products I plan to carry, but also with several companies trying to find the best fit for me, and for my current and future customers.

April 23, 2019 UPDATE: My Garden Goods Collection can now be found exclusively through the GardenZeal website!