6/14/24

Big News from Lilla

Thirty years of running my own agency has been an amazing adventure. What greater feeling is there for an agent than to email a brilliantly talented artist with a dream job or to mentor them on a project close to their heart to then have it accepted by their hoped-for client?

We’ve agented commissions for some of the best artists in the world on, for example, a water tower in Albuquerque, painterly pillows and mugs for Anthropologie, huge murals for a Seattle hospital interior, for Ken Jennings middle grade books, many hundreds of picture books, miles of fabric, witty socks, charming tote bags, striking novel covers, and adorable toys. Agenting is dreamy.

The Studio Ladies in my backyard a few weeks ago

(L-R) Patty Kantlehner, Julia Parker, Me, Susan McCabe, Kim Fleming

My life as an agent is full of many happy memories. I adore my brilliant, beautiful artists. You astound me with your originality. My agency team of Susan McCabe, Julia Parker, Kim Fleming, Riley Wilkinson, Libby Hanna, and Patty Kantlehner—you are the dream team. I want to thank all our wonderful creative directors, art directors, designers and editors who have given our artists incredible opportunities to add their beauty and voice to this planet.

Gathering in my garden for one of our Annual Artist Retreats

At 29 I became an illustrator in New York with commissions from the likes of Anna Wintour and the Grammys, and with agents in Tokyo, New York and Paris.

At 39 I founded an art agency with five artists, now forty-five artists.

At 58 I co-founded my teaching platform, Make Art That Sells, with brilliant Beth Kempton. I’ve taught over 40,000 students and I delight supporting them in their glorious creative careers.

And now at 69, I’ve made the decision to close the illustration agency on September 12th, 2024. We are still accepting commissions and licenses for our artists until then.

I’ve loved every minute of it, but my passion for teaching has grown.

Closing the agency has not been an easy decision because I love mentoring my artists and working with my beautiful team, but, just as I always teach–follow your passions and let that be a guide–I am following my passions: teaching art on my Make Art That Sells platform and in Europe, writing, and making art.

After fifty years as a creative entrepreneur, how can I help the larger community? I want more time to teach on my beloved MATS platform, (I’m currently writing a brand-new course for 2025). I’ll begin a new chapter of teaching at week-long retreats in gorgeous locations in Europe like France, Portugal and Spain (and maybe finally do my book!)

For the immediate future my goal is to mentor my artists though this passage. I’m quite sure many of them will have no problem getting agents or might take this moment to try other creative adventures. Agents, feel free to reach out to them. They are stars.

Art directors and editors, we would be delighted to accept work for our artists through September 12. Rest assured, we will shepherd any new or existing projects for the life of the project. From September 13th onwards, you can reach out to our artists directly with new projects and that information will be on the website.

As we transition to this new phase, please know that we remain fully committed to seeing through ongoing projects for the life of the project. We will handle any new ones that may come our way through September 12th.

Should you need anything at all, simply reply to this email, or our team at info@lillarogers.com are just an email away.

To my beautiful, brilliant students, fear not! I will still be over at Make Art That Sells teaching with gusto, dreaming up more courses.

While I won’t be taking on artists myself, I will give you the inside scoop on how to get an agent and what agents look for. As always, I’ll trick you into doing your best work. Fifty years in the business gives me a bit of information on how to succeed as a creative entrepreneur, and that’s what I love to share.

Agents, editors and art directors, if you would like to be a guest in a class review and see some of the strongest work by top artists as they create it, just reply to this email.

I hope we will meet in class or in person in Europe. (Ok, I’ll spill the beans. Just back from teaching lettering in France, I’ve been asked to teach in Spring 2025 in Portugal and Fall 2025 in Spain.)

And my thrilling new course for MATS is going to be about—oh sorry, just ran out of space. Stay tuned!

With great affection,