Over here at Lilla Rogers Studio we’re getting ready for our 3rd Annual Artists Retreat for our represented artists. Starting this Sunday, it’s three days of making art together, learning new things, schmoozing with top VIPs in the business, eating well and more. Here’s my garden where we’ll hang out the first day. Follow along at #lillasretreat on Instagram.

UPPERCASE MAGAZINE

Guess who is coming to our Retreat? We’ve got VIPS from companies such as Blue Q, Hallmark, Quarto, teNeues, Candlewick, Sterling Publishers and Janine Vangool, Publisher of the highly acclaimed UPPERCASE Magazine. She’s hanging out with us and I’m sure she and I will concoct some pretty interesting ideas beneficial for both brands. And that, my friend, is how we do business around here. I always say “Play business like it’s a game.” That means: have fun with it.

We are honored that Mitch Nash, the founder of BlueQ, will be attending our Retreat. We love BlueQ!

I’m getting the back garden prettied up. I like an informal setting, plying everyone full of lots of good food and drink to inspire creativity, ideas, and relaxation. I’m going to lead my artists on a very cool art project which I show you in a later newsletter. Stay tuned!

Imagine what my artists are going to do with all this goodness on Day Three: Craft Day! I’m giving each of them blank tote bags to decorate. We’re talking inks, fabric paints, sashiko thread, gem setters, Helen Dardik rubber-stamps, sequins… See that little face in the middle? That’s my test piece, LOL. When Flora Waycott and Kate Mason come (a few days early from Australia) they’ll make a little sampler to test the materials.

XO,

Lilla

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Art by Katie Vernon

We’re excited to let our favorite art directors know about a special upcoming event: Lilla’s Art Menagerie. It will be a cornucopia of fresh, new artwork that will be revealed January 5th in a private, password-protected gallery.

We were thinking: how can we make it really easy for you to see loads of new work without traveling? No flight, no hotel, no cabs! And why not get our brilliant artists to generate new work for an online event?

So we asked our artists to create exciting new work around the themes you request the most often. They were game. Then I thought, why don’t I make a bunch of trend boards just for our artists to motivate and inspire them?

Some of the trend boards that I made for my artists for the Menagerie. Topics range from winter holiday, Valentine’s, summer florals, editorial maps, mod kitchen, and tons more.

So when do you get to see all this new fabulous work?
You’ll be the very first to see the work from the comfort of your desk on Thursday, January 5th!

How will you access the work?
You’ll get an email with a link and a special password where you can view the work.

Art by Clairice Gifford

Art by Marenthe

Art by Flora Waycott

Art by Zoe Ingram

Art by Suzy Ultman

Art by Terri Fry Kasuba

Stay tuned on Instagram for our artists’ banners. Art by Carolyn Gavin.

We hope you’ll be inspired to commission, license or buy work for you projects. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact us. We love to hear from you!

XO
Lilla

Hi Lilla,

I’m so excited to be able to share with you that I’m one of the 12 lucky artists that have been commissioned to design a snowflake as part of Liverpool, UK city centre’s popular Snowflake Trail.

I found out at the end of October that I had been chosen & it has been a whirlwind of planning, painting, sanding & organising a very large amount of Adobe Illustrator vinyl files ever since. The sculptures were provided as white blank canvases for all of the artists to decorate & apply their artwork to whilst making them weatherproof ahead of their outdoor installation.

This completely FREE event is organised by Open Culture who are a Community Interest Company with the mission to increase the profile of & engagement with arts & culture in Merseyside.

My son Blayke and I on opening night

I feel so honoured to be part of such a diverse & talented group of artists & it has been a very enjoyable process whilst being challenging at the same time. It was such a fantastic experience to be able to turn my creative vision into a festive reality. I have been documenting the process through a series of blog posts & you can follow the #snowflaketrail tag on social media for news along with my own personal posts via Instagram / Twitter / Facebook for a behind the scenes perspective.

With special thanks to Rachael Treacher & everyone at Open Culture for organising everything so well & being so friendly & welcoming. Also a huge thank you to Joe Wigzell & Sarah Lyons at Roland DG UK for their help, expertise & advice with my vinyl designs. Here is my design concept & description, I hope you like it! It is located by Elliot Street / Clayton Square by the new steps in Liverpool, UK’s city centre.

Snowy celebration

“My vision was to create a pattern that makes you feel uplifted, happy and festive, whilst reflecting the multi-cultural nature and vibrant city of Liverpool. This dynamic design incorporates a revelation of colour, a diverse range of varying scales to produce a visual snowy delight and multi-faceted piece.”

My snowflake as a blank canvas to apply my design to

Me sanding my snowflake to get a good quality finish in the artists workshop

Image credit: Snowflake Trail Press Day

Being interviewed by BBC Radio Merseyside for their breakfast show

My working concept design – ‘Snowy Celebration’

Starting to add vinyls to create my design – with thanks to Roland DG UK for generously printing the vinyls

Continuing to work on the front and back of my snowflake with my vinyls with a view to the public

You can just spot my snowflake behind the Snowflake Trail branding!

My snowflake finally in location after weeks of hard work!

The stand for my snowflake with my name and description of the design

My little boy Blayke being interviewed for TV

You can follow all of the fun on social media by using the tag #snowflaketrail Check out my Facebook album here. See more about this exciting project here.

xo,

Rachael

Hi Lilla,

I started a solo art show in Taiwan using the images I created in the Make Art That Sells Home Décor class to be the main visual. I’ve named the show “Sining Flowers” and I made the stamps from these images. People are really having fun with them! The show also includes some personal works and commission works I have done over the years.

photos by Yiyin Chen

Hope you like them!

xo,

Hsinping Pan

So exciting around here as we wait for all of these incredible creative artists & art directors to fly in today for the retreat #LillasRetreat!  Click on the artists name below to explore their gorgeous galleries of work….

Sarah Walsh

Tara Lilly, Global Talent Search Winner 2014

Carolyn Gavin

Lisa DeJohn

Margo Tantau Creative Director of Midwest CBK

Suzy Ultman

Helen Dardik

Have safe travels everyone and can’t wait to kick off this retreat! #LillasRetreat

xo,

Reine

We’re busy getting ready this week for our exciting artist retreat #LillasRetreat that we’re hosting this Friday Sept. 25th and Saturday Sept. 26th!

We’re putting some of our top artists with top editors and art directors so they can play together and pitch projects in our gorgeous studio.

We call it Speed Art Dating.

Lilla Rogers Studio

Lilla will teach two innovative creative workshops, art directors will share how to dazzle with hot pitches, and our artists will pitch their ideas directly to these hot decision-makers. Throughout, there will be yummy eats and yoga too!

Lilla will also be video streaming on Periscope, the newest live interactive video app. During the scope, she’ll be interacting with those that tune in while she interviews her artists as they make art.

And what art they’ll make! They’ll carve block prints which they’ll print onto linen to make patterns.

Next, they’ll learn how to digitize their custom artwork to make embroidery with our state-of-the-art Janome 15000 machine embroidered onto linen! She’s hipping up this new technology!

We’re thrilled to welcome VIPs from these companies to our retreat:

• Margo Tantau, VP of Creative, Midwest CBK
• Mary Ann Hall, Executive Editor, Rockport Publishers/Quarto
• Judy Labins, Creative Director, Boston International
• Carol Chu, Art Director, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers
• Jessica Saint Jean, Art Coordinator, Candlewick Press
• Kristen Nobles, Art Director, Candlewick Press

In addition, these top artists will be attending:

• Helen Dardik, Ottawa
• Lisa DeJohn, Massachusetts
• Carolyn Gavin, Toronto
• Tara Lilly (our 2014 Global Talent Search Winner), Portland, OR
• Suzy Ultman, Ohio
• Sarah Walsh, Kansas

Here is a sneak peak at the Creative Retreat Itinerary! Be sure to stay tuned and follow along live with #LillasRetreat.

Workshop 1: Block Printing
The artists will carve large rubber blocks and then print onto lush silks to create fresh patterns.

Workshop 2: Mod Machine Embroidery
Lilla will teach her artists how to create innovative designs using Embrilliance software that they will then stitch onto gorgeous linens with our state-of-the-art Janome 15000 embroidery machine.

Speed Art Dating
Each artist will meet with each art director for ten minutes one-on-one, when they’ll be able to pitch their book projects or home décor collections, show new work, or just plain chat and ask their burning questions of these powerhouses.

Periscope Video
Lilla and team will be live video-streaming interviews of the artists and art directors, and engaging the viewers to ask questions of these inspiring folks. Watch @lillarogers on Periscope.

xo,

Reine

Hello Lilla,

The recent drowning of the Syrian toddler, Aylan, along with his mother and brother near the Turkish coast have deeply touched me. Both as a human and as a father, I felt moved to create this piece of artwork.  I cried while making it and it is called “Aylan’s Dream”.

Aylan’s Dream

Peace,

Marco Marella

So excited to announce that the talented Philippa Stanton  will be speaking in addition to Lilla at Make Art That Sells: The Global Art Gathering on June 12th in Brighton.  Philippa is a UK based fine artist and mobile photographer. She creates still life photographic compositions using simple, everyday objects; often a cup of tea or coffee, with flowers and plants, which is then contained within a quiet sense of season on her table. Her compositions are hugely popular on Instagram, where she has over 420 thousand loyal followers.

To read the full interview with Philippa; check it out at our Make Art That Sells site.  She talks about her art, synaesthesia, her inspiration and why Instagram is a great way for artists to gain visibility. All images are courtesy of Philippa Stanton.

Her work is simply stunning!

xo’s,

The Studio

We are thrilled to announce our first ever LIVE MATS event and hope you will join us for a very special day! Make Art That Sells: The Global Art Gathering will bring together leading experts from the art industry with artists from all over the world, to explore how to build a flourishing art/design career by making great art that is commercially viable. The event will be held at the stunning Brighton Dome in Brighton, one of the most creative cities in Europe, on June 12, 2015.

This exciting new one day event will bring together leading experts from the art industry with artists from all over the world, to explore how to build a flourishing art/design career by making great art that is commercially viable.

Led by host Lilla Rogers, one of the top art agents in the US who has sold art for products worth over $100 million, this event is not to be missed. It will be a special opportunity to get an insight into what art sells and why, how to find more joy in your art and make a healthy living from your creativity. This is a chance to connect with other artists, grow your community and build your creative confidence.

***HURRY: The first 50 people to register with either standard package will get a signed copy of Lilla Rogers’ book ‘I just like to make things’ – first come, first served!***

WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE EVENT?

The day will be packed with inspiring talks, panel discussions and Q&A sessions with top industry experts like art director Margo Tantau of MidwestCBK. There will also be a host of networking opportunities, an insight into the Lilla Rogers Studio Global Talent Search, a live art review and trend presentation by Lilla Rogers, fun surprises and an amazing buzz! PLUS Lilla Rogers will give a trend presentation and a LIVE review of artwork featuring a handful of the attendees.

WHY THIS IS WORTH IT FOR YOU

• You will learn insider secrets from people who buy and sell art every single day
• You will get specific advice on how to make your art more commercially viable*
• You will hear personal stories and lessons learned which will inspire and uplift you
• You will forge valuable and nurturing connections with peers from around the world
• You will get a professional level assignment to complete ahead of the event as a new portfolio piece
• You will come away more confident and motivated, knowing what you need to do next to make great art that sells

*Please note only a handful of artists will be featured in the live review, but review content will be relevant and applicable to your own work

Find out more by viewing our event brochure here – we hope to welcome you to Brighton in June for the art event of the year!

Lilla will be speaking on trend at the show, too! Don’t miss it!

Xo, Reine