GUEST BLOGGER: Josephine Kimberling is inspired thanks to GTS and MATS

Hi Lilla!

I wanted to reach out to you and let you know the ways your Global Talent Search and Make Art that Sells classes have affected my work and creative process!

First of all, being a part of the Global Talent Search brought out a competitive side in me I didn’t know I had! It wasn’t a ‘mean, climb over anyone I can’ kind of competitiveness , but a ‘push myself as much as possible, to do the absolute best work I can’, kind. Your creative briefs were really inspiring and took me on a journey to create art that I don’t usually create, which awoke a creative excitement inside of me!

With MATS, I took the class as a way to give myself permission to experiment, as deadlines really push me. I wanted to use the class as a chance to explore my creative style and try to find a way to mesh my traditional media skills and experience as a textile designer with my current, graphic Illustrator, vector style that I am currently licensing. It truly felt wonderful to pull out my paints and other traditional media and get lost for hours learning and growing! I’m still experimenting and figuring it out, but it feels great to be on this path and for the ideas to be flowing!

From working in-house for 12 years, I know the technical side and production process very well which I find has been limiting my creative work. Through GTS and MATS, I’ve learned to make art that I love first. Learning more about the variety of industries out there and what they look for really helped to broaden my horizons and show me that I need to spend 10,000 hours on developing other facets of my creative talents, and not stay stagnant in my comfort zones.

The information from these experiences has, in a way, given me permission to create what I love, experiment, and push myself.

Since being involved in GTS and MATS, I’ve been cranking out new work to juice up my portfolio. I’ve been using textures and paint. Having my illustrations make it through to the 3rd round in GTS has given me the confidence to explore Illustration more vs. solely creating pattern work, where I am comfortable. It’s been a very exciting time and a little bit of a roller-coaster ride that I’m excited to be on!

So, thank you Lilla for bringing your genius to all of us creatives, for sharing your knowledge and expertise, and for using YOUR talents to spice up the art world!
–Josephine

To read more on Jospehine’s experience, click here.