Quite a few of our artists earn income from multiple sources, including selling products bearing their art or design.
Both Jess and I have a Graphic Design background so when we see images of our artwork, our brains go into overdrive and we can visualise the images in all sorts on applications.
There are various reasons to create different product lines. Artists may add a much-needed price point spread, or even attract an entirely new audience who are not prospective collectors of original art. Merchandise also serve as a good marketing tool for artists like the production of greeting cards, calendars, limited edition prints and crystal blocks.
Lets look at some of our other artists and artisans we have in the gallery.
One that springs to mind straight away is Deb Brown, she produces artwork using the acrylic pour technique and has images from those art pieces printed on fabric which she uses to create cushions, scarves and serviettes.
De Gillett Cox works on large canvases, producing beautiful textual artworks. Her images are now also available on scarves, they are amazing and the colours are true to the original artworks.
Artisan Amanda Slater produces small figurative artworks on canvas which she then uses to produce her very popular, colourful bags, purses and cushions. Amanda told us it was a great way to retain ownership of her treasured artworks and still share them with others.
Indigenous artist Alicia Close uses symbolic elements from her work and repeats them on linen through the art of screen printing. She produces linen cushion covers and table runners.
Lyne Tilt uses polymer clay to make her bold graphic earrings and her paintings compliment her jewellery range, it creates a design flow that cements her original style across both the artistic disciplines. The two of her chosen art mediums inspire each other, and her paintings sit beautifully in the gallery above her jewellery.
So I guess the moral of the story really is, creative people just keep coming up with ways to be creative and merchandising our work is a great way to reach more people………the extra income always helps as well!
Great idea but where do you get these things printed, is there somewhere local or is it done overseas?
Many thanks for the info and this site.
Leanne
Hi Leanne
Some artists use overseas companies to have their art printed on merchandise but I personally have only used Australian based, just personal preference. This is certainly a cost driven decision for a lot of artists as they purchase in bulk. There are also a lot of Brisbane based companies that print reproduction work on a variety of substrates, let google be your friend.
From my experience, I have had some of my images printed on fabric through a company called Frankie and Swiss they are based in Melbourne and they use organic inks and natural fibres. They have easy to follow instructions on there website and are very helpful to talk to over the phone. I use Snap Printing at Geebung ( Owners: David and MJ are both artists so understand us creatives ) for all my cards, bus cards and calendars etc. Both Jess and I also hand print our own designs, using hand cut stencils, on tea towels etc. “Linen Line” based just across the river have beautiful quality blank linen and cotton products to print directly on to and you don’t have to buy bulk ( you need an ABN to purchase wholesale). Hope this helps. Cheers Jenny