Atlanta Gift Show 3: Neighbors from Sea to Shining Sea

Posted byCathy

January 30, 2012

Studio Life

Before we leave our Atlanta Trade Show news, we want to give a shout out to our neighbors from the License and Design showroom … or at least the new friends who we were able to catch with the camera when they were weren’t in the middle of cutting big new licensing deals. As you can see, we were surrounded by artists from all over the U.S. and it was so much fun to share tips and tricks of the trade, as well as after-show restaurant suggestions.
First, hello to Amanda Murphy in North Carolina, from whom we learned all kinds of quilting tricks. She is definitely an expert as you can see from the beautiful piece hanging behind her, created from her collection, Veranda, produced by Robert Kaufman Fabrics. Amanda’s artistic skills are exceeded only by her enormous amount of energy and excitement for the business of licensing art.
Across the aisle, we loved getting to know the team from Jewel Branding. Julie Newman and Tiffany Cullinan represent a group of talented artists, many of whom we met as they came by between meetings. Since Jewel is based in Atlanta, we also procured guidance for restaurants to try. We were looking forward to real southern fried chicken from South City Kitchen to top off our stay in the South … but, sadly, our booth took too long to dismantle. We’re still dreaming about it, though.
As you can see in the artwork behind Michael Rhoda, it’s just fun to be standing near his booth. As both writer and illustrator for his funny images, Michael’s work can be found on greeting cards and gift products and Michael can be found in beautiful Colorado. Greetings to the Rocky Mountains from the Texas Hill Country, where we have learned that our mountain is really only a hill.
Connie Hayley’s studio is only a hop, skip and a jump from ours … well, in Texas miles. Connie, who was joined by Ashley Winn, works from East Texas. It was so much fun to find fellow artists from our neck of the woods. Connie is known for her eclectic arrangements of textures and patterns often combined with words of comfort and inspiration. So if you are needing to spread a little love, you can buy some of her products here and here.
Lucinda Wei, a graphic designer by training, has experience in branding and logo design, which is evident in the simple, clean and elegant artwork that she creates for licensing. Lucinda, now working from New York, is as lovely as the artwork she displayed in Atlanta.
And the winner for ‘neighbor who traveled the most miles to reach the Atlanta show” is Karen Bumgarner of Creative K Designs from Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Karen creates unique hand-made sculpture of horses and dogs, and sells them throughout the United States. Karen is an animal lover and it is evident by the care she puts into each individual piece. (However, we might need to travel to her studio in Hawaii to fully understand her process!)
We hope you have enjoyed meeting a few of the many creative groups that participated in the License and Design section of AmericasMart. Although we enjoyed reconnecting with our clients and meeting new ones, the moments we spent sharing stories with our artist neighbors were highlights of our trade show fun. So until next time, happy drawing from sea to shining sea.