What seems like ages ago, approximately 30 years, I was
graduating high school in a great town, in a great family and trying to
determine what I wanted to do with my life.
I got accepted to 5 different schools for 5 different majors and ended
up in a liberal arts program at a popular local university. I lasted 3 days much to the dismay and
frustration of my parents.
What became more and more clear over the next few years was
that I had a really strong desire to be creative in whatever career I
chose. Through quite a few fits and
starts, I managed to obtain a couple of licenses in the cosmetology field as
well as an Associate of Arts degree in Interior Design. The appeal of interior design, home décor,
beautifully textured interior fabrics and colorful designs were really the most
influential elements for me.
I worked at a fabric store for a period of time and became
addicted to fabric. Home décor fabrics
and dress making fabrics filled my growing studio. By this time I was earning a living as an
administrative assistant working for corporate companies. I would make dresses to wear to work and then
together with my mother, we started creating women’s and children’s designer
jackets made from home décor fabrics that we would sell at craft shows
part-time over the next 4 years.
My desire to work with the home décor fabrics waned and I
grew itchy to create my own fabrics with my own designs. In 2000, despite my fear of flying, I boarded
a plane bound for Oregon to attend my first artistic retreat focused on surface
design. My entire world opened up at
that point and my focus was wearable art for the next few years.
Through all my experience working in the corporate world, my
technical skills grew along with my desire to create and I eventually found out
how to digitize my artwork. This was a
turning point for me. I created unique
designs for screenprinting on fabric and paper and sold my screens internationally
and I experimented with fiber art and applying digital designs to fabric.
What I recognized at the time was how artwork in a digital
format could be lucrative and there was more than one way to apply it. Combining art with a digital environment
allowed me to be even more creative and allowed me to share my knowledge and
art electronically with a wider audience.
It took me 20 years to get to this point.
In 2005, I started my blog and started writing articles for
Quilting Arts Magazine and would go on to publish numerous articles with that
magazine and the sister magazine, ClothPaperScissors. Pokey Bolton, and then Interweave Press,
offered me the opportunity twice to film my artwork in a teaching format
through DVDs in 2012 and 2013. It was
one of the biggest highlights of my life!
Around the same time, I connected with Barbara Donahay of
Joggles.com, and began teaching on her website platform. Before I knew it, I was designing a line of
stencils for her launch of her own brand and attending tradeshows along with
her to generate ideas for designs. As
Barbara’s opportunities to produce her own products grew, she helped me launch
my own brand of stencils and rubber stamps.
We continue to partner creatively on ideas and designs.
In 2013 I also became aware of surface pattern design and
art licensing. This was another major
turning point for me. All of my artistic
and digital technical skills came together here and I spent an intense 9
months, nights and weekends while working full-time as a paralegal, creating my
portfolio of designs that I would offer at the international art licensing
show, SURTEX, in 2014 with a collective of 9 other artists.
SURTEX was one of the most amazing things I had ever done
but it burnt me out. For the next year I
didn’t really create much. I was stuck
and uninspired but through some Facebook groups and taking workshops through
Lilla Rogers’ Make Art That Sells series, I became re-inspired and got back on
track. It was clear that I had finally
found my path.
The world of art licensing is so highly competitive yet so
invigorating. Just being a part of the
community that supports each other and inspires each other is an incredible
thing to be a part of. I know that at
any time I can jump in full force and market myself if that is what I choose. For now, I simply am making art that I love,
enjoying the process and now being able to offer my artwork on products for
sale.
It’s an empowering place to be in my life and I’m happy
here. Although I will probably never be
able to break away from my 9 to 5 job in corporate, it allows me to be this
creative and entrepreneurial in the rest of my life and to create artwork that
I love.
I am always available to answer questions or help if I
can. Simply e-mail me at margi@margaretapplindesigns.com
and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Margaret
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