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An Art Licensing Collaborative Win-Win Situation -Artist Debra Valencia

I'm starting to believe that preparing forSurtex is not that difficult, it's just verytime consuming. It requires so manydifferent small and big steps to get to theshow itself so sometimes it feelsoverwhelming, especially if you haven'tdone one yet. But once I completed mybooth design and some key collectionsthat I want to show, it felt not so bad

anymore. Now I think it's just a matter of getting my plan executedon time and creating as much new and beautiful art as possible.

The most fun part of this adventure so far has been to chat withmany other artists who will attend the show in May and collaborateon various aspects of this multi-faceted business. Collaborative workis my favorite and so it is also for artist Debra Valencia. She is arising star and a strong driving force behind a whole group of artistsin L.A. who create beautiful art for licensing.

TMFMA: Please introduce yourself - My name isDebra Valencia. I'm a licensed artist based inSouthern California specializing in surfacedesigns. I work with manufacturers in a varietyof categories including gift, stationery,textiles, home décor, craft and fashionaccessories. I'm known for my bright colors andplayful mixing of contemporary patterns suchas florals, paisleys and geometrics. I work inseveral styles with my favorite being simplehand painted shapes in dense watercolorcombined with vector drawn accent prints. Iwork out of my home studio in Malibu with astunning ocean view. The scenery and weather here are delightful soI can't wait to go to work each day.

TMFMA: What's exciting about your creative work? The exciting partfor me is having the opportunity to work on whatever theme I want.

Artist Debra Valencia

PB & Jellie Tunic, “Marrakesh”

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This is the closest thing to fine art I've had the chance to do for aliving compared to my years as a graphic designer. I had a greatcareer as a graphic designer and loved it.

Eventually I yearnedto do my ownartwork instead ofproviding designsolutions for myclients' businesses. Ipreviously worked ata couple of largedesign firms, mostnotably Sussman/Prejza & Co. I alsooperated my owngraphic designagency for several

years with a staff of 3 designers and 2 administrative assistants.

TMFMA: Who or what has inspired you in your art? My paternalgrandmother, Socorro del Rosario Valencia was the most influentialperson in my life. She inspired me to cook, sew, appreciate travelingthe world, and most importantly to pursue my career in art. Sheloved flowers and painted them frequently plus other subjects sheloved. She was a self taught artist so her style was naïve butcharming. As a kid and teenager, I just loved drawing, painting andtrying every craft possible. It wasn't my original plan to attend artschool but after a few semesters trying out different majors at aliberal arts college, I gravitated to graphic design and pursued thecreative field from there.

TMFMA: What brought you toexhibit for the first time and howmany shows have you exhibited in? Ilaunched my first greeting card linein 2006 at the National StationeryShow. I exhibited in NSS for 2 yearsas a manufacturer. During mysecond show in 2007 I attended theNSS party at the top of theRockefeller Center; it was therethat I found out about the field ofart licensing.

I started chatting with anotherpartygoer — also without a seat aswe juggled our plates and glasses ofwine — as we people watched froma staircase. I asked if she had agreeting card line, too, which shedid. I asked how long did it take toturn a profit, what I should expect,and how was it going for her. Sheturned out to be artist Suzy Torontoand told me that it was nearlyimpossible to make it with a smallgreeting card line alone. She toldme about how she licensed thesame art from her cards for fabric,jewelry and a long list of otherproducts which generated additional revenue. I honestly had notheard about art licensing until that conversation but it changed mylife!

© Debra Valencia - Knack 3 Melamine Collection at International Housewares Show, Chicago, “Gelato”

© Debra Valencia -

David Textiles Fabric by the Yard, “Kyoto”, Totebag made by Cheyanne Valencia

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Upon returning from the NSS show, I switched gears. I pursuedlicensing deals in general but was also able to license my entiregreeting card line to a large gift wrap company plus land my firstlicensing deal for 4 stationery/gift bag collections. Throughout 2008,I fully focused on licensing and spent the year building my portfolioand making connections at the Atlanta Gift Show. I made my debutas a Surtex exhibitor in 2009 and have been in the show every yearsince.

TMFMA: Do you work with an agentor do you represent yourself? Irepresent myself. With mybackground as a graphic designer,both in-house as creative directorwith some large firms and runningmy own studio with 5 employees, itmakes sense for me to do it myself.I've worked with 100's of clientsdirectly. From landing the client,budgeting the job, negotiating thefees, drafting the contract and thencreating the work, presenting it tothe client and selling the concept,I've played every role.

I wouldn't rule out working with anagent in the future. I'm aware thatmany of the top successful licensedartists have agents. This tells methat you can get to a point whereall the work can't be handled by anindividual artist even if supportedby an in-house staff. Top agentshave great sales and negotiationtechniques, long-standingrelationships with big licensees andan international network of sub-agents which is certainly worth

their commission.

This question also segues nicely into the news about the new co-opagency I recently founded. I saw a need for an art licensingcommunity as well as business education about licensing in LosAngeles. We have such a large population of creative people here. Ibegan teaching small seminars last year on the licensing basics andlaunched an online networking group for local artists interested inlearning how to enter the field.

I approached Otis College of Art & Design about launching a coursein art licensing and I am now currently teaching The Business of ArtLicensing for the Spring 2013 Continuing Education program.

© Debra Valencia - David Textiles Fabric by the Yard, “Kyoto”, Kitchen textiles

made by Cheyanne Valencia

© Debra Valencia - Housewares International Ceramic Mug Assortment, “Mia”

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From there, I formedArt Licensing LA, acollaborative agencyof 5 independentartists. We teamedup to offermanufacturers abroader range ofartwork styles andtopics than would bepossible by a singleartist. With acombined library ofover 2,000 images in5 portfolios, wecurrently offer freshart of popularlicensing themes: florals, nature, wildlife, beach, food, wine,coffee, holidays, travel, pet, home, garden, baby, children, paisley,novelty, inspiration, humor and more.

We meet for monthly dinner meetings and also communicate byemail and phone regularly. Like a virtual studio, in lieu of a physicalspace, we provide peer support with professional opinions andfeedback on in-progress collections; an advisory board of sorts.

As colleagues, we cooperatetogether as a group to sharemarketing, publicity and salestasks. The jobs are divided up bywebsite, booth design, pressreleases, collateral, videodirection, client outreach, etc. Itis also really helpful to bounceideas off each other and get the

point of view of another designer. Once artwork is selected by alicensee, contracts and client communication are the responsibilityof each individual artist. For example, two of our artists arecurrently licensed with the same manufacturer for ceramics but withvery different artwork.

This business model works for us since many licensees need severalstyles of artwork in the same season or catalog. Our philosophy isthis is a collaborative win-win situation, not a competition with eachother.

We operate separate business entities but share responsibilities andthat is a huge burden lifted, especially getting ready for theupcoming Surtex show. We will be exhibiting at Surtex in New York,May 19-21, 2013 in booths 734 & 736. We hope our group will thrive

© Debra Valencia - Decal Girl iPad Skin, “Kyoto”

and grow larger for 2014. For moreinformation, see our website:www.artlicensingla.com.

TMFMA: In your view, what was ofmajor interest to manufacturersthis year? What do you think themain trends are for 2013? For myart, most manufacturers showedinterest in my paisleys, tiles andmedallion art. This tells me that the ethnic-inspired art is still hotand I see it continuing for several years. What is next? I can onlyguess but I do think our concern for the environment makes us wantto be close to nature. I will be combining natural colors such asgreens and browns with my typical bright palettes and developingnew print designs inspired by craftsman traditions: mosaic tile,fabric dying, weaving and embroidery, as well as nature: leaves,bamboo and lots of flowers.

TMFMA: What advicewould you give otherartists that areconsidering the artlicensing field andthat maybe want toexhibit in a show likeSurtex? I think artlicensing can be awonderful way forartists to earn aliving. But one mustbe very careful

especially in the beginning. There are many ups and downs in thebusiness. A manufacturer may show a lot of interest, request yourentire portfolio and then no deal happens. It's like being flirted withby the most handsome man at a party, he asks for your number butthen never calls. That can really be a let down if you let yourself gettoo excited by every request. In other cases, you get a contract, dotons of development work per the request of the manufacturer andthen the royalty checks trickle in never amounting to more thanenough to pay your utility bills. The positive side is when you get acontract with a manufacturer who loves your work, puts your art onlots of products and keeps the pipeline full season after season. Thatis when it really pays off. I am fortunate to have a few of thoseclients.

For anyone enteringthe field, I would tellthem not to jumpinto exhibiting atSurtex or any othershow for the initialyear or two. Work onyour portfolio,obtain licensingdeals by makingonline submissions,research companiesyou want to workwith and track downthe person whomakes decisions onlicensing. You canstill make

© Debra Valencia - Housewares International Ceramic Mug Assortment, “Hibiscus”

submissions directlythat way even if thecompany doesn'tpost submissionguidelines on theirwebsite. Build upyour portfolio tohave at least 20collections if notmore. Pay attentionto the themes thatare licensed themost and make sureyou have some ofthese in your portfolio. Don't go into debt to exhibit. It can takeyears to make up the difference. If you really want to exhibit, saveup for it. It is worth exhibiting eventually because it really helpsestablish your name. Plus, manufacturers will stop to look at yourwork and they may be people you would have never thought ofcontacting or found by online research.

TMFMA: Any other useful info thatyou'd like to share about artlicensing? Marketing is essential andnot optional. An artist must thinklike a business person to besuccessful unless they are justincredibly lucky. I know so manyartists who are very talented butthey are either too shy or maybejust procrastinators aboutmarketing themselves. If you arethe best artist in the world but noone knows about your art, you willnot be successful. I advise spending20% of your time, which equals oneday per week on the marketingaspects of your business. Thisentails making regular submissionsto potential licensees and byresearch into finding newcompanies you want to work with.Have a well designed portfolio withvarious samples which can beemailed to potential licensees. Thisshould be supported by ongoingupdates to a website, blog,Facebook, publicity, and photos ofproducts. Also make sure you havethe basics on hand: logo, businesscard, postcard, good headshot, wellwritten bio in different wordlengths for editorial opportunities.

See Debra's website for samples of her licensed artwork:www.debravalencia.com

...and her facebook page for current news:http://www.facebook.com/debravalenciadesign

© Debra Valencia - Decal Girl iPhone Skin, “Asiana Blossoms”

© Debra Valencia - David Textiles Fabric by the Yard, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Maxi dress

made by CheyanneValencia

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4 comments

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Cathy Hunt 2 years ago

Great article. Great advice! I will look for you at Surtex. Have agreat show!

Brenda Pinnick 2 years ago

Debra V. is a very dynamic, talented artist! Congrats to her, shehas worked very hard, used her God given talents and still is anice person besides!

Carol Van Zandt 2 years ago

Excellent interview, and fantastic advice! See you both atSurtex!

Jill Meyer 2 years ago

Debra is a shining star! Her work is magnificent, and she is themost charming , delightful and generous person one could everhope to meet! Watch her soar! XO Debra!

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