Just Mary Designs

The Surtex Show

A while back I had a crazy idea…. what if my art could be used on different products?  Could my paintings look good on a purse, or a tea towel, or a wall hanging?  What about a picture frame, or stationery, or a journal cover?  Would it ever be possible to have my designs leap off of the canvas and onto something sold in a store?  What if…..   And then I heard about Surtex.  Surtex is one of the largest (if not THE largest) expo for art licensing.  Art licensing is the pathway to having your art land on a product manufactured by a company and eventually purchased by someone in a store.  As I began to investigate the world of art licensing, Surtex kept popping up over and over and over.  So I decided to take a closer look.

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Now let me tell you, Surtex is a pretty big deal in the art licensing world.  And it is quite expensive to be one of the several hundred artists exhibiting - all vying for the attention of some 7000 buyers who will pass through.  I am not someone easily intimidated by a new adventure, but navigating the world of Surtex was quite overwhelming…. not to mention expensive.  I began to consider the idea of collaborating with other artists who were like me - interested in testing the Surtex waters.  Lo and behold, into my universe popped an incredible group called the Cultivate Art Collective.  This collective started with a lot of like minded talented artists who were interested in the art licensing world.  And 10 of us took the plunge together and registered to exhibit as a collective at the 2014 Surtex show - May 18-20 in New York City!  I found my Surtex tribe - and wowza - these ladies rock! An example of a Surtex Booth[/caption] Amidst the pre show flurry of creating lots of fresh new art for the show, we have been working together to build our brand for the big show.  Together, we are doing a fun blog hop today!  We chose a“Sea” theme to be interpreted, re-imagined

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and beautifully designed by each artist to showcase their unique vision and creative talents.  Our Blog Hop is a collaboration of these 10 diverse artists from the collective who will be exhibiting together at Surtex May 18- 20, 2014.  So after you have checked out my Sea Themed Art please keep the Blog Hop Hopping and scroll down to the bottom of the post to find links to the other 9 fabulous artists! I hope you enjoy swimming through some lovely designs.  And wish me luck at my Surtex adventure - I hope my art makes a *SPLASH*!!!

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Stunningly Strange by Kaitlin Goodey https://stunninglystrange.com/blog/silly-sea-cultivate-art-collective RiztyDesign http://riztydesign.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/under-the-sea/ Diane Hunt Studio http://www.dianehuntstudio.com/sea---blog-hop.html Margaret Applin Designs www.margaretapplin.com/2014/03/cultivate-art-collectives-sea-art-blog-hop.html Tatyana Starikova http://www.tatyana-starikova.com/1/post/2014/03/cultivate-art-collectives-sea-art-blog-hop.html jami darwin http://jamidarwin.tumblr.com/post/78250924378/under-the-sea Robo Roku http://thiscreativelife.net/2014/03/art-scene-under-the-sea-with-cultivate-art-collective Aileen Tu Design http://aileentu.com/cultivate-art-collective-sea-art-blog-hop Rachelle Panagarry http://www.arteyecandy.com/2014/03/undersea-adventures-cultivate-art.html