I don’t remember the exact moment I learned about art licensing but I do remember my reaction being somewhere along the lines of:

[This post is a bit on the longer side so if you’d rather just watch/listen to a video I did sharing this news, here you go!]

The idea that a company would pay me to put my artwork on stationery or home decor products like the ones I swoon over at HomeSense was incredible. But it also seemed incredibly out of reach. Despite the ever present imposter syndrome, over the last few years I’ve been praying for and taking steps towards this dream goal – some have been tiny, like making a list of companies that make said products at HomeSense and other stores that catch my eye. Others have been huge steps, like taking surface pattern design courses and learning [or trying to learn!] Illustrator and Photoshop. I’ve learned about how to pitch, what to put in a portfolio and so many other details but I kept telling myself I’m not ready.

And my dream, and something I’ve prayed for more times than I can remember, was for an art director or small company to discover my work online and reach out to me with a licensing opportunity. It’s not unheard of and it’s happened to other artists and so I held on to that prayer and a tiny amount of hope.

And then, around a month ago, that prayer and dream came to fruition and a lovely and driven woman named Kelly reached out to me saying she wanted me to be one of 8 Canadian women artists featured in the launch of her new puzzle company Villager Puzzles

To be honest when I first got Kelly’s message I thought maybe it was another attempt to scam me. But she seemed legitimate so I tentatively reached out and thankfully the whole process so far has been incredible. I love that she is following her dream of starting a puzzle company and that she wants to feature Canadian women artists and offer designs that are vibrant and modern. I signed the contract nearly two months ago and I am incredibly honoured and blessed to be one of the 8 licensed artists. Even just typing that makes me emotional and I’m so thrilled to be sharing this news here with all of you.

Here’s the post on Villager Puzzles launching my puzzle design, make sure you check out the other beautiful designs as well!

The actual puzzle will be 1000 pieces and you can see a sneak peek of the packaging from Villager Puzzles below. I’m super excited to order some to sell at markets during the holidays. Stay tuned for updates and as always, thank you so much for your support 🙂