Here’s a reminder of the book that I released last year. The Work/Life series features illustrators from around the world.

The first edition is sold out and there are just 99 copies left of Work/Life 2 available before it is out of print! Put Work/Life 3 in your cart and get a special price offer on Work/Life 2.

With the third edition of Work/Life, I pushed the personal nature of Work/Life to a new level. This edition’s theme is “An Illustrated Life” in which we explore the ups and downs of illustration and what it takes to stay creative 24/7. Each participant offers their unique take on this theme and have created an original illustration based on a bespoke assignment specific to their interests and story that I assigned. Unlike awards annuals or traditional illustration directories, our publication is personal. Artists were individually interviewed about their creative focus and artistic technique as well as their inspirations and aspirations. Additional imagery (sketchbook pages, studio shots, inspirational objects) are integral to each participant’s spread, allowing the reader to take a peek into their entire work/life. 

Unit Twelve is a contemporary craft workshop and exhibition space in a stunning rural location in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It hosts a regularly changing programme of exhibitions, with complementary art workshops run by Jennifer Collier, Print Garage and exhibiting artists. 

Lisa Congdon’s new book Art Inc. photographed with an original painting that Lisa gave to me.

I’m pleased to be part of the blog tour for Lisa Congdon‘s just-released book, Art Inc: The Essential Guide for Building your Career as an Artist. I’ve witnessed Lisa’s growth as an artist and I am happy that we have collaborated quite frequently over the years.

In the early days of UPPERCASE, before it was a magazine, I ran a small gallery and bookstore. The exhibitions included artists from around the world, and Lisa was a frequent participant. (During this trip down memory lane, I’l be linking to old posts and articles on an antique version of the UPPERCASE website.) I exhibited Lisa’s work as early as 2006, for the Big Little Show.

Her work at the time was mostly collage-based, with touches of painting and geometric decoration. In 2008’s Old School exhibition and book, I sent artists packs of school-related ephemera for inspiration and inclusion in artworks. Lisa’s submission in a shadow box was one of my favourites. (Old School is out of print, but you can see more here.)

In 2009, a theme of Bonfires was presented both as a gallery show and an article in an early issue of UPPERCASE. (Issue 3, out of print.) By this time, Lisa was doing much more painting and incorporating handlettering in her work.

The vintage ephemera of her early collages would later play an integral role in our biggest collaboration, the publication of the book A Collection a Day. In 2010, Lisa embarked on a year-long project to document her collection daily online through photos and the occasional drawing of arrangements from her curious collections. I began following her daily blog post right from the beginning and for months I thought to myself, “This would be an amazing book.” I was expecting a baby that March and put the idea aside thinking that some big publisher would swoop in! But even late nights with a new baby couldn’t dampen my interest and to my great pleasure, Lisa agreed to publish the book with me!

At 448 pages, this thick tome of a book is packaged in a collector’s tin where you can keep your own little collections. Full of vintage ephemera, inspiring typography and curious oddities, A Collection a Day is a highlight of the UPPERCASE library.

Baby Finley in one of his first gigs as hand model.

Finley opens the tin to reveal the book inside.

Here’s Lisa at the opening and book launch for A Collection a Day at The Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco.

So that brings us to 2011 and the release of Collection a Day. Meanwhile, Lisa’s illustration career was on at full speed. Lisa was also a profiled artist in 2011’s Work/Life 2: the UPPERCASE directory of illustration.

Lisa’s studio in 2011.

Fast forward to fall of 2013, Issue 19, and UPPERCASE magazine featured Lisa’s travel sketchbook from a trip to Iceland. She also wrote and photographed an article about Alvar Aalto for that issue.

Over these years, Lisa has learned a lot. She is someone who pushes herself to learn, to improve, to explore uncharted territory. She has shared the stories of her high and lows, the ups and downs, on her blog in her forthright and personal style. With the release of Art Inc., she has created a precise and inspiring guide on how to make a career as an artist. Published by Chronicle Books (and illustrated by Work/Life 3 artist Karolin Schnoor), Art Inc. is the go-to companion for advice on how to start your journey as a professional artist… and how to stay motivated and to grow your artistic practice as you mature in your art.

Many congratulations to Lisa on adding ‘published book author’ to her long list of creative accomplishments. I’m honoured to have worked with you so many times along the way.

Art Inc. is available to purchase directly from Chronicle Books or wherever books are sold. The other books mentioned are by UPPERCASE and available in my shop (if they’re still in print). Lisa has signed copies of A Collection a Day in her Etsy shop as well.

Trina Lucido is an artist and paper enthusiast. “I can’t resist beautiful paper, old or new, and see potential in every piece I find,” she says. “These papers find their way into my artwork which includes greeting cards, art journals, mixed media pieces and home decor.” As her collection of papers and haberdashery grew, Trina decided to open up shop as The Paper Flea Market to share her finds with other paper and vintage lovers. 

She has scrapbookers’ cuts of vintage wallpaper, lovely old hat labels, vintage buttons on cards (I can’t resist a good old button!) and so much more… like any good flea, there’s lots to discover!

The Paper Flea Market is the first official Calling Card that will appear in the fall issue of UPPERCASE. In addition to the ad appearing in lovely ink on paper in 10,000 copies of the magazine, a Calling Card ad will reside on the UPPERCASE blog sidebar for the duration of the forthcoming issue. I’ll also share the ad with my Twitter followers and do a blog post, such as this one, to offer as much value as I possibly can to your $400 investment. The next issue goes to print after the Labour Day weekend, so there’s still time to get your Calling Card if you get in touch soon. I look forward to sharing more Calling Card profiles here in the blog over the next weeks. Please click the Calling Cards already on the sidebar to discover more.

To make your Calling Card, choose an image that best represents you, your product or service (squarish image 3 inches wide at 300dpi ), then click here to upload it and get your Calling Card ad designed by me and shared with the UPPERCASE community. You’ll be supporting UPPERCASE content creation, boosting your profile, be immortalized in print and be serving the community with your creative offerings.

Thank you to The Paper Flea Market!

For the Makers offers creative kits of supplies to make a curated gathering of themed crafts. Their latest offering is named Veritas and inspired by paper marbling. With the kit, you’ll make a marbled notebook, marbled pens, a locket as well as an old school felt pennant. Their site offers all the instructions and the kit themselves are a delight to receive—beautifully curated and nicely presented in small kraft boxes of a limited edition. I received of couple of their previous kits recently and look forward to some downtime to immerse myself in assembling and making.