I've been designing art for stores. Stores I really like and some I have never heard of. Sometimes I license art that I create just because I want to and sometimes I work on assignment. I have an art agent who filters assignments for me and who represents me in dealing with buyers for big stores and with interior designers. When I am creating a collection for a store, it is usually 5-10 pieces in various sizes. Often, they will want a collection and buy it so nobody else buys it but then want colors (or words) changed to match towels or sheets they are selling for a current season. It's kind of a tedious process because there are so many people needing to sign off on each piece of art before it is approved for sale that it can take months to get one piece of art to be just the right shade of sage to match a toss pillow. Everyone has a different idea of what matches or looks right. Often, the final piece looks nothing like the one I originally created. Or, buyers will see my portfolio then want elements of different collections combined into one collection.
People often say to me how great it is that I get to make art all day. It is fun to make art. It's not fun to make a million changes while biting my tongue, then waiting months and months to get paid. It's a job like any other and I do like my job. The fun art stuff is what I create for my etsy shop or my journals, or stuff nobody ever sees. Art is really different when it's not about deadlines or matching towels.
As a consumer, it's fun for me to go to stores and see what is out there and imagine what things were before a bunch of people in offices asked artists to change their art. Here's an example of a before and after with my art. Row A is part of a collection in its original form. Row B is after many changes per the client's request. I think the cheerful optimistic tone is lost in the muted colors the client wanted, but it does match the housewares. It's my job to make the client happy, just like in any other business.
Do you buy art because it matches stuff in your house or because you connect with it? I buy art that I like and make everything else in my house work around the art.
*Some of my licensed, corporate, and commissioned art is available for purchase online here.
Visit Linda Woods Artworks for prints on canvas, paper, or wood for all size spaces and budgets.