My mind is still boggling from the whirlwind that was MATS, and that was only part 1. Today I'm taking part in a blog tour with my fellow class mates from this amazing course. I'm sharing this tour with three incredible artists...

Starting with Andrea van Dalen  Not only did she produce beautiful work for MATS she was also working on a 'steampunk dragon' - just blown away by the detail.




And now for the turn of the wonderful Diane Neukirch. Her colour palette on the plates and wall art are fabulous - great work.




And also Tina Koyama who designed a set of beautiful plates for Home Decor week- cute oven gloves.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to give a brief summary of my background. In some ways I would consider my illustration career to have been an unexpected journey ( no orcs, dwarfs or goblin kings in my version) It hasn't always turned out as I imagined....

- I never meant to stumble into the then London based Tigerprint Studio where I was a cutter & paster of all things Christmassy

- When they were taken over by Hallmark I ate, read, and danced my way round India and the Far East on a 6 month backpacking tour

- I started drawing people which morphed into rather attractive ladies so I wouldn't have to eat beans all the time. It proved to be very successful (not the eating beans)

- Further down the line I thought I could work silly hours with a new born baby, and keep the same lifestyle. I eventually realised I didn't want to so decided to put illustration and greetings cards on the back burner and have another baby.

So here I am - baby no 2 is in nursery so I HAVE TIME TO PLAY AT MY SCHOOL!! And Lilla was my dream teacher. She so thoughtfully provided us with great reference and trends. However starting with Bolt fabric in week 1 it felt like I'd jumped in the deep end (think Pacific) and I had no option but to swim to shore ( think Lillaland) I needn't have worried -  I shared my virtual classroom with the most wonderful, engaging, generous artists I've had the luck to meet who offered immense support.  I feel we all shared the  joy, satisfaction, and sheer abundance that this course brought forth. And I'd like to add the  exhaustion too - this course is not for the faint hearted - it became a dominant part of family life too! Lilla herself described it as 'bootcamp' -how else could you learn about 5 different markets in 5 weeks and produce gobsmacking schmazing work? 

MATS has come at the best time, when I feel I'm geared up for another chapter in my adventure. I am dreaming, planning, making more art and come Jan 2014 its all going to take shape. And of course I'm sure MATS part B will be another whirlwind.

Below are other super talented artists who took part in the Make Art That Sells blog tour, take a peek...you will not be disappointed.

November20

Jill Byers-  www.jillbyers.blogspot.com