We LOVE research and learning as a way to get inspired and boost ideas and creativity!! So, Kenzie and I are going to be sharing the inspiration that we collect here in our second newsletter…. once a week!!!

Here’s how it works:

We provide the inspiration. You interpret it however you wish… any medium, any size. It is meant to inspire lettering and floral art combined together. But, you can:

• Just do the florals, just do the lettering, or combine them together.
• Use the provided quote for your piece or select your own.
• Use colors from one of the inspiration images or select your own favorites
• Create the floral art… as a still life in a vase, a single flower, a border, a pattern, a bouquet

Hope you will create with us and post your work at #wordsandwildflowers2024 and tag @lorisiebert.studio and @snippetsofwhimsy

We will be checking and sharing some of our favorites. AND… there may be surprise guest judges and PRIZES!!!

---

Quote of the week:

“If you wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”

― Toni Morrison, “Song of Solomon”

Inspirational Artist of the week: Josef Frank

Frank was of Jewish ancestry. His parents, merchant Ignaz (Isak) Frank (1851–1921, ​Vienna​) and the Vienna-born Jenny (1861–1941), were originally from ​Heves​ in ​Hungary​. He designed his parents’ grave in the old Jewish section of ​Vienna’s Central Cemetery​(Group 19, Row 58, Grave No.52).​[1]​ He studied architecture at the ​Vienna University of Technology​. He then taught at the ​Vienna School of Arts and Crafts​ from 1919 to 1925. He was a founding member of the ​Vienna Werkbund​, initiator and leader of the 1932 project ​Werkbundsiedlung in Vienna​. In 1933, he ​emigrated​ to Sweden, where he gained ​citizenship​ in 1939. He was the most prestigious designer in the Stockholm design company ​Svenskt Tenn​(Swedish Pewter), recruited by the founder of the company, ​Estrid Ericson​. He remained in Sweden after 1945 despite attempts to return him to Vienna. The ​Vienna Circle​ manifesto lists three of his publications.

Hand lettering inspiration of the week: Picasso

Lithograph from 1959 by Pablo Picasso

Only a couple spots left!!!

I’m heading back to the Dordogne region of France again to teach!!

August 26 – September 4 2025!!!!

This experience was dreamy!!! Harrison and Katel at Perigord Retreats REALLY know how to cater to their guests. The food is outstanding!! The day trips are completely magical and SO INSPIRING. And the time with kindred spirits is PRICELESS!!!

Want to come with a friend and create memories to last a lifetime????

We LOVE research and learning as a way to get inspired and boost ideas and creativity!! So, Kenzie and I are going to be sharing the inspiration that we collect here in our second newsletter…. once a week!!!

Here’s how it works:

We provide the inspiration. You interpret it however you wish… any medium, any size. It is meant to inspire lettering and floral art combined together. But, you can:

• Just do the florals, just do the lettering, or combine them together.
• Use the provided quote for your piece or select your own.
• Use colors from one of the inspiration images or select your own favorites
• Create the floral art… as a still life in a vase, a single flower, a border, a pattern, a bouquet

Hope you will create with us and post your work at #wordsandwildflowers2024 and tag @lorisiebert.studio and @snippetsofwhimsy

We will be checking and sharing some of our favorites. AND… there may be surprise guest judges and PRIZES!!!

---

Quote of the week:

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

-Dr. Seuss

Inspirational artist of the week: Evelyn Ackerman

Evelyn Ackerman was born on January 12, 1924, in Detroit, Michigan to Jacob Lipchinsky (later changed to Lipton) and Sara Turetsky. Evelyn graduated from Central High School in 1941, and began at the ​University of Michigan​as an art major. Then, in 1942, her father died and her three brothers entered the military. With her mother in need of help, she transferred to ​Wayne University​ as a fine arts and art history major. There she was introduced to the German Expressionists, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Klee, and Matisse by her art history professor, Dr. Ernst Scheyer. After completing her BFA degree with distinction in 1945, Evelyn completed her MFA degree in fine arts in 1950.

After retiring from ERA Industries, Evelyn spent a year and a half creating a 40-piece series of cloisonné enamels with silver wire on copper completing the project in 1979. The series Stories from the Bible was donated to the permanent collection of the ​Renwick Gallery​, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.​[3]​

Over the years, Evelyn collected antique toys and dolls. She authored articles and published five books on antique dolls and toys. Her successful pattern books for dressing antique dolls, the first that were based on research and were authentic expressions of the dress of the period, were reissued. In the 1980s, she volunteered at the ​Los Angeles County Museum of Art​ of Art Costume and Textile department and wrote a monograph on nineteenth-century dress and an extensive glossary for a catalogue of eighteenth-century costumes and textiles.

Handlettering inspiration of the week…

Photos I shot in Oaxaca this past February. I LOVE to photograph wall murals and typography!!!

Ready to take your creative business to new heights? Join us for an exclusive opportunity to learn from seasoned product developers and industry experts at our upcoming conference!

Discover insider tips on what product developers seek, the latest trends shaping the market, and how to navigate the intricate world of licensing as an artist. From understanding the nuances of collaboration to maximizing your income streams, our comprehensive sessions cover everything you need to know to thrive in the art industry.

But that’s not all! We’ll also delve into invaluable strategies for branding and social media, the impact of AI, safeguarding your creative work against copyright infringements, writing contracts and negotiating.

Don’t miss this chance to network with fellow like-minded artists, gain invaluable insights, and propel your art business forward. Reserve your spot today and unleash your full artistic potential!

Past attendees will receive a $200.00 discount if you register before July 12th.

Our lineup of speakers include:

Jan Beach, a successful long term art licensing artist

Anne Brown, Vice President of Product Development at Williamson Home

Wendy Conklin, The Chair Stylist of the brand Chair Whimsy, author and decorator

Patti Hughes CEO and Creative Director of Natural Life

Joan Kergides, Chief Merchandising Officer at Enesco, LLC

Tim Lamm, Senior Product Development Manager at Evergreen Enterprises of VA

Ann Marie Mendlow, President and Co-founder of Werkshoppe

Grace Watson, Evergreen Enterprises

Ting Xu, Owner of Evergreen Entrprises

Lori Siebert, Licensed artist and product designer

Phyllis Dobbs, Licensed artist, textile designer and product designer

Roundtable sessions – Even more on key topics for an art business

Quote of the week:

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

– Oprah Winfrey

Inspirational artist of the week… Gere Kavanaugh

Gere Kavanaugh grew up in ​Memphis​, Tennessee, and was born in 1929. She graduated from the Memphis Academy of Art with a BFA. She was the third woman to acquire an MFA at the ​Cranbrook Academy of Art​ in Michigan.

Kavanaugh worked for General Motors as a stylist, primarily designing exhibitions to demonstrate autos and creating displays, model kitchens, and interiors. She was one of the company’s first female designers, called the “Damsels of Design” by design director Harley Earl.

During her career, Kavanaugh has designed ceramics, light fixtures, residences, retail interiors, ​textiles​, town clocks, and ​furniture​. In the 1970s, she designed the “​California​ umbrella” with Terra’s ​furniture​ business. Without a patent, she established an alumni product archive at Cranbrook, where alumni could give work that corporations could replicate and directly pay royalties to the school.

Hand lettering inspiration of the week… Picasso

Original lithograph on stone by Pablo Picasso, one of the 500 copies printed in Barcelona in 1960

We LOVE research and learning as a way to get inspired and boost ideas and creativity!! So, Kenzie and I are going to be sharing the inspiration that we collect here in our second newsletter…. once a week!!!

Here’s how it works:

We provide the inspiration. You interpret it however you wish… any medium, any size. It is meant to inspire lettering and floral art combined together. But, you can:

• Just do the florals, just do the lettering, or combine them together.
• Use the provided quote for your piece or select your own.
• Use colors from one of the inspiration images or select your own favorites
• Create the floral art… as a still life in a vase, a single flower, a border, a pattern, a bouquet

Hope you will create with us and post your work at #wordsandwildflowers2024 and tag @lorisiebert.studio and @snippetsofwhimsy

We will be checking and sharing some of our favorites. AND… there may be surprise guest judges and PRIZES!!!

---

Quote of the week:

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”

-Maya Angelou

Inspirational artist of the week: Paul Aizpiri

Paul Aizpiri was a painter and sculptor born in 1919 in Paris, France to an Italian mother and a father from the Basque Country, Spain. Aizpiri was an optimistic person since birth, a disposition reflected by the vibrant colors and the unrestrained brushstrokes characteristic of his works. His signature compositions always had a touch of friendliness with his integration of Fauvism, Expressionism, and Cubism.

In 1936, he started studying at L’École des Beaux-Arts, and his reputation was built as he held his first solo exhibition when he was 24. In 1939 Paul Aizpiri escaped from a German prisoner of war camp in Brittany and made his way back to Paris.

In 1946, he won a prize at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture, and exhibited his works along with those of the most influential post-war painters, including Bernard Buffet and Paul Rebeyrolle.

1956 was the year his path as an artist was altered, that year he met with Foujita, Soutine, Van Dongen, Utrillo and Picasso, who greatly influenced his style and work. From the 1950s, famous galleries all over the world started to invite him for solo exhibitions.

In 1996, an Aizpiri museum (Nakata Museum of Art) opened in Japan, which is a rare honor for living artists.

He was the founder of “Salon des Moins de Trente ans”. He was a member of the October Salon since 1945, and was also an active member of “Salon d’Automne”, “Salon des Independents” and of the Tullerias.

He died of pneumonia on January 22nd, 2016, at the age of 96.

Handlettering inspiration of the week… Sister Corita Kent

Corita Kent (1918–1986) was an artist, educator, and advocate for social justice. At age 18 she entered the religious order Immaculate Heart of Mary, eventually teaching and then heading the art department at Immaculate Heart College. During the course of her career, her artwork evolved from using figurative and religious imagery to incorporating advertising images and slogans, popular song lyrics, biblical verses, and literature. Throughout the ‘60s, her work became increasingly political, urging viewers to consider poverty, racism, and social injustice. In 1968, she left the order and moved to Boston. After 1970, her work evolved into a sparser, introspective style, influenced by living in a new environment, a secular life, and her battles with cancer. She remained active in social causes until her death in 1986. At the time of her death, she had created almost 800 serigraph editions, thousands of watercolors, and innumerable public and private commissions.