Designer Interview: Q & A With Rebecca of Whimsies & Wishes
Today we’re excited to announce a new series on the Studioe blog! Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing exclusive interviews with the designers for Studioe. Our first designer to be interviewed is the wonderful Rebecca of Whimsies & Wishes. Learn more about who she is and the wonderful designs she creates.
Q. Where are you from? Where did you grow up? Where do you live?
A. I am a lifelong resident of Maryland. I started out just north of Annapolis, Maryland and spent my early years there. Midway through elementary school we moved westward. I now live in western Maryland.
Q. Family? Pets?
A. I’ve been married to my wonderful husband for over thirty years. We have two adult daughters who are independent and gainfully employed. We had the usual array of pets that go along with children. For several years after the girls moved out we had no pets; then we purchased some peeps. Our goals were simple, fresh eggs and pretty roosters so that I had ready-made models for painting. It’s a long story but in the end we ended up two breeds and twenty-three chickens—all laying hens! That is a lot of eggs! Our chickens are treated as pets. They line up for shoulder rubs or to be held. Chickens can be very personable when you interact with them. After the chickens, came a cat. Since chicken feed can attract mice the cat is to prevent this from becoming an issue. I’m beginning to have visions of a book from my childhood, “The King, the Mice and the Cheese.”
Q. Background as far as education and jobs?
A. I’ve been a designer for a little more than twenty years. I began with painting and writing step-by-step instructions for how to recreate my painted designs. I then developed complementary products such as stencils and surfaces, which we manufacture. As with all creative industries, interest waxes, and wanes. As that industry matured and show attendance declined, I turned to art licensing. I enjoy the new challenges presented in the art licensing industry. Creating art for licensing presents both limitations and creative opportunities. The art must have mass appeal, which can be restrictive. For example, if painting fruit, commonly seen fruits are preferred like apples and grapes rather than the more exotic varieties such as pomegranates. Conversely, I can paint (and digitally enhance) without regard to teachability or adaptation to written instructions, which is very liberating.
I continue to develop and market products to the painting industry, but the majority of my efforts are directed toward licensing. Prior to being a designer, I was a technical illustrator and created scaled architectural renderings of pipe organ facades.
Q. What other products do you license for?
A. Products bearing my art include dinnerware, paper party goods, home décor, greeting cards, rubber stamps, coasters, giftware, outdoor garden décor, kitchen accessories, and wallpaper. The list is continually expanding!
Q. Do you have any other jobs outside of licensing?
A. Designing is my full-time job. My husband and I work together to reach both the painting and licensing markets.
Q. What inspires your lines?
A. Everything! I strive to look beyond the obvious like flowers to the oft-overlooked elements. A pile of rocks can reveal beautiful shapes and hues that become fodder for a background treatment or a tone-on-tone color palette. You might find my photo archives strange.
My collections for Studio e tend to be lacey with scrolls and decoratively cut silhouettes. My extensive background in stencil design influences these. In 1999, I began designing stencils to complement my painted works and continue to design and manufacture stencils today. My latest release is a collection of trend-forward collage style stencils in multiple sizes.
Q. Do you have a special place where you get your best work done?
A. I work primarily from my office but go mobile whenever necessary. I can pack up my laptop, a small Wacom tablet and a couple of hard drives to stay productive on the move.
Q. Do you have a memorable licensing or designing moments?
A. It is always rewarding when I receive an immediate response when offering a new collection. Although I have only been an independent licensing artist for a few years I have had that happen several times.
Q. Lessons learned over the years?
A. As I have interacted with people in a variety of companies I find it easier to decipher what they are seeking when they make casual comments looking through my portfolio. Face to face meetings are invaluable for gleaning this type of feedback.
Q. What do you like about fabric?
A. Fabric holds the same attraction for me as pretty papers, patterning and colors that I use in other applications. The combination of motifs and scales, colors and values that come together to create a pleasing composition is very gratifying. Long before I entered the field of art licensing I used various quilting fabrics to create my daughters’ dresses. These included contrasting pleated insets for sleeves along with complimentary piping, trims, and appliqué. A basic dress pattern can become a work of art when quilt fabric is introduced.
Q. How has your experience been working with our team while creating your lines? How has your experience been with Studioe in general?
A. My primary contact is Megan Downer and I genuinely enjoy working with her. Not only is she a pleasure to deal with, constructive criticism just sounds better when delivered with her delightful accent.
Q. Do you have expectations when you put out a line? i.e. what will work and what won’t work? Are you ever surprised at what is successful and what isn’t?
A. I usually have my personal favorites. Sometimes my favorites change when the fabric arrives. This might be due to changes in color or scale. I may have envisioned a warm hue and the final version is cool. Differences in what I envision vs. the final product can cause my preference to shift.
Q. Do you quilt? If not, what do you do with all the free fabric you get?
A. I have created quilted projects in the past and am an accomplished sewist but find that, being a professional designer; my creative exploits must have a purpose. As a result, I do not have time to quilt but I do tackle smaller projects. I made reversible aprons for two of my nieces. One is pictured below. The reverse apron body is made of the fabric used for the pocket on the view shown. I’ve also used it to accent painted projects such as the pillow ensemble, also shown below. For a no-sew project, fabric can be applied to a firm substrate to use as a background for painting or to create decorative items. I’ve described the process here: http://www.rebeccabaer.com/2014/11/mounting-fabric-wet-mount-method.html You can see a tiered stand created using one of my fabric collections shown with the step-by-step tutorial.
Rebecca’s most recent line for Studioe is the beautiful Winter Memories collection. View a few of the pieces below and click here to view the entire collection.
