strauberrystudios

The Story of US. What Tribe do I belong to?

A tribe as defined by the dictionary is: group with common interest or pursuits.

I sat in my writing group today and we started to talk about tribes. I have always loved the word tribe, so it set me to wonder what tribe I belong to. How do I define my tribe?

We all belong to multiple tribes, we have a family tribe which gains and loses members, we have friends which can be considered a tribe, but who do I see as my main tribe?

I started out my professional life as a Graphic Designer. I am now considered an artist/illustrator. For most people they don't really know what that means. So here is a bit of an explanation.

A Graphic Designer works with companies or small businesses to create a visual look for that business. They do logos, business packages, websites, marketing collateral etc. This is a profession that I have been a part of for the past 25 years. In this time I have had the good fortune to work with some well known companies and some great small businesses, but in general I fell into this business as a way to make money in art. Graphic Design is more about business than it is about art, it is a very linear version of art.

I kept going back to what I really loved and that was illustration. An Illustrator by contrast is very non-linear. You are there to illustrate something that will communicate a feeling. You are in essence a visual storyteller. You may work with businesses or editors, you may show how something works visually.

Lately I have been working on both sides as a Graphic Designer and as an Illustrator. On the one side I am illustrating children's books, bringing to life characters in stories. On the other side I am designing branding for small business getting into social media. They seem to be divergent ends of the spectrum, almost schizophrenic. But are they really? How does this help me find my tribe?

Here is my conclusion: I am a visual storyteller!

In the graphic design side of my life I am telling your story, or your companies story. I give your audience a visual feeling of who you are. Just the same as my other side, I tell my characters story. An artist, designer, illustrator is a person who tells visual stories. They make it easy in any language or no language at all to understand, feelings,emotions, directions,and passions, this is my tribe. I belong (which I think we all want to) to a tribe. My tribe is visual storytellers.

Tell me what your thoughts are on tribes? Who is it you connect with? Who makes up...?

Roaming Gnome's Got Nothing on Us!

That roaming gnome thinks he's so cool. Not so fast. We are way cuter,cuddlier and oh yeah not a hunk of ceramic!

It started back in the beginning the" Buddies" got their first taste of flying when they flew up from San Diego to Seattle. From there they have flown to Phoenix, traveled to eastern Washington, Flown to Michigan and are getting ready to go back.

 This weekend they experienced their very first ride on a Washington State Ferry. They traveled to Whidbey Island and went to Penn Cove then off to Deception Pass. They were trying to beat the heat, but the coolest part of the trip was their air conditioned FJ Cruiser named LemonDrop.

Want to see the video from the trip? Click on the link. Oh by the way, there are more videos of them and their friends on their YouTube Channel. So stay awhile and play. 

http://www.youtube.com/strauberrystudios#p/u/0/-BGd69EjpBY

When did we lose the child like Innocence? Can we get it back?

 Yesterday while at the farmers market I saw out of the corner of my eye this baby girl, she must have been 8 or so months old. She was bouncing on her grandmothers knee to the bluegrass trio that was fiddling away. The baby was laughing and trying hard to clap her hands to the beat. Motor skills aside she was the picture of pure joy.

As the leaves rustled by and the light of fall was in the air, I was sent back in time by this little girl to my childhood. I used to rake leaves into the outline of a house complete with a tea room. Mom and Dad helped me bring down my table and chairs and I would invite my neighbor Mrs. Zilch to tea. In the very proper tea set I had Rootbeer Fizzy's to simulate the tea and Mrs. Zilch and I would have a grand party.

When do we lose that childlike innocence? For some it happens when they have a crush that goes unnoticed, for others it is maybe the questioning of beliefs in wonders like Santa or the Easter Bunny. I remember the exact day I grew up. May 14th 1969. This was the day the world as I knew it changed. I was 11 years old and my Dad died. This event shakes me to this day.

Can we get it back? I do believe you can, even if it is in small doses. When we laugh at something uncontrollably, when see the wonder in a place, or a remembrance brings us back, or in piece of art. It can happen in times of great joy, when we let down our guard.

I find that little girl almost every day I sit down to create a drawing of my buddies. It may be a song that sparks me, or a funny thought, or something funny someone said. I have gotten to know my characters like they were my children.

They have fun things that they love to do, and they are always up for an adventure. This is what I love about drawing and creating stories and friends. There is no editing, there is nothing that they can't overcome, there is no one they don't get along with. They are pure joy!

Remember when the promise of going to the zoo was the greatest day ever, Or that trip to see something you had never seen? This is your inner child. Reconnect. That joy is part of you everyday. Be present and you will come back to play.

A(MUSE)ing How Things Come About

 
 Poppy came easily but what of the rest of the friends that now inhabit my stories.

Lemon Penguin has a bit of an adventurous streak. He is the one that got Poppy to escape from the Zoo. He is Poppy's partner. But who is he on his own? Lemon is quiet, shy, loves to take naps. He is a friend, a companion, and he would do anything for his friends. Lemon loves adventure, this is why he escaped from the Zoo, he was bored. He found his calling as a Snow Cone salesman and has never looked back.

When it comes to the Bears I found a whole new type of inspiration. 

Frosty came first.  Frosty is a good hearted soul, with a love of fun, a dancing muse, that inspires his friends to dance. When I first created him he danced off of the paper and made me laugh. I love to dance even with two left feet. He makes it safe for me to look silly and I love that about him.

Then along came Theo. Theo is a bit more reserved. Creative in his own right, Theo loves to sing. He is the muse of singing. He love opera, he can scat with the best of them, and on occasion he will get down and rock and roll. If there is music in the air, he will soon join in the refrain. He sings to his bees and they buzz along with the tune. I love to sing (just not in public anymore.)

To round out the bears Henri made his appearance. Henri is the muse of Art. Now you would think he would have been the first for me, but no. Henri see joy and love in everything. He always has his sketchbook at the ready for whenever the mood strikes. He brings color and life to the cabin and loves to show his friends how to paint and draw. He doesn't care if they are good, just as long as they have fun. He may be a black bear but his heart has rainbow colors.

It is funny to me how all of these friends became so close to my heart. They all live in the joy I seek and express daily. Who inspires your soul? How do they bring life, joy and love to your business? Are you listening to your muses, and what are they telling you?

God is in the details...

It has been said many times that God is in the details. I got to thinking about this the other day as I was reading this wonderful book called " Impact" by Nancy Soloman. In the portion of the book that I was in it was speaking to finding your "God-Self" What you are put here to do. The contract that you made to be here.

It really got me thinking about all of the things I have done in my life. I seem to be good at what ever I put my mind to. So if this was the case than "What was I sent here to do?" 

We are told at a young age by our parents you are good at this or that. Some people I know knew exactly who they wanted to be when they grew up. I have two brothers that are like that. They had such conviction even when they were 10. Me, well not so much. 

I liked to do so many things, I loved music and so I sang, got solos in school and went into music in college. I loved art, I loved drama, I loved speaking, but what did I want to be when I grew up? I could be good at anything I set my mind to.

So I really had to stop and think. I lost my voice so much in school that it left me without a voice to sing. Maybe I was not put here to sing. I found that I was good at teaching and I really enjoy that, but it doesn't fill the hole. I loved to be in plays in school, but I did not see myself doing this all of my life.

What was always there, throughout all of it was my love of drawing. Was this what I was meant to do, should this be who I am? I really love to draw and create. I am the happiest when I am creating.

In the past year and a half I have been working more on my art than ever. I have created 3 lines and written 3 children's  books and created plush toys based on the characters in the books. I have never been happier. I am happy to call myself an artist.

So keep looking, go deep into your heart, you do know who you are supposed to be. It took me awhile and I wish I had come to this earlier in  my life, the point is I got there.

What Does Your Character Say?

 Every Sunday night it was the "Wonderful World of Disney" I loved the animation and continue to this day a great love for animation. I have seen every animated movie the Disney Studios ever produced and I have followed Pixar from the very beginning and have also seen every movie they produced. Why you might ask?

It is all about the characters. Disney started out with something we are all very afraid of a mouse. Not the cutest of creatures, but just the same we fell in love with this mouse and he is beloved to this day some 50+ years later. I remember the first Toy Story, we fell in love with a cowboy named Woody and a Space Ranger called Buzz. Why? Because the people that created these characters made them lovable, gave them a real personality, made them human. This is why we can go to a movie with animated characters and cry, laugh, say look out, and talk back to the screen.

When I set out to create my first books I realized these "characters" needed to be lovable, relatable, friendly, fun,adventurous,  so I set out to create each character as if they were my friends. Truly they are because they have become a part of me. I would like to think my best parts. 

I see Poppy as this inquisitive girly, girl of a penguin, wanting to learn anything and everything. She enjoys life, loves Lemon and would follow him anywhere. She loves her friends no matter if they are bears, or moose or reindeers and she has a big happy heart. Someone asked me if I gave her a voice what or who would she sound like? I said Paula Deen. Made sense to me because she is that kind of person.

I continue to add characters to my stories, I constantly think of who they are, what kind of traits do they have, what makes them lovable? If you would ask I could tell you who everyone is and why they are who they are. I truly believe that in order for you to connect with a story or a buddy, you must find their traits to be what you wish for in a friend. As an adult we forget sometimes that child like play, we forget about the adventures we had with our special friends, but watching a child make a new friend brings us back.

This is why I so enjoy creating stories and characters, this is what fuels my passion, this is why I love being an artist. I still love those adventures, I still love to play, but now I create what is in my imagination!

Once Upon A Time in the land of Plush

A little over a year ago I started on a journey to create plush based on the characters from my books. I knew little to nothing about what it would take to start the whole process. It is amazing what you can find out on the Internet. 

But once you start that road can be a bit overwhelming as well. I found a great company, that met all of my criteria and then the real work began. It was time to make a prototype. I was very fortunate to have a friend that wanted to help she is also a pattern maker. We worked on the first styles and they looked just like my characters. 

Then it was off to the Bear factory. We took our trip to Arizona in February to how our idea would be received out in the  open. The trip revealed just a bit more work. So it was back to the cutting room. Well sort of. With a few minor modifications we were off to the races. 

Next it was time to show off our new friends. We took trips around Seattle and we contacted toy stores all over the country. It was evident that that they were well received and sometimes it was hard to get the buddies back. People just love to hug them. The economy was a bit of a factor. Most stores said they loved them but weren't ready to buy just yet. The consignment word kept coming up. 

It was time for me to make a decision. I know people like them, I know they really want to carry them in their stores, but the what ifs kept popping in my head. So I weighed all of the options, talked it over with my advisory board and decided the best way to find out is to do a small production run. I could see if I made the correct decision on the factory, I could get them into some stores and I could open a site on the internet.Now we are moving into the first production run. It is exciting, stressful and it seems hard to believe that I am here. 

One thing I have learned is that anything is possible when you put your mind and energy toward it. Make sure to do your homework, find people who are willing to help, listen to your mind and your heart and do what you think is best for you. I did not go into this lightly, I take it all very seriously, I know in may heart and head this is the right time to follow my dream. When it  is time you will know, and then don't let any thing get in the way of your dreams.