Art for Children

For over three decades I’ve been creating successful and profitable artwork for the children’s retail market. I started my career as a hands-on Art Director illustrating Disney character-art for Fingerprints of California’s licensing partnership with Disney Consumer Products. This was long before style guides were available to licensing partners and each licensor was responsible for illustrating their own Disney artwork under the guidance of the Disney Creative Team. I worked with multiple Disney brands including Standard Characters, Disney Babies, Mickey & Co., Mickey’s World, Pooh, Disney Films, and Disney Parks and Resorts in the giftware and stationery categories.

For five years I was the Creative Director of Licensing for the beloved children’s brand Suzy’s Zoo. At Suzy’s Zoo I led the creative development of three highly successful auxiliary brands; Little Suzy’s Zoo, Adventures in Duckport, and Wags and Whiskers. I was responsible for the creative development of the brand’s multi-tier retail programs and marketing materials. All the while directing an internal creative staff of artists and over 80 international licensing partners with the creation of their Suzy’s Zoo branded offerings. Our licensing partners included Gerber, Gerber Childrenswear, Kid’s Warehouse, Babies ‘R Us, Toy’s ‘R Us, Applause Plush, Scholastic Books, Wal-Mart Di-bottoms, Petco, to name a few. I worked with these partners both in-studio and at manufacturing plants throughout Mexico, Europe, and China. I also worked with BBC America and Moon Mesa Media in the development of the retail licensing program for Adventures in Duckport’s, Suzy’s Zoo’s animated children’s television series.

After leaving Suzy’s Zoo I became the Design Director for Rebel Entertainment Arts Licensing (R.E.A.L.). At Rebel I developed multiple non-violent children’s publishing programs and their accompanying licensing programs. Collaborations included work with several media companies. Along with developing licensing projects, I designed and illustrated several children’s books for the R.E.A.L. brand including The Children’s Alopecia Project endorsed book Alexandria’s Great Hair Day.

In 2011 opened The Lake House Studio to focus my creativity exclusively on design and illustration. In the studio I’ve been able to create my own signature vintage style. It’s a montage of my own imagination and found ephemera. Much of the artwork that I’ve been creating at The Lake House Studio has been developed for the children’s market with Carta Bella Paper Co. where I have developed over 75 successful and well-collected 24-piece paper collections. These collections have allowed me to showcase both my retro-cartoon stylings along with my highly realistic textbook style illustrations.