|
Lucy Woodhouse - Interview with an artist's agent
In August’s issue of Design Matters you may remember our article about the difficulty in finding representation for textile artists and designers in the UK. Since then we have been doing lots of research into this and have come across L J Woodhouse Design, a freelance design agency based in Sheffield representing textile artists and designers to the home furnishings market. I interviewed Lucy Woodhouse to find out more.
Were you aware that finding artist representation was such a problem in the UK?
Yes, it certainly is a very difficult industry to be involved in. Several of my designers have told me they had a lot of trouble finding anyone who could represent them and since we set up the website we have had a lot of enquiries from people saying the same. One good place to look is in the trade fairs exhibitors lists as they often give details of studios like mine. Also it is a good idea to ask at the universities as they often have a list of agencies that offer representation services.
What type of artists do you represent?
We are selling home furnishings to the retail and manufacturing industries. The artists produce the artwork and then the company we are selling to makes these up into their chosen products. This can be anything from bedding, tabletop and kitchen products to stationery and paper products.
What skills do you look for in an artist when they come to you for representation?
We like the artist to have good drawing skills and an understanding of colour. We like all the designs to be hand-painted rather than done on the computer as this gives us a better understanding of the artist’s abilities. We also take fabric and appliquéd designs, mostly for use with children’s designs.
Do you commission designs or work with what the artist has already produced?
We will do both. The artists usually come to me with a portfolio of designs and if anything from there is suitable I will take it to the clients. But we also commission an artist whose style we like to do a specific design with a project in mind.
How and where do you promote the artists who you are representing?
We sell work to the USA, Europe and the UK, as well as exhibiting at various trade fairs. The three main ones are Heimtextil in Frankfurt, Surtex in New York and Indigo in Brussels but we are looking to do others. When we travel to the trade fairs we take a portfolio of the designers’ artwork and in all about 250 designs are seen at each fair. We will also be developing the website to include a portfolio of each artist on there in the near future.
What should an artist do if they are interested in being represented by you?
It is very helpful if artists can send a few examples of their work in jpeg format when they email as we can then see very quickly if their style is suitable. It is also helpful to know a bit about the artist and where they studied.
If you would like more information about Lucy and L J Woodhouse Designs please email mail@lucywoodhouse.com or call 0114 268 7548. Don’t forget to include a couple of jpegs of your work if you would like to be considered for representation.
|
