051 - Bari J, Surface Pattern Designer, on Licensing Artwork, Pattern Design Workflow, & Getting a Book Deal!

Positively Creative

Have you ever thought about licensing your artwork? Well, today I'm talking with Bari J all about how she got started as a surface pattern designer and how she put herself out there to get her first fabric company to license. We chat about how to educate yourself about pattern design, her favorite products she's created, and all about her new book. We also dive into her process and how she finds inspiration for her collections.

About Bari J:Bari J. is a lifestyle brand that spans many categories including wall art, fabric, home decor, stationery, cards, wall murals, wall paper, stencils and more.

I'm an artist. As a very visual person, I probably always was, but I didn't always create art. I was a fashionista sort in high school, and I was crazy for interior design. But I was busy singing and dancing and being an actress. I never ever thought I could make art. My mom was the artist. I was the actress. That was that.

I came to art in my early thirties as a way to express myself when my children were young. Out of college, I had worked in advertising. And though I started college as a theatre major I graduated college with a degree in Social Sciences and Women's Studies. Not really related to art, I'd say.

But when our now almost grown girls were little, I was always puttering around. I wanted our home to be different. I didn't want it to look like a page from a Pottery Barn catalog. I wanted it to look like us. And I also didn't want to dress from a catalog. At the time, I started making jewelry from found objects and then collage art as well.

Soon I was sewing handbags and created a small business under the name Bari J. selling luscious fabric bags... and the Curated Maximalist Style was born (though I didn't know that quite yet). After several years, I decided I needed my own fabric for the bags, and with a background in graphic design for advertising, I started teaching myself to design fabric. A year later, I licensed my first line of fabric. It was a "painterly" line called Full Bloom that most assumed I had painted by hand. But I hadn't. For years I continued to create art just in the computer... and then I took the leap. Paint. And I was hooked.

Now years later I know what was always true. I am an artist. And I am a painter.

Since then I have created 15 collections of fabric, art for wall paper, home decor, wall art, and much more.

The Curated Maximalist Style has become part of who I am and what I do.

Links:

Episode 45 - Angie Avard Turner, Lawyer of Prepd for Success on Protecting Your Intellectual Property, Contracts for Creatives, & Copyrighting Images

Website: https://barijdesigns.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barij/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/barij/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BariJdesigns/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9pNVddXV5GWCkXHl5ZvbhQ

To get 50% off your first year with Honeybook, go to positivelycreative.net/honeybook!

About The Positively Creative Podcast:

The Positively Creative Podcast was created by Dorothy Collier, artist of Dorothy Art, for creative entrepreneurs. When Dorothy started having a positive outlook on every aspect of her life, including her art career, the creativity and opportunities started overflowing! Join her as she chats with other small business owners, discussing the ins and outs of how to run a creative business and how they make it in their respective fields.

To learn more about The Positively Creative Podcast, visit our website or head over to our Patreon page! You can also find Dorothy on Instagram at @positivelycreativepodcast and @dorothyart!