Each family buys or creates five of the same ornaments- keeps one for themselves and then sends one to each family.  I often make extra ornaments to pass along to special friends and extended family as well.  The ornaments may be handcrafted, store bought (or store bought and then embellished), photo ornaments…whatever works that year for each family. It’s so much fun to open them and see the creations or how much the nieces and nephews (or dogs) have grown in the photo ornaments.  It’s also so wonderful to know that our trees have a common theme- “Family,” even though they are thousands of miles apart.

Here’s a sampling of some of the ornaments over the years that have been shared.

As you can see, they range from some of my early holiday paintings to a beautiful Santa made by Mom, beach inspired baubles to photos…all kinds of themes. It’s always fun to unwrap them each year!

Merry Christmas!

Click on the image and enter to win! Good luck!

Wall hook manufactured by Creative Co-Op featured in Smurfs 2011.

On occasion, my sister Kristin, who handles all of my licensing, will get a call from a television production company asking for permission to use either my wall art or some other product featuring my artwork in their show. For the most part though, I will be watching something or one of my family members will see something on a show and call it to my attention. I always get a kick out of it! I thought I would share some of the things I have seen over the years.

I have seen some of my designs on several HGTV and home decor/redesign types of shows.  I saw the tray on an episode of “House Hunters”:

Retired Bon Appetit Collection from Certified International

This bird print was in a after version of a  bathroom on “Moving Up” with Doug Wilson:

Morning Song Chickadee by Kate McRostie

One of my early rooster prints was shown in an “after” kitchen on “Trading Spaces”:

Rooster by Kate McRostie

Storage boxes using these Palm Trees set the theme for a whole living room on HGTV’s “My First Place”:

McRostie Palm Trees featured on storage boxes

I was really surprised when I saw some more of my ceramics in Jeanna Keough’s house on Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Orange County”. My “Boulevard” Collection (now retired) by Certified International lined Jeanna’s China Cabinet in the dining room off her kitchen!

Boulevard Plate

Boulevard Mug

I thought it was funny when I heard that Tamara Barney had a set of my Chocolate Rose Floral prints in her bathroom (seen during an argument scene with her now ex-husband):

McRostie Chocolate Floral

 More recently, the set designers called from the tv show “HOUSE” and asked permission to use my art placemats. I haven’t seen the episode yet, so if you see them, let me know!

Fisherman's Catch Placemats

If you see any of my art on the big or little screen – let me know! I would love to hear from you!

For those of you who don’t follow my Facebook page, please note that we have a great new giveaway contest going on this week for a set of tin canisters. They feature my “Walk in the Park” artwork with cute puppies and dog bone patterns. Be sure to click on the blue bar at the top of my page and enter for a chance to win.

Facebook page to enter!

The contest ends on Wednesday, July 13th at 8:00 pm Eastern time. Good luck!

Self Portrait circa 1985

I meant to put these up a few weeks ago but then got super busy between heading to the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, the kids starting summer break, and lots of various projects and deadlines. In the late Spring, I came across a bunch of my old artwork while doing a bit of organizing and thought you would get a kick out of seeing some of it! All of these pieces were done back in the 80′s…back in the day.

Pencil drawing done from a photograph of myself as a toddler circa 1984

A pencil drawing of my grandmother done from a sitting back in 1982

A still life that I did featuring my mother's antiques back in 1985

An alphabet that I did in acrylics in 1985...we had just moved away from Carlisle, PA...see all of the Amish country and antique references? I went on a lot of antiquing and Amish country trips with Mom when we lived there!

A still life done in 1985

A portrait of a model from a magazine done in charcoal in 1983...anyone recognize her?

I hope that you enjoyed the little trip back in time. One day, I will share my story of my Dad’s technique for getting me to practice my drawing…it’s a pretty good story.

Both Surtex and Licensing International Expo offer seminars specifically geared toward artists and art licensing. The classes range from basic information for beginners to more advanced type courses for artists who have already gotten their feet wet with licensing. Their websites are great resources. The Surtex website in particular is a great source of  information for artists just starting out. If you are at all unsure, it’s worthwhile to walk the shows and check them out before making the committment of exhibiting. You will be able to see what the booth set-up looks like in person and possibly gauge whether or not you and your artwork are ready for one of the shows and maybe even licensing in general. Unfortunately, not all artwork is suitable for licensing. You may find that you need to tweak things in order to be competitive – but always stay true to your style of art!

Friend and hugely successful artist Paul Brent offers a website that has access to several teleseminars that he has done. They are well worth your while!

Another great resource is artist Tara Reed, who I finally had the pleasure of meeting when I was in Las Vegas last week! She has a blog, website and Facebook page dedicated to learning about art licensing. Tara’s site offers artist stories, helpful links and book info, a listing of art agencies, and so much more. It’s PACKED with info!

Jeff Grinspan, an industry veteran, offers his expertise through Artmoid, his consulting business.   Many artists who have attended Surtex might recognize Jeff as the hilarious and peppy moderator of many of the seminars. Jeff is a leading industry consultant who can give you that unbiased and individualized opinion that you might need! He can answer questions about whether or not licensing is really for you and your art, provide motivation techniques, give you info on what you should charge…all for a reasonable fee. (This is not a paid endorsement by the way…Jeff’s just a great guy and I recommend his opinions!)

Me & Jeff at Surtex 2010

This is just a little bit of information about art licensing, there’s so much to learn and much of it is learned along the way.  I hope that if it is a path that you wish to embark on, that you do your research. It’s a full time job just like anything else and is alot of hard work, but at the end of the day, it’s very rewarding to be able to earn a living doing something that I love!

I get asked all of the time about my own girls and whether or not any of them are artists.  They definitely have a lot of art around them. Besides my side of the family, my sister-in-law, Cyndi, is an amazing cake designer…so they have artistic influence from the McRostie side too!

Over the weekend, while doing a little clean up around the house, I took some snapshots of some of the art that decorates their bedrooms.

My oldest daughter, Kassie, 15, has a modern approach to her art:

Modern art by my oldest, Kassie

 My middle daughter, Kenzie, 11, whipped up this lovely floral using a wind painting technique and then painted her own watercolor flowers:

Art with an Asian flair by Kenzie

Multimedia art by Kaylie

As their mom, I know I am biased, but they are pretty good! Who knows, maybe when I am ready to retire (after college tuitions and weddings are paid for), one of my girls will end up licensing their own artwork. Only time will tell…