Collaborations Part II

A Treasure Trove of Collaborative Efforts

In my previous post, I spoke a bit about different types of collaborations.  What grabbed my immediate attention were examples of the same artwork represented by two different sellers working independently.  This collection represents the best of what I found on Etsy. 

Print Art Transformed

There are many, many examples of paintings, photography and other print artwork being transformed and reproduced into another medium.  Examples include greeting cards, jewelry, and stickers to name a few.  Oftentimes the artist completes this transformation on their own, like this example from Michigan artist, Kandy's shop, BitOWhimsey:

Here, her original mixed media painting is offered as a one of kind painting, print, print mounted on wood,  jewelry pendant and note cards (not pictured).  Kandy maintains complete control over her artwork while offering the buyer multiple price points for enjoying her paintings.  

So what makes for a successful collaboration?  In the collections above, the first two rows are artists who have partnered with another artist to create accessories of their original paintings/prints.  A quick trip to their shops will show how successful that collaboration has been for both artists.

Cat Ivins has two distinctive and highly successful shops on Etsy, Polarity and Uncorked.  Cat's magnetic pendants, made from recycled car parts, are simply gorgeous.  She's successfully partnered with several artists to showcase their original artwork in these pendants.  Dilkabear's artwork is shown in this example.  Dilkabear offers prints, art cards as well as original paintings in her shop.  Her artwork is beautiful rendered in Cat's pendants and this collaboration (and resultant cross promotion) has worked well for both artists.

Yaelfran is a graphic artist whose prints are also offered in a  Polarity locket.  Yaelfran also offers sticker books featuring the artwork of several Etsy artists.  An ingenious way to decorate a page with your favorite artwork such as Geninne's Love Bird print.  Each sticker book contains the work of several artisans.  Yaelfran also offers you a chance to participate in a collaboration.  She offers coloring pages of her graphic art to encourage your inner artist.

The next two artists also feature pendants in their shops and the origin artwork, again, is perfectly showcased in the chosen design.  Heart Works by Lori's elegant lockets pair quite nicely with Irene Suchocki's delicate butterfly photograph (yep that's not a typo, it's a photograph).    In contrast, I couldn't envision a better setting for Rustic Goth's moody yet whimsical, paintings than this copper stained glass pendant by Enchanted Glass. 

Two artists on the last rows also had their print artwork transformed into another media.  In the first, House of Six Cats takes, in this example, Eyeshoot's photography and makes coasters that can also also be used as backsplash tiles.  Tea Party Revolution, however, offers you a different opportunity to collaborate with The Loli Shop by offering a cross stitch pattern for her prints that you can stitch and recreate the original (or use your own color scheme to create something new).

My last two examples in this series use the original artwork as inspiration or as a foundation for their own design.   Artmind provides the ceramic pieces Lilarubyking uses in her jewelry.  It's a fabulous collaboration and you can easily see the artists sharing a studio or gallery (although they live in two different countries).  And last, but definitely the inspiration for this series, is Loran Scruggs' collaboration with OopsthatsArt using their toys as a foundation for her own creation.  It's a brilliant collaboration and illustrates what two artists can accomplish when they combine their talents.  Although they work separately, their creations are uniquely linked.  

You can see more of these artists and their collaborations by clicking on their names in this article or on the title at the beginning of this article.  I encourage you to look for your own collaborations, big and small, they are inspirational.  This series has left me with many questions; how did these collaborations start, how do the choose their partner, and many more.  I'll cycle back and speak with a few artists to help answer these questions and will cycle back to this series.

In the meantime, my next article will focus on my collaboration with Somewhathip and a sneak peek at a couple planned for the future.