Today we’d like to introduce you to Eileen Tomson.
Hi Eileen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in downtown Los Angeles, and lived my childhood in West Hollywood above the Sunset Strip. I was mostly brought up by my mother from England. In secret when I was alone, I would crawl under my mother’s furniture and draw on the underside of the wood. In high school my best friend bought me a set of prisma color pencils, the pencils of color and light. My art teachers told me I had artistic talent, and I came out of my shell little by little.
Art has a way of doing that, the creative process erases the dark and brings you back into the light. The light of restoration, hope, resilience, and joy; the gift of possibilities. I found that the creative process brings you to a safe place where your voice is heard.
Through the years, I noticed that even when I was under stress, my artwork was consistently joyful, whimsical, and mostly the palette of pastels. Pastels were the softness that I needed in a harsh world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think among the struggles along the way came from the words inside my own head. I was mostly successful at an early age, my tenacity made be go forward, not being afraid of obstacles and overcoming the shyness that I had. I graduated from college with a BFA in Illustration. My painting teacher said I should design greeting cards because my work was always so small. So I did. Just after graduation I took out a loan and started my own greeting card company named Jag Graphics, named after my black cat. Ten years, and over 100,000 printing of blank stationery, gift tags, and wrapping paper, I was named Best of the West by the American Merchandise Corporation, my designs were in all the major department stores, and boutique stores across the world. My stationery was in top catalogues and featured in magazines. Like anyone in small business the struggles were real, good days and bad days.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I started out as a greeting card artist, and still design stationery today. Back then I was most proud of being featured in the front windows of Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills with my various Valentine designs hanging by filament facing Wilshire Blvd. After many years of stationery design, I decided to branch out into abstract painting. My strength has always been my sense of color, so abstract was a relaxing way for me to express myself in the creative process. My paintings have been in the Lexus Metrocenter Showroom and offices, I was featured as Artist of the Week on The Nashville Sign downtown, one of my abstract paintings was chosen for the Metro Arts Lending Library, and I have had pop up events with my stationery and paintings in West Elm and Anthropologie. I also have my work in several art shows and galleries, as well as private homes. In 2020 during covid, I was most proud of being selected among a small group of artists into the Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training. Periscope is an intensive, curriculum-based accelerator program that helps artists build and grow sustainable creative businesses, empowering them to see their vision through an entrepreneurial lens.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Our industry is changing so much now, a future that blends art made by hand and the technology of digital tools with artists using AI software, Photoshop, Illustrator and tablets that have programs like Procreate to create and share their work on a larger scale. The market is seeing more online sales and social media sales. More galleries are using online sales to attract new buyers. There will always be a place to see artwork in person, people like to frequent museums and galleries and see famous artists along with emerging artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://eileentomson.square.site
- Instagram: instagram eileentomsondesign
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eileentomsondesignstudios
- LinkedIn: eileendesignstudios
- Other: https://www.eileentomson.com
