As it turned out 2023 was not what I was expecting when I retired my position at The Lumistellar Company mid-January. After 40 years plowing it down in the Family Entertainment industry as a graphic designer, illustrator and art director, I was burnt out, and felt like my career had come to an end with little to show for the years of daily effort except for some surviving portfolio pieces scattered about on random hard drives. I was toast emotionally and spiritually, so I took a few months to adjust to what I assumed would be my new post-creative life–putzing around the veggie garden, and repairing things ignored. My social media presence was as static as my initiative.
That was until I followed a young art student on Instagram, which in turn, completely changed the course of my life in ways I would have never considered.
I was the lead packaging illustrator for Hasbro’s Littlest Pet Shop™ twenty years ago, and over the course of six years, I provided pet character, and environment setting illustrations, on a work-for-hire basis. I lost count of the total number of pieces I did for the line, but it had to be over 200, and my connection with LPS eventually led to illustrating a number licensed children’s books, and thus cementing my career change from a graphic designer to a published illustrator.
Being an artist can be a lonely and anonymous life. You do your best creative work and send it off into the void in hopes that it will please and meet the needs of your client’s, or marketing director’s objective. You move on to the next project, throw your best into it, and so on. Rarely, if ever, is there any communication of how your effort was received by the target audience, the end-user, or in my case–kids six to twelve years old. ( A sales report is no indication how well a child responds or engages with a toy, or the visual fantasy created especially for it).
I finally found out this past October.
My young art student friend on Instagram was one of those children twenty years ago. She is currently working on her BFA in illustration, and her work is brilliant and gorgeous. She told me she was inspired by the Littlest Pet Shop™ character illustrations (I did back in the day), to become an artist herself, with a goal to work in the same industry I have been working in. To this day, I’m floored by the notion that my effort inspired someone to pursue art, but she’s not a singular case. There is a large community of young adults who are fans and collectors of LPS on Instagram and many of them have told me similar stories about being inspired to be an artist, some would cut out and save the character artwork to trade, and others found comfort from them when times were hard.
I'm humbled and honored to hear these stories from so many. Although I have no children of my own, I feel like a proud granddad having finally found my long lost family. The experience has rekindled my passion and given me a new purpose. I’m currently out of retirement, doing character art for the reboot of Littlest Pet Shop™ for a whole new generation of kids, and I’ve hired my art student friend as my assistant. I’m also looking at a number of side projects to help give exposure to a number of inspiring artists, giving back to a community that has shown me overwhelming candor, gratitude and kindness.
Never think your creative efforts have no consequence. It may take some time to surface but you’ll be surprised by how much it does.
May you find peace and prosperity in 2024
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