Can You Succeed as an Artist and a Licensed Designer
at the Same Time?

my Lacombe, a Los Angeles jeweler and ceramic artist, was making and selling both jewelry and clay figurines for close to 20 years, but business was declining. The minimalist look was in style and her earrings were big and bold. She was struggling to keep her businesses afloat when a phone call changed everything.

Lacombe also made a line of cat figurines that were carried in gift shops. Each piece was labeled “Made in the USA by Amy Lacombe” and her phone number. She was contacted about a licensing deal to manufacture her work overseas. She met with the company rep and signed on. Her designs, licensed under the name “Whimsiclay by Amy Lacombe,” have been very successful. She recently signed another deal with a second licensee to produce her line of whimsical cat figurines (suggested retail price: $15-$18).

NO GREY AREA FOR CRAFT WORK AND LICENSED DESIGNS

For many artists, licensing work to be produced overseas and imported back to the United States is lucrative and enticing. In addition to the financial benefits, the idea of making a design once and sending it off to be produced is music to the ears of an artist who feels stuck in the studio making the same item over and over again. But complications arise when the original and licensed work are too similar. The key, artists say, is to keep your licensed work separate from the work you sell to galleries.

Steven McGovney and Tammy Camarot of McGovney-Camarot Studios in Prescott Valley, Ariz., design and sell a high-end line of brightly colored, graphic vessels, plates, teapots, salt/pepper shakers and utensils in unusual shapes and forms. It’s vastly different from their line of licensed work, which is produced overseas.

The two artists learned to drastically distinguish their lines as a result of a costly lesson. Six years ago, a friend who owned a small licensing company and wanted to break into the tabletop market asked the couple to work with him on a line of items to manufacture overseas. They produced some designs they considered different from their original work but quickly realized that they hadn’t gone far enough.

“ The problem,” says McGovney, “was that we didn’t break away enough. We thought we were aiming for a more middle-American market, with more floral and traditional designs. But we were still too close to our original color palette. We caught a lot of flack from wholesale show promoters and buyers. That initial endeavor probably cost us a few accounts.”

Allowing their name to be used on the licensed work also struck a nerve with existing accounts. “About 90 percent of our business is selling through wholesale shows to galleries,” adds McGovney, “so we didn’t want to jeopardize that business. We’ve now taken our name off the licensed work, and it is totally different from what we sell at wholesale markets.”

McGovney-Camarot’s whimsical line of animals and dog figurines is sold through Prosperity Tree International, and so far, the return has been promising. “From about $350,000 in sales of our first lines, the take-home is between $10,000 to $15,000. The new animal line has been very well received, so we hope that number increases this year.”

McGovney and Camarot plan to stay rooted in the crafts field, but they hope to bring in substantial additional income from their licensing efforts. “We’re at a tough size for a craft business,” says McGovney, “We employ a few people, and our exhibitor costs are high. So I don’t have the resources to pay a production manager. That means I have to do a lot of the glazing, packing, shipping and paperwork myself, which leaves very little time for creative work. Yet you have to stay fresh in order to keep buyers interested. We’re hoping that down the road, licensing deals can bring in enough money to allow me to spend more time creating new designs.”

OPENING NEW AVENUES FOR SALES

For years, Vermont-based artist Jane Davies produced several lines of brightly colored dinnerware. But throwing each plate on the wheel, drying it in a kiln, and painting her signature designs on it was becoming monotonous. Also, with the popularity of ‘paint-your-own’ ceramics studios, she found more and more people saying they could produce comparable dinnerware for themselves. “It became harder and harder to sell my totally handmade work at the prices I needed to charge,” she adds.

Since her interests lie more in painting than making pottery, Davies started buying the bisque ware from a supplier. She continued to sell her work at craft shows, but admits that she encountered some resistance from show promoters who weren’t comfortable with the fact that every aspect of her work was not handmade by her.

By that point, she was already looking for a licensing opportunity. She attended a seminar on licensing and started taking a course in textile design. She made contacts at SURTEX, a trade show that brings designers and manufacturers together, and her learning curve about licensing began.

“ It took a few years to be able to negotiate secure contracts, and to learn what types of deals are good versus those that aren’t worth it,” says Davies. One company that licensed her designs was selling it cheap at a low-end discount store at under $5 a plate. “There was no attention paid to display, it cheapened my work and the royalty checks were small,” she says. Davies didn’t renew that contract.

She currently has arrangements with other companies that produce her designs on dinnerware, fabric and paper goods. Davies is in the process of producing a book, “A Glaze of Color: Creating Color and Design on Ceramic” (Watson-Guptill). Due out in May, the book is a how-to guide for decorative painting on pottery. And, she still sells her own line of hand-painted pottery at craft shows.

DOWNWARD PRESSURE ON PRICE POINTS

Gallery owners are under increasing pressure to provide lower price points, and the temptation to buy licensed work and/or imported goods gets harder to resist every season. “It’s a real problem, and we struggle with it,” says Ellen Royce of A Unique Presence, a craft gallery in Chicago. Royce says the gallery strives to carry only American-made crafts, but it’s increasingly difficult in an economic climate where everyone wants a discount or coupon.

For five years, A Unique Presence was located in a mall outside the city, but when the lease was up a few months ago, they decided to relocate back to a more urban setting. “It got to the point that people would only buy at 50 percent off at the mall,” says Royce. “We just couldn’t survive in that setting. Besides, the average person walking through the door doesn’t ask about whether an item is made in the USA or not.”
Nevertheless, A Unique Presence still doesn’t sell licensed work. “We struggle with whether or not people’s emotions will win over what’s in their pockets,” Royce says.

STRICTLY BUSINESS TO SELL IMPORTED WORK

Don Gorenberg owns Seldom Seen Craft Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A founding member of the Craft Retailers Association For Tomorrow (CRAFT), Gorenberg has struggled with the same issues as Royce; but feels it’s best for his business to carry some imported work because it’s appealing and it sells.

Seldom Seen carries roughly 80 percent American craft, with the remainder made up of imported novelties and work designed by American artists but licensed to manufacturers overseas. For Gorenberg, the move to accept imported work was strictly a business decision. “We had to ask ourselves whether we could get enough people into the store [to buy work only] made in the USA. And the answer was ‘No.’

There are many different kinds of galleries. For us, the key is to present things that are pleasing to the public.”

THE MARKET FOR HIGH-END LIVES ON

Toby Quitel is co-owner of Zephyr Gallery, with locations in New Hope, Pa., Princeton and Marlton, N.J. Quitel says her galleries are known for selling fine American crafts, but points out that she carries some work by Canadian and Israeli artists, too. From time to time, artists whose work she carries have decided to license their work and have it reproduced overseas.

Quitel carried some of the foreign-made items, but found it didn’t work in the long run. “We accepted this work because we loved the artists,” says Quitel, “and we still do. The work sold, but then we started to see it everywhere. Once that happens, you lose that beautiful circle of artist, retailer and customer, and you lose the energy. I know my customers and that’s not what they want.”

Despite his licensing efforts, McGovney agrees. “We sold a line of salt and pepper shakers through Guild.com in 2003. It was one of their top selling items at $88 per set,” says McGovney. “We’ve sold about half a dozen ceramic end tables at $1,000 each. So there is still a market for [original] high-end work.”

EVERYONES GOTTA MAKE A LIVING...RIGHT?

Quitel says that while her business thrives on representing only American-made crafts, she understands why artists license their work to be manufactured overseas.

Lacombe says the opportunity to license some of her designs kept her in the art world at a time when she was about to give it up. “I was taking a class to teach English-as-a-second-language for extra money when the opportunity just kind of fell into my lap,” she recalls.

Lacombe still produces a line of originals that portray whimsical sea creatures such as mermaids. Those pieces retail for $40 and up. Some galleries and stores buy both her licensed work and her originals, while others buy one line or the other. Like other artists and gallery owners, she encountered some objections from her existing customers when she started licensing her work, but she says she stood her ground, explaining that many well known artists, even masters, license their work.

For some artists, it’s the only way to make a living as an artist. “It hasn’t been a huge conflict,” says Lacombe. “Some people want to buy something handmade, and they’re willing to pay for it.”

When asked why she doesn’t limit her work to the more lucrative licensed designs, she says that without the original line she wouldn’t be able to keep her assistant working. “He’s been with me for 15 years, and has stuck with me through thick and thin,” she says, “so I feel beholden to him, and I don’t want to leave him high and dry. Besides, he helps me with my licensed designs as well.”

Bernadette Finnerty is a contributing editor to The Crafts Report.