Community & Art challenges with MablE Tan

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

I chatted with Mable about her creative journey, her Facebook community group & much more. Mable also has a wonderful Art Challenge she hosts this month which is alway fun to do (link below to join).

Let me introduce..

MAble Tan

Mable Tan is a surface designer, based in Melbourne, Australia. Her style is whimsical, fun and joyful. Her work is very much inspired by nature and birds. When she’s not drawing, she can be found in the baking or cooking a storm, or going on a walk by the river for some inspiration.

“I see my life as something artful - always creating and making it happy, fun and colourful in any way I can.”

Her work has been seen in Target Australia, Spotlight, RICE DK. She has been featured on Oh Joy! blog, Mantra mag, Flow mag, Origin mag.

What made you want to start your FB Art Licensing with Mable Tan community group? What has been the best thing that has come out of your FB group for you as a working artist?

I remember craving a safe, non-judgmental space to bounce ideas off with other artists, share insights and do some fun stuff as a community (like art challenges). So since I couldn’t find one, I created it.

I wanted it to be a space where we could share information like how to price our work so that artists wouldn’t unknowingly underprice their work. Underpricing hurts the entire industry. Charging low rates may sell art, but it is an unsustainable way to make an income, and, it educates clients to pay cheaply.

Finally, I have a natural curiosity to learn how other artists work and I’m a big believer that the more we know, the more we’ll grow - which is why I started doing Facebook Lives. I wanted to open the doors to how expert artists work. The road to success is long and not without challenges so it’s important to keep finding things that makes us feel inspired and motivated.

I think I've personally benefitted the most from the art licensing group because it’s allowed me to connect with so many talented artists. Initially it was really hard for me to do the lives. Being an introvert, it took a lot of mental energy. I couldn’t even re-watch the videos because of how awkward I thought I looked. But I’m glad I’d pushed through. I’m more comfortable with doing lives and public speaking these days. It’s not perfect and there’s still room for improvement, but I like to believe I’m getting better.

What are your hot tips for staying focused & motivated to achieve those big goals?

I’ve learned over the years that it’s important not to take too much on. At the beginning of my journey, I had a never ending to-do list. I thought I had to do all the things for my business but that only made me unfocused.

I read somewhere that the best thing you can do is to choose one thing and focus on doing it really well before you move on to the next project.

For example, I decided that I wanted to focus on art licensing. My goal was to license with a major retailer. So for three years, I kept creating and pitching to companies. This allowed me to grow and develop my skills in licensing and I became more confident speaking with art directors and negotiating with them.

So whether I’m working on my newsletter or creating a new portfolio, I rarely schedule anything else in between (unless I absolutely have to) until the job is done.

What is your top tip for being a working mum & find balance between work & family life?When do you get your most creative work done? How many hours to do normally work in an ideal week on your design business?

I love being my own boss and being able to set my own hours - which changes from day to day, week to week. ‘Balance’ is a big word for any working mum. I feel it’s a bit of a unicorn. It’s amazing how much is expected of the modern women. I have long acknowledged that I’m a work in progress and I’m never going to be able to juggle everything. In fact, it’s completely okay to drop some balls.

I’ve learned to schedule things in and I do a bit of a plan at the start of the year, and then leave room for things to take place organically.

Client’s work takes top priority so, I make sure that gets out of the way ASAP. Other than that, it will depend on the projects I’m working on in that moment.

If I’m working on a new portfolio, it’ll take me between an hour to four hours to work on a repeat pattern a day, depending on the complexity and how many colourways I’m doing. If I’m organising a Masterclass, I like to plan everything and schedule things on a week-to-week basis. I batch meals and freeze them on weekends. My husband knows by now to embrace the mess during hectic times.

I also love scheduling “easy ‘lazy’ days” and I highly recommend it to avoid burn out. There are months I don’t do much and I focus a little bit more on exercise, house chores, cooking, Netflix, spending time with my son and other activities.

What does selfcare mean to you & what's your go to thing you do that makes you feel rejuvenated again?

Self-care means seeing a doctor or the osteopath if I’m in pain. I use to ignore physical discomforts but since turning 40, I realised I need to do the ‘hard things’ to take better care of myself e.g. eating better, drinking more water, exercising… etc.

I love walking in nature. We’re very fortunate to have quite a few green belts around us despite being so close to the city. I love walking by the river and being surrounded by trees. It’s my therapy. I get my best ideas and solutions during long walks. In fact, there’s a Latin phrase “solvitur ambuland” which literally means, “It is solved by walking”.

Who are your biggest inspirations & why?

I don’t know if I’m inspired by just one person because I’m constantly at awe by different people. It could be an artist, or a content creator, a business person etc. but currently, I’m inspired by Aussie artist and Spoonflower top-seller, Erin Kendal and her determination to build her business around her lifestyle. She retired her husband from his corporate job and and they are taking their family around Australia in their van as she continues to work on her Spoonflower shop. She’s incredibly down-to-earth, funny and super smart and I’m honoured to be able to call her my friend.

I’ve always been in love with the idea of creating passive incomes to support my dreams, so to see that happening to someone I know excites me.

Do you mostly work in collections or one off designs? How do you gather inspiration for new work & patterns?

When I was working on my signature style, I realise I do a lot better in a collections because I get to weave in story telling into it. When it comes to art licensing, especially with fabric companies, collections tend to sell a lot better than one-off designs. Having said that, there’s really no right or wrong because it really is different from artist to artist. I’ve also sold one-off designs to different industries, so it also depends on the company you work with.

When I’m working on a new collection, I like to scroll through Pinterest to see what is currently trending. I also have a folder on Instagram to save art that inspires me. Then, I put together some themes to see which one excites me the most.

I think it’s important to find just the right balance between what’s currently trending and what makes us feel most passionate about when we make art. It’s infused with our energy so it sends a ripple effect out into the world. What makes us happy, makes others happy.

Do you have any advice for someone not knowing whether to start out with POD sites like Spoonflower & Society6 or to wait to see if they can get a fabric licensing contract with a more traditional fabric company or a licensing agreement with a big brand?

My advice to anyone new to POD sites is not to wait. Licensing takes time. It can take months and sometimes years before you license something and the income can range between a few hundred to a few thousand of dollars depending on who you licensed with. So personally, I think it’s important to put your work out onto a POD site and build your brand while you wait to get license.

When you hear back from an art director and they’re interested to license a piece of artwork that’s already on a POD site, you can either ask to leave it on the POD platform (if it’s a non-competing industry, it’s usually okay) otherwise, you can remove it during the contractual licensing period, and pop it back on again after the agreement ends. At the end of the day, the artwork belongs to you, so you call the shots.

What is your top tip for approaching new clients or brands you want to work with?

Do your research on who the art director is and what they specialise in then, send an enthusiastic email on how much you’d like to work with them and why you think you’re a good fit. It just shows you’ve made that extra bit of effort to know them and their brand. Always do 10% more than what you’re expected, because it’ll help you stand out from the crowd.

What is your advice for someone that is scared to put themselves out there & share their work with the world either from imposter syndrome or worried someone will copy their work?

There’s a quote by Austin Kleon that I love, “It sounds a little extreme, but in this day and age, if your work isn’t online, it doesn’t exist.” If you don’t show your art on social media, on POD, then, it doesn’t exist. It’ll just remain as files in your computer.

I would also say, don’t be precious with your art. If it gets stolen, great! That means someone thought it was good enough to steal, and then you take the necessary measures by telling them it doesn’t belong to them, and maybe, depending on the severity of the copyright infringement, send them a “can-you-please-remove-it-or-else-I’m-forced-to-contact-my-legal-team” email. It’s good to be polite while you’re doing all that so they don’t take legal actions on you for defamation (it’s funny how quickly tables can turn), which can happen.

Ninety percent of the time, we overthink ourselves to inaction and honestly, I think that hurts our business more than a copy cat. I know an artist who gets her artwork stolen quite a bit and while she rather not spend her time and energy chasing down every company that steals her work, she gets compensated enough to call it a “side-hustle”.

As for imposter syndrome, I don’t know if that ever goes away, but I do know whenever you show up for yourself and eventually, for others, the feeling diminishes. The more you share your art and your story, you’ll learn you have a purpose in this life. You may be inspiring others with your art. You may be reminding them to be kind to themselves. You may be making someone feel happy. Never underestimate how much value you bring to the table just by showing up. So, please share your work. Show off your talent. Get it out into the world, it’s time for you to shine.

head over to Mables page to learn more about everything she has to offer to help you on your journey

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I hope you enjoyed this lovely interview with Mable & it helps you in some way on your creative journey.