I was interviewed for the food column of my community paper earlier this month. The article talks about the book, It’s All About the Cookies… and pies and cake, a cookbook I designed the cover for earlier this summer. The article also ties in the Breast Cancer Awareness fundraising of the book and shares two recipes. Special thanks to my friend Lisa Crockett for the interview opportunity!

Jen Goode in a local paper

More yummy goodies to check out:

• Buy It’s All About the Cookies
• Read more about the All About the Cookies project
• Get fun cupcake art and other sweet treats to use in your own personal handmade creations.

I’m in the community paper as a neighbor to know is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.

Art is knowing which ones to keep.

~Scott Adams

(special thanks to a little birdie that shared this thought with me today)

Art is… is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

Recently there seems to be an unpleasant and somewhat un-noticed by mainstream rumbling of issues regarding “infringement” in my world. I’ve heard of people copying the work of others, using the work of others without permission and others frustrated with others. That’s a lot of “others” . What happened to what inspires the creativity?

Well that’s where the confusion sets in. Where is the line between  inspiration and copying or using without permission? It’s really not a complicated line once you know where it is and how it looks. The real nuts and bolts is, if you didn’t originally think of it, come up with your own original thinking to create it. When it comes to art, this means, if you like how an image looks, admire it, hang it on your wall, but don’t try to draw it exactly. Make your own cute bear, don’t copy Winnie-the-Pooh. Let Winnie inspire you, not drive your view.

Ok, maybe that’s still a bit vague. Think of this… No one can own a concept. However, they can own the result of their original creation of a concept. So, for example, although I have a gazillion variations of cartoon penguins, I can’t own the concept of a cartoon penguin. I can only own the way my specific penguin looks… in “interpretation” of a penguin. If someone else wants to make a penguin, cool, do it! I hope I inspire one that is fabulously fun. But, please don’t trace mine or mimic mine or even try to duplicate mine in some way… not to mention, please don’t use my actual penguin art. Instead, create your own. If you must have one just like mine, ask me, I might be willing to make you one, sell you one, license the use or just let you use it… but the permission starts with the request. If you use it without asking , I can’t give you permission, then we could end up in a situation neither one of us like.

Enough of the legal-ish summary.

What really inspires my art? I’m pretty sure I’ve answered this question from some angle or another before – maybe that was just in my head, I do like to talk to myself a bit. However I’m happy to say it out loud again in case you missed it, or really I was the only one in the room. I’ll point out where the inspirations live in my own art.

A few of my favorite artists:

Art by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci inspired my love for sketch work, details and observation. He created so many amazing works in so many incredible directions yet his style is consistent. He sketched everything he saw, not necessarily as a drawing practice session, but more for a purpose of documenting what he saw. I think the way we draw has a way of sharing how we see the world… sometimes. I don’t see everything with literal grins and giggles on them. I do however like to think that there’s a lot of potential for moments of happiness all around us, if we stop to notice once in a while.

Art by Ty Wilson

Ty Wilson has a talent for less is more and from the moment I first saw his work I was in awe. Every line has a purpose and every line displays emotion. Much of his work has a vibrant jazzy feel, yet the pieces I love the most are the couples. They dance, they embrace, they love each other and you can see it, almost feel it in every image. He uses color sparingly but with purpose. His work speaks to the viewers emotions.

Art by Sandra Boynton

Sandra Boynton just makes me laugh. I love the random grins and silly expressions. She adds the fun of silliness to reality… she isn’t making up creatures, she’s stylizing real things in her world, cows, chickens, dancing hippos. Her style is simple but full of personality. I’m sure she could write a book without any words and it would still be hilarious. I also love her artistic technique… it looks to me like she uses markers to create her images, and art markers are my favorite tool (Prisma colors, if you need specifics). I also love Sandra’s story of success, she’s done it herself while staying true to herself.

Art by Mary Englebreit

Mary Engelbreit needs to be included because she brings me back to where I am as a professional. She is an inspiration from a commercial perspective for me. I love her fun art style, but what I appreciated at an early age was how no matter where you went, you could find her art to purchase. As much as I loved the concept, I never really thought others would want my art in their house as much as I would want to see my art in their house. Every time I get a note from a fan or a recent customer I am giddy with excitement all over again. It’s inspiring to have others like something I created all myself.

Can you see the commonalities yet? From my perspective it’s in the simplicity and the unnecessary fluff that I find these artist  so appealing. Ironically, my own art has fluff here and there… but I like the texture the fluff creates… that’s the “ME” coming through in my own art.

In the end, we each learn and create from what we’ve learned and experienced. If you love something someone else has created so much that you want to make it yourself… you should instead try making your own rendition and sharing that for others to love as well. If you want to talk about something someone else created, always make sure to give credit where credit is due. We can’t be successful without the creations AND the people that love them, so we need to work together to share in the joy of the creativity.

It’s about inspiration, not duplication is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

I’ve been supporting breast cancer awareness for a number of years and I show off the support with my Pink Ribbon Penguin along with a number of other pink themed designs. Now Cafepress, one of my product manufacturers, will donate a portion of the proceeds from any of my breast cancer awareness products sold through their marketplace. Some of these products are even on sale right now.

An amount equal to 10% of the final purchase price for all products tagged with “breast cancer” and sold through the cafepress.com Marketplace during September 1, 2010 through October 31, 2010 will be donated to Breastcancer.org.

Will you share the penguin love and show your support?

I think no matter what you believe, it’s important to share with others the things you believe in. Stand up and shout it out for everyone to hear… you never know who you might touch or who might agree.

I would love to hear what causes you support and how you get involved!

• My experience walking in the Seattle 3-day in 2008
• More pink ribbon penguin
• My site dedicated to the Pink Ribbon Penguins

Pink ribbon penguins support breast cancer awareness is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

This week’s challenge topic has been “immovable”. I originally planned on doodling a cool vintage style penguin with his feet stuck in a block of cement. I wanted to go with the same kind of look at the Legendary Flighted Penguin or the Vitruvian man Penguin. Maybe make it a bronzed statue penguin. Then the week progressed. Now, here we are on Thursday. So, I just started doodling a quick sketch in Illustrator… my fancy design vision began and ended as cartoon penguin instead. I’m ok with it, my cartoon mind is taking over today to make up for my emotionally unstable moodiness this week. Call it silly, I call it sympathy for the rubberband challanged.

Penguin vs the Rubberband Ball by Jen Goode

Or maybe, this might be what happens if you get in a fight with your Silly bandz. Either way, I think he’s fairly immoveable for the moment.

Have a great weekend!

Illustration Friday: immovable is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

Many of you know me as the “penguin girl” for the overload of penguin happiness that I seem to take with me everywhere I go. I have an entire collection of penguin cartoons as well as a traveling penguin blog and even an online  catalog of penguin gift ideas. However, life isn’t just about penguins.

Yes! I said it, there is occassionally more to life than penguins (as long as the penguins are number one on the list of course).

Pigs are another favorite for many animal lovers, so I thought I’d share a little love for pigs with you today. Here’s a favorite… if I were a pig, this is what heaven would look like:

Hog Heaven by Jen Goode

You can find more cute pig gifts and t-shirts through my online store.

Hog heaven, pigs are just as fun as penguins is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

Unlike me, my daughter loves all things girlie. I know, I doodle cute girl stuff all the time, but I don’t necessarily have it all over my walls and pillowcases either. My daugher adores sparkles, jewels, pink and purple anything – if it’s for girls to be more girl-like, she loves it even more. So when she started complaining that her sparkly pink shoes hurt, I had to come up with something to replace the fancy shoes. I didn’t want to go out an get a new pair, especially with fall and Colorado snow on it’s way. So instead I grabbed a cheap pair of sneakers from Walmart,  a few sets of shimmery Tulip brand fabric paint and planned a girls art day.

We whipped out the brushes and between the two of us we created a unique pair of shoes that not only fit fabulous, but sparkle better than the last pair. We had a great day together being creative and I even felt a little girly fun in the process.

Unfortunately these aren’t worn as much as I expected. One of the big brothers stole a shoelace to replace the tie on his swim trunks… boys, they just don’t understand!

Putting a little sparkle in her step is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

This week’s Illustration Friday topic is “double”. I was originally going to make a penguin double (of course I was), but while I was digging through my penguin archive to find the perfect participant, the cheeseburger jumped out and threw some lettuce at me. I couldn’t ignore him, I guess he was feeling a bit thin and wanted to share the beefy love a little more.

Happy double cheese burger by Jen Goode

I know, I should have added bacon because a cheeseburger without bacon is like a salad without croutons… pizza without pepperoni… a kiss without the pucker (is that possible?). However, I have a few non-meat eating pals and like to try to flaunt my carnivorous attitude away from their direction. Thus I decided I’d hold off on the extra extra meat today.

If this is a little too much burger for you, you can always stick with the original happy cheeseburger.

Double cheeseburgers are delightful is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

This week’s Illustration Friday is “breakfast”. Apparently I’m thinking happy thoughts of breakfast at 6pm because the first thing I thought of was a smiley egg. I love breakfast – There’s something about pancakes and bacon and even hash browns that starts the day off just perfectly.

Happy breakfast by Jen Goode

Breakfast should always be happy is a post from: The art of Jen Goode

I was listening to a weekly web-cast called Cool 2 Craft and realized I didn’t have a crafting penguin. How is that possible? With all the other gazillion penguins I’ve created over the years, and as much as I love crafting myself, I was in shock to find out I never created an official crafting penguin!

So while I listened to all the great ideas on the show, I drew up this new penguin and I’m positive it loves to craft too. I haven’t created a brand new penguin in a while and I can honestly blame it on the glue. I went to a craft trade show back in January and absolutely fell in love with crafting all over again. So lately I’ve been spending most of my time jumping back into the craft scene.

I’ve made a ton of new friends and am learning new things every day. Most importantly, I’m finding my creative mojo all over again. It’s been a long time I’ve played in this area of my brain – I forgot how much I loved it. Hands-on creativity can’t be matched. I’m seeing more ideas in my head. You should try it! grab a piece of clay and just squish it around a while… see what happens.

I don’t have a particular area of crafting I like more than others although I really enjoy textures… fabrics, paper, anything tactile is very intriguing to me. I also really enjoy mixing things to see what happens. Combine glue and paint or fabric and clay… mix and match to see how the textures and materials combine. One of my most recent activities has been creating stamps out of craft foam and stencils out of freezer paper. I’ll show examples and some how to tutorials another day. These ideas both open the doors even wider for using my own drawings on a variety of materials.

What’s your favorite crafting area?

I love crafting and so does the penguin is a post from: The art of Jen Goode