“Flowering Kale Leaf” Original watercolor by Mindy Lighthipe
About nine months ago I got an email from a design company in Australia called Swear Words. They design packaging and websites, and create brands for companies. One of their clients is Loving Earth. Loving Earth recently started selling gourmet organic kale chips and needed a package design. They went surfing on the internet and came upon a painting that I did of a kale leaf. They approached me about using it for the package design. At first I was skeptical. A company name Swear Words? I can’t tell you how many emails I have received that are bogus. I have had people see my work on websites like the ASBA asking about purchasing a painting from me. I have had inquiries for teaching in far away places, people stranded in a foreign country looking for money, claims I won the lottery and my person all time favorite; my dead relative leaving me the family fortune. I thought this was probably in the same category but I wanted to give it a shot. I started a dialogue via email and quickly started negotiating price and usage etc.. I still wasn’t convinced that it was legitimate, but things were going in the right direction. I sent an invoice to be paid via PayPal and told them I would send a high resolution scan through Dropbox and send the original out by FedEx when I received payment. I had to convert US dollars to AU dollars. A few hours later the payment was in my PayPal account. I couldn’t believe it! Woot! They made it so easy. I enjoyed dealing with them and was thrilled that they trusted me to do what I said I would do. It was an awesome experience.
I just received an update from Swear Words and they sent me a digital picture of the final project. Here it is! I thought I would share it with you.
“Loving Earth- Kale Chips” package design by Swear Words; original painting by Mindy Lighthipe
I write this post today because you never know where your next sale or client will come from. Make sure that when you post your images, whether it be on Pinterest, blogs, websites that you attach your name, website, and description along with it. Part of being a successful artist is making sure you can be found. It is worth it!
If you are interested in purchasing Loving Earth Kale Chips, visit their website.
Great story and wonderful exposure for your painting. I’m so happy for you.
Happy and Healthy Holidays to You and Yours.
This story must mean…Good beginnings for a Wonderful New Year.
Jackie
Thanks Jackie! I wish you and Al a happy healthy and prosperous New Year!
Yea Mindy! It looks great and congratulations. I receive those same scam emails all the time so I understand your hesitancy to work with them. Glad to hear this went well. Happy Holidays!
Karen
Thanks Karen! It is sometimes uncomfortable knowing how to handle internet contacts but I am glad that I did with this one. Now I have to taste some kale chips to see what they taste like!
This is so awesome, Mindy! Adam and I had just been talking about you and licensing artwork! (And these chips are Vegan which you know I would like!)
thanks so much for sharing this Mindy….and congratulations!!!!! 🙂 Make your own kale chips…super easy. Just tear dry, clean kale leaves into chip size….toss gently in olive oil (not much) salt lightly…spread out on cookie sheet and bake at 350º for about 10 minutes until they get crispy…check at 5 minutes cuz they can cook really fast. Then enjoy…..very yummy 🙂
MIndy, a company named “Swear Words” in Australia is not out of the ordinary. We are very relaxed about a lot of things over here, I mean to say we have towns and places with worse like: Dunnedoo, Mount Buggery and Wonglepong is only a stone’s throw away from my place. We are a weird mob Downunder.
Hi Sue,
We have some funny names here too. Kissimmee, Okaloosa,Okeechobee…. many of them are derived from Native American Indians…… I think you can find weird people every where….. that’s what makes it interesting.
Cheers,
Mindy
Hi Mindy!
I absolutely love your watercolor of the kale leaf. It’s gorgeous! My partner and I are opening a vegan cafe here in Chattanooga, TN next month and want a kale leaf in the logo and have had a lot of problems trying to get artists to do it. We have paid several and they just cant seem to get it the way I want it. So, I started googling kale images and illustrations and came upon yours. My first thought was “Oh my! It’s perfect!” Then I saw it wasn’t any kind of “stock” or “clip art”, and it was actually a beautiful illustration by an artist, and a company had already used it for their kale chips! Sooo, I was wondering if by chance you have any other illustrations of any other kale leaves or swiss chard or a collard leaf,etc. Anyway, I am interested in perhaps purchasing an image of yours for our logo. I don’t know if this is something you are interested in at all, or even if I can afford you, but I thought I would ask;)
Let me know what you think,
Kristiana Mallo