Okay, so it’s really not that dramatic as my title suggests…
Without a doubt, I love the parenting writing and speaking work that I do. However, I’ve always wanted a product to sell. Last year, I began laying the groundwork of a t-shirt company geared towards babies, toddlers and preschoolers. (Yes, I know – another t-shirt line.)
The idea began after reviewing a gazillion (I’m exaggerating) tees. Some of the tees were great but very pricey. I would think to myself, “It’s just a t-shirt, not a work of art.” Then, I had a mental click – why not start a line of classical art t-shirts? I came up with the name (Masterpiece Tees) and the tagline (“Merging art and fashion for the preschool set”) By the way, I’m only sharing this stuff now, because I’m not going to do it anymore. Feel free to steal/borrow any of the logic. Anyway, I got a SCORE mentor, took a class on the t-shirt business, lined up supply sources, etc.
The last hurdle was to get the art license that I had my heart set on. I only wanted to do a Picasso collection to start (perhaps this is a throwback to my Art Humanities classes while at Columbia College). I had it all planned out – start with five classic black and white prints (The Dog, Owl, The Butterfly, The Camel, and Dove of Peace) and then later, I would add colored prints on tees. I contacted the Artists Rights Society of New York (ARSNY) and they were great. They walked me through the whole submission process over the last year (I took some time off when Sean was born). It’s been an interesting process dealing with art dealers, museums, etc.
Unfortunately, the process didn’t have a happy ending. This week, the Picasso Estate denied my requests to use the prints that I wanted on the tees. (Now, I know why there aren’t any Picasso tees out there for the general public.) I’m disappointed – they would have been so cute (I did mock-ups)! My husband is so sweet. He said, “You can do the line with other classic artists." (He should know me by now – I had my heart set on Picasso- in my mind, its Picasso or nothing!) It’s good to have some closure though so that I can move on…a year is a long time to wait to get a “no”! Now, I’m over my initial disappointment and I’m excited to see what’s next. My husband is so great. He said, “What do you want to do now?” I’m so fortunate to be in a place in my life where I can even think about that. Do I want to pursue another product? Do I want to focus more on blogging? Do I want to focus more on speaking? Do I want to focus more on writing for print media? Do I want to focus on planning children’s events? Right now, I just have the questions. It’ll be exciting to see what new doors get opened (and shut!) as the year moves on…