A Trip to Halifax

Make a Wish
Sometimes you get exactly what you ask you. Just last week, after a long day of emailing and office work, Karen jokingly commented that she wished "someone interesting" would email her. The next day she got her wish. An email from Wendy Diltz arrived in her in-box, explaining a need that existed amongst a group of Canadian artisans. These artists are talented, enthusiastic, and creative but do not have a lot of knowledge about the world of arts licensing. Without such information, they have been unable to distribute their artwork on a larger scale and on a larger number of products.

Expert Advice
This is where Karen's expertise came into play. The Canadian government had been searching for someone with arts licensing experience for a conference and trade show that was being held in early February. They just needed the guest speaker, and when they stumbled upon Karen's website, they knew she was just the woman for the job. If she was willing to make the trip, they'd fly her and fiancé, Greg Pasborg, to Halifax, Nova Scotia (where the conference was being held) for the weekend.

Getting Connected
The weekend proved to be a fabulous experience. Karen enjoyed meeting new people, sharing her experiences, and seeing the fabulous artwork that these Canadian artisans have been creating. Rosemarie Crocker, a consultant for Wilkins Art in Boston, Massachusetts, also made the journey along with Karen and Greg. She was on the hunt for undiscovered artists who could provide commissioned works on a larger size scale or as a multi-series theme for one of the many projects at the hospitals that Wilkins Art works with. Rosemarie noted that, "The show itself had quite a large diversity of quality crafters and artisans...that could be categorized in the 'fine art' caliber." Opportunities such as working with Wilkins Art could be a great way for these artists to show their work outside of Canada.

Artwork Abounds
Karen herself has seen the impact of working with Rosemarie and the Wilkins team. She has had the opportunity to create dozens of paintings that are being used in the patient rooms and hallways of the Children's Hospital of Boston. She encouraged the artisans in Halifax to keep fine art connections such as this.

Now that she is returning to her metal sculpture, Karen has seen how much she has missed the fine art aspect of her career. It has been very rewarding to have a mix of fine arts projects as well as those that are in the realm of arts licensing.