John Chester, Wild Apple

So Trendy!

At the Wild Apple Institute for Trend Research*, we just had a fascinating study come across our desk (well, computer) from the High Point Market Authority.  It is a Styles and Trends Survey of Home Décor that polled interior designers and retailers of home accents, furniture and gifts.

Wild Apple had no connection whatsoever to the study, but there’s an uncanny similarity between the survey’s findings and the artwork Wild Apple has to offer:

• Comfortable, casual, clean, crisp – these are the words used by the study to summarize current trends at retail.  Can you think of any better words to describe Wild Apple’s artwork?

• “Gardening or Botanical” came out as the clear #1 theme/motif for consumers and retailers.  In the art & licensing business, FLORAL imagery is Wild Apple’s absolute competitive advantage.

It’s a useful and well done survey - even if you don’t buy into Wild Apple’s blatant self-promotion...  You can find the report at the following link (please note that it takes a little time to download):

http://www.highpointmarket.org/email/20070112/2006_Trends_Report.pdf

*OK, there’s no institute, but we do monitor trends closely!

In Good Time

Sometimes things just take a while to percolate.  This week we were delighted to receive a portfolio submission from an artist we had originally contacted in 1993 - along with a copy of our original WIld Apple letter.  This artist has a long memory (and a durable filing system), and whether or not we end up publishing the artwork, we really value the chance to see the portfolio. 

I imagine many artists hesitate before submitting artwork for review.  It must feel very risky.  We are always looking for fresh imagery and encourage artists to take the risk of showing us your art.  Yes, it's true that we only publish a fraction of what we see, but your odds are way ahead of the lottery! 

Good things take time, we know, and we're ready when you are.

Sparkle

Is everything interconnected?  I didn’t think so until one day I remarked on the sparkles adorning Kat’s face.  I thought they were there on purpose. 

“Oh those?  They’re because of the chipmunk in our house.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you see, our cat brought a chipmunk inside.  Didn’t kill it – our cat seems to have some sort of ‘catch & release’ policy toward rodents.”

“I’m not making the connection with the sparkles.”

“Bear with me.  The chipmunk took up residence in the living room curtains, only to jump out and scare the daylights out of us at random intervals.”

“And therefore…?”

“Well, we finally did get the chipmunk out of the house.  And then I insisted on washing the curtains.”

“Uh huh…”

“And the curtain material left a bunch of sparkly specs all over the washing machine.”

“Aha.  It’s becoming clearer.”

“And our clothes are picking up the sparkles when I do the laundry.  And they stick to my face when I get dressed.” 

A lot has been made of the butterfly effect.*  It appears chipmunks deserve equal time, philosophically speaking.

May your day sparkle.

*Small variations of the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.  The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear.