Hey First name / friends!

 

Remember how I said there was going to be a big announcement this week? Welp, good things take time, and it's actually going to be next week by the time I'm able to spill the secret 😆 Thanks for bearing with me. I promise it will be worth it!!

 

Now onto our regularly scheduled programming. 🤗

 

If you've been following along on Instagram, you've probably seen that I've been having so much fun making new collections for my portfolio. 

 

I recently had a call with my agents to check in, talk about gaps in my portfolio, and figure out some strategic areas to expand. And somewhere in the middle of it, one of them said, “Hey wait why hasn’t Cat done a Mahjong collection yet?” (I had to agree… it’s so up my alley!)

 

So I spent a cozy weekend whipping up a collection for this motif that is exploding in popularity. Mahjong is seriously everywhere right now, and it seems like everyone and their mom (literally) has joined a mahjong group!  

 

It's “burning season” here in Chiang Mai where the farmers burn their fields to clear them for planting. Which means I'm staying in a lot because the air quality is pretty rough outside. But I'm not too mad about it because, that means more drawing time for me!! 😅

 

Oh and you wanna hear the coolest thing about this collection?

 

I posted it on Instagram, and one of my past licensees asked to license it pretty much immediately after it was posted. That's not always how it goes in licensing, but when you've built a relationship with a brand, it can be as simple as that.

 

There are a couple of takeaways from this:

Now it's your turn! Your challenge this week is to make some mahjong artwork. This will instantly show art directors that you're keeping tabs on current trends.

 

To make sure I'm able to see and share your work, use the hashtag #CreateWithCatCoq and tag me @catcoq in the actual photo so I can see! I can't wait to see your take on this trend! ✨

Here are a few of the amazing submission from last week's challenge!

 

Make sure to click on the photos to see each artist on Instagram and give them some love! When we help each other grow, we all rise : )

 

Have a fabulous week!