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Hey First name / friends!
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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 šŸ˜† Thanks for bearing with me. I promise it will be worth it!!
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Now onto our regularly scheduled programming. šŸ¤—
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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.Ā 
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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, ā€œHey wait why hasn’t Cat done a Mahjong collection yet?ā€ (I had to agree… it’s so up my alley!)
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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! Ā 
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It's ā€œburning seasonā€ 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!! šŸ˜…
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Oh and you wanna hear the coolest thing about this collection?
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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.
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There are a couple of takeaways from this:
  1. Building relationships with your partner companies matters. This brand has licensed my work before, we enjoy working together, and our collabs have been really good fits in the past. This means that there's some trust there, so if they see something they like in my portfolio, it's a pretty easy ā€œyesā€ for them to initiate another licensing deal.
  2. Trends matter. My agents have been seeing mahjong art getting picked up left and right and they knew that adding this hot trend to my portfolio would inevitably drum up some interest. And they were right! Mahjong is so hot right now and there's plenty of demand for this fun motif!
  3. Always infuse your own style. There are plenty of artists out there making mahjong art, but when you design with your own unique style in mind, there will always be demand for your work. I infused some boho vibes and cute kitties into my mahjong tiles, which make it unmistakably me!
#CreateWithCatCoq
Mahjong
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.
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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! ✨
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Community Features
Frog Forward
Here are a few of the amazing submission from last week's challenge!
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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 : )
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Have a fabulous week!
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