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Nene, when did you first become interested in art?

I have always wanted to be an artist and have been drawing for as long as I can remember.

Did you have any formal training?

No.

When did you begin thinking of a career as a professional artist?   

While I always wanted to be an artist full time, it wasn't until the summer of the mid 90's, when I was finally making enough off of my art to go ahead and quit the meat-packing plant where I worked part time, as well as the college that I attended full time. I knew at that point that art was the only job I really wanted to do. It was still hard in the early months, but luckily I had some friends who let me crash on their couch until things started to level off. I still have the feast and famine times. It's just important to save enough in your 'feast' times to last you during the famine times.

What led you in the direction of fantasy art?

Well, I've always been drawn toward things of a fantasy nature. (Pardon the pun!)

Who/what are your inspirations?

I have many favorite artists, far too many to list.  But the artists that I look up to the most, each have a technical mastery that I hope one day to achieve.  Jody A. Lee, Rowena, Michael Whelan, Olivia, Jonathon Earl Bowser, and Bev Doolittle are all people that I admire as artists.  There are other artists that I admire for their business acumen, because while it is one thing to be a good artist…it’s quite another to be a successful artist! 

How was it that Wizards of the Coast made the connection to you and your art?

In the mid nineties I was attending a show in Texas, and Wizards of the Coast had a booth there. I stopped by, showed the art director my work and they hired me to work on their card game.

How did you get started?

I started doing work for Wizards of the Coast and some other companies that I made contacts with while I was down at that gaming convention in Texas.

What have been your most rewarding moments as an artist? 

One of my most rewarding moments as an artist was the day I left college and began going from show to show selling my work, which was the day that I considered myself a professional.  Until then, I was an aspiring English teacher who painted part-time.

As Jessica Galbreth is also one of our featured artists, how do you know each other?

I had a business question, so I got her number from a mutual friend and just called Jessica one day. We must have spoke for about 3 hours that first call and we have been great friends ever since! I talk to her constantly!

Where do you see yourself going with your art? What projects do you see on the horizon?

Well, I have a number of products coming out from many of the companies that I have been working with for the past few years. Munro Collectibles will be releasing several new stunning figurines based off my art early next year. Ceramic Sensations, a wonderful company owned by my dear friend Jessica Galbreth, will continue to produce the phenomenally well selling wall tiles.  There will be more lovely stickers, key chains, and magnets from the fine folks at Yujean.com. I have some new ornaments coming out from Add an Accent. Bradford collectibles, which is a new license for me, is coming out with several exciting new products. The Mountain and Tree-Free both have several new t-shirts and cards of my art that will be available soon, and of course Hot Topic continues to provide a good home for my art. I am also in the process of negotiating a couple more licenses for some new products that I am quite excited about.

And then of course their is the monolithic project that is very dear to my heart--the book series, The Zarryiostrom, that my husband is writing and I am providing the illustrations for.

Any advice for all those struggling artists out there?

The most important bit of advice that I would give an artist is this:  LEARN TO BALANCE A CHECKBOOK!  Sounds weird, I know, but you would be surprised how many artists don’t realize that being a good artist and a successful artist are two different things.  You have to learn to economize when and where you can to maximize the amount of profit your business makes. 

Why is this important?  Shouldn’t the art be the most important thing?  The answer is, “not always.”  While a contract artist makes his or her living by working for other companies, a print artist succeeds or fails off of his or her own art.  It doesn’t matter how good or how prolific you are as an artist if you can’t afford to print up your work or mail it to where it can be seen by the public. Of course nowadays, there are all the free online galleries where one can post your work, so you don't need to depend so much on sending your art to the shows or sending your portfolio to the big publishers. However, if you can't afford to pay your electric bill, or your internet service, then all the online galleries in the world are no help at all! So learn to balance a checkbook.  Once you achieve financial freedom, you will have more time to devote to doing the things you want to do with your art. 

Thank you very much Nene, for your words of wisdom and for taking the time to share some of your experiences with us. Good luck to you and may you continue to bless us with your beautiful creations.

To view more of Nene's fantastic artwork, please visit her website: http://www.nenethomas.com .

All works are copyright.  Permission to use these images in any way must be obtained from the artist.