Recent graduate, Julie Boehmer MFA ‘14 Illustration, took a moment to talk about her latest commission for Vestiges, INC. and the opportunities that have opened up since graduating from the MCAD MFA Program in the spring.
“I’ve known that my illustration practice would start off as a sort of patchwork quilt: a few freelance jobs, some personal commissions, and teaching. As my final semester came to a close, I was lucky to have some good starts in all three. I will be teaching the History of Illustration this fall in MCAD’s Liberal Arts department. I’ve received lots of positive feedback (and even some commissions) since our Thesis Exhibition. I’ve also had a great ongoing project with DesignWorks, creating designs for collectible tea towels.”
I was first made aware of the tea towel project with Vestiges, INC. through a conversation with my MCAD mentor, Tom Garrett. Last fall, when we were discussing my plans for my thesis project, Tom suggested I show my portfolio to Brent Meyers at DesignWorks. DesignWorks had been working with Vestiges, an artisan tea towel business. Because my thesis project was based on travel, my mentor figured it’d be a good fit for the regionally-themed towels. After meeting with Brent, he asked me to create a design proposal for Paris, France. Having spent a semester there in college, I jumped at the chance to illustrate one of my favorite cities. Luckily, Brent and the women of Vestiges loved the design, and soon asked me to design towels for Washington, D.C. and Brooklyn, NY. Those towels are now for sale in their online store, and I’m excited to say that I have more in the works!
This project has been a great outlet for my love of depicting place: the architecture, the landmarks, the cultural specificity of a particular city or region. I hope to keep working with clients like DesignWorks and Vestiges as I continue to build my freelance business.”
Links:
Vestiges Inc
For more of Julie’s work, please visit:
http://www.julieboehmer.com/
Photo Credits:
(Image © Vestiges, INC 2014)
Photo: Rik Sferra © 2014. All rights reserved.
