Art Baby

Art Baby is now almost 4 years old. Not even in the toddler stage anymore. Now I have to decide whether or not to run a second edition because I’m basically out…

If you’ve never seen Art Baby you should, it’s full of fine art from some of the most talented artists in the Seattle area.  If you’ve never been out in Seattle’s art community you are missing out. 

Art Baby - The Vocabulary of Fine Art for Young Children was an idea I had when I couldn’t find a book to teach and show children fine art from living artists. I thought all the books about art for kids were condescending and sucked, and the artists  were all dead.

I wanted something that represented visual fine art and didn’t talk down to kids. I wanted them to understand that art and artists are valuable and something to incorporate into their lives. I had been a professional nanny for thirty years and still couldn’t fine just what I was looking for, so I made it. 

We launched a Kickstarter, which back then gave you a choice; Raise any amount over the  course of a long  period of time or raise a set amount in thirty days. 

I was afraid my short attention span would kill the project if I didn’t get to it. So I decided to jump all in the deep end and we signed up to raise $10K in thirty days. It still makes  my heart race thinking about that initial commitment.

It wasn’t like I had any experience in the designing or printing a children’s board book let alone self publishing or curating a group of professional artists. 

I approached artists I liked, people I respected with work that was diverse and beautiful. When I had eleven willing to work with me we chose the pieces and they gave me lists of words that described each piece. I went though the pieces and lists and balanced it all out for the book and off to a photographer and graphic designer it went.

With lots of help and proof reading it went to the printer and we held our breath and crossed our fingers and waited. 

Would the color be true to the art? Would the fonts feel right? Would it be glossy and beautiful? Deep breath…deep breath…

All the while we were promoting the book like crazy. The artists jumped to sharing and talking about it, we had two launch parties and dozens of people signing up online from all around the world to back Art Baby. 

We assembled rewards ranging from doll babies signed by each artist to the actual book once it was finished. 

We made lists of donors and bought mailing labels, we returned phone calls and arranged for delivery space. We were too busy to be nervous and I lost 16 pounds, which we later called the Kickstarter diet.

It arrived in a FedEx truck. I was so excited I took pictures of the truck, Josh the driver, the boxes and finally the books stacked in my studio. It was real and they were beautiful.  

The packing and mailing of the books and rewards took another couple weeks and finally we breathed easier. It worked. We worked together as a community of artists and friends to get fine art into the hands of the next generation and it worked!   

From our own backyard to way down under Art Baby was a group effort and a blast to publish.

For now Art Baby is for sale as long as they last. Click the link below for your own copy or for a gift, great for baby showers. Books are a gift a baby will never outgrow. 

With so much help from so many people Art Baby became a reality and can be found in the gift shop at the Bellevue Arts Museum, Boston Street Children’s Store in Pike Place Market, Island Books on Mercer Island and Columbia City Gallery in Columbia City Seattle.