How to Remain an Artist Once We Grow Up
By Sheri Webber
Seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” requires a trip to the Louvre. Works by Pablo Picasso can be viewed in Spain or at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and visiting Michelangelo’s “Moses” involves a plane ticket to Rome, Italy. Bringing home a masterpiece—Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” for example—might save on plane tickets and museum admissions but could cost up to a cool $450 million. Not too many art collectors can swing that kind of cash, but what if it was possible to walk into an admission-free gallery where visitors are encouraged to pick up the masterpieces? What if these galleries were, on average, located less than five miles from every household in the United States? And what if a piece of artwork could be purchased for less than $10?
Jacksonville illustrator Stephen Bailey has mastered the art of placing engaging masterpieces into the hands of everyday consumers. To be precise, the total number of annual sales of his most signature piece is over 90 million. Kellogg’s® Froot Loops® cereal, featuring Toucan Sam, is one of a whole host of beloved characters created or reimagined by Bailey. His artistic style has been described as playful realism, energetic, happy, colorful, and eye catching. His client list is pretty eye catching too, and includes brand names like Keebler, Sunkist, Disney, Dannon, Wal-Mart, Mattel, Kohl’s, Sun Pacific, Chili’s, and Hummer, to name a few.
