Wild Apple Press Room
Wild Apple Returns
Triumphant
from the Surtex Show!
May, 2008. Jacob Javits Center, New York City, Hall 1-E Level 1, Booth 2402-2404
Warren Kimble Exhibit at Shelburne Museum
April, 2008. Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont is holding Warren Kimble’s first major museum retrospective from May 18 through October 26, 2008. Warren Kimble is the country’s best known contemporary folk artist. He has been published by Wild Apple since 1991.
Titled Warren Kimble’s America, the exhibit includes the best of his folk art works including barns, flags, landscapes, and delightfully whimsical animals. Kimble’s works will be on view in the museum’s Round Barn, a favorite subject of the artist. In addition to Kimble’s trademark folk art, visitors will glimpse another side of the Vermont artist through lesser known abstract works and the strikingly different Widows of War series.
Located in Vermont's scenic Lake Champlain Valley, Shelburne Museum is one of the nation's finest, most diverse and unconventional museums of art, design and Americana. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in a remarkable setting of 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds.
More information on Warren Kimble’s America and Shelburne Museum is available at www.shelburnemuseum.org.
Eric Brjan Grbich Signs with Wild Apple
April, 2008 - West Coast artist and designer, Eric Brjan Grbich, has signed with Wild Apple Licensing. According to Jeff Grinspan, Wild Apple’s Director of Licensing, “Eric’s unique style and keen sense of trend make him a natural addition to our fine family of artists and designers currently creating art for a wide range of manufacturers. His work is fresh and rich and very dimensional.”
Growing up in Oakland, California, Eric was surrounded by art. Both of his parents are professional artists and art teachers. Eric and his artistically gifted siblings were first taught how to draw at their kitchen table. “We are all born with creative ability,” says Eric. Luckily for him, and for Wild Apple, artistic aspirations were encouraged in the Grbich family.
Erich believes in the power of art. To him, each piece of art, no matter the size, has a soul and possesses the ability to affect people’s lives. Every day Eric feels blessed to be able to create his art.
For further information, please contact Jeff Grinspan at jeff.grinspan@wildapple.com.
Nava Grunfeld Signs with Wild Apple
April, 2008 - Nava Grunfeld is best known for her bold color-saturated watercolors of still life objects, fruit and flowers. Her work has been featured in numerous national art publications including the covers of The Artist’s Magazine, a book anthology of watercolor paintings Splash 8: The Best of Watercolor and in a ten-page feature article in Watercolor magazine. Look for her work in the August, 2008 issue of Watercolor Artist magazine.
After a career as an advertising creative director and graphic designer Nava devoted herself to her first love, painting. Watercolor seemed a natural medium for her and she set out to take watercolor to the next level with her large, color-saturated paintings.
“Working on a grand scale in watercolor has allowed me take a medium that is sometimes considered fussy and weak and show it capable of making a bold statement. In recent years, I have concentrated on adding high-intensity color, strong light and an unusual perspective to my paintings of everyday objects, figures and florals. Each painting is layered with many transparent veils of color giving it an intense, color-saturated luminosity. What I paint is simple. How I put it together is not.” -- Nava Grunfeld
Nava was born in Stockholm and spent her childhood in Israel. She moved to the United States when she was eleven years old and knew already that she was an artist. She felt fortunate to begin her training early at the high school of Art and Design in Manhattan and continued her studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York where she majored in illustration and graphic design. Later, she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia where she pursued painting and drawing. A graduate degree from Smith College followed.
Grunfeld has had dual careers in commercial and fine art for many years until a decade ago when she decided to devote her time to painting. Since then she has won numerous awards, been featured on the covers of magazines, and exhibited her work nationally and internationally. She teaches watercolor workshops in the United States and in Mexico, where she also spends her winters and finds inspiration for her work.
For further information, please contact Jeff Grinspan at jeff.grinspan@wildapple.com.
Winky Wheeler Signs with Wild Apple
April 2008 - Winky began drawing before she was two and hasn’t stopped! When she was in the sixth grade her class was asked what they thought they would be in the year 2000. Her first thought was that she would be a very, very old artist. Since that time Winky graduated, cum laude, from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Her studies included illustration, graphic design & production, communication arts & advertising.
According to Jeff Grinspan, Wild Apple’s Director of Licensing, “Winky Wheeler’s look fills a much-needed niche in licensing art for Wild Apple with an array of juvenile and holiday images. We expect that her sense of humor and light-hearted hand will appeal to a wide range of licensees.”
Although Winky’s work comes from imagination, much time is spent drawing realistically from life. This allows a blend of reality, inspiration and memories in her art. Her images are intended to bring together the richness of nature in a fun way. Winky hopes her work will encourage people to see things a little differently and inspire change, so that the beauty of our world will be here to nurture future generations.
For further information, please contact Jeff Grinspan at jeff.grinspan@wildapple.com.
Susan Zulauf Signs with Wild Apple
April 2008 - “For over fourteen years, Susan has created a great collection of juvenile and holiday artwork with a wonderful sense of whimsy. Wild Apple looks forward to working with Susan to build upon that collection.” Says Jeff Grinspan.
Growing up in Eden, New York, Susan has been creating art since second grade. Using a graphic approach, traditional themes, experimental techniques, and tone-on-tone color and learning from errors, Susan’s style can vary from fun and funky to traditional with just a splash of something unusual. The media used to create her wonderful art includes acrylics, dyes, pastels, gessoed textures, collage materials, handmade paper, ribbons, 3-D accents and glitter.
As if art weren’t enough to keep her busy, Susan volunteers for many fundraising activities at her children’s school and mentoring art students. Weightlifting, cardiovascular workouts, gardening and nightly dinner with her family keep Susan grounded and energized.
Susan and her husband and business manager, John agree that Susan's artistic talent has been inherited by their nine-year-old daughter, who loves oil painting and pottery; their sixteen-year-old triplet sons, all art majors; and youngest son, who is Susan’s studio assistant.
For further information, please contact Jeff Grinspan at jeff.grinspan@wildapple.com.
2008 Catalogue and 2008 Collection One Available
January, 2008. Wild Apple has shipped a new master 2008 Catalogue and separate 2008 Collection One. Both are in a compact, easy to use, portable format. They are free to the trade. Customers can order a hard copy of the catalogue or download an online version.. The Catalogue and Collection One offer over 800 images by over fifty artists.
Janna Ugone Tabella Collection Intoduced by Lenox
November, 2007. At the New York Tabletop show, Lenox introduced a dinnerware
collection from artist Janna Ugone called Tabella. Ugone, noted for handmade heirloom quality lighting, clocks and switch plates, worked closely with the product development team at Lenox to craft a collection for the table that reflects the appeal of Janna’s art, which features painterly graphics, attention to detail and eclectic inspirations. The Tabella collection includes three distinctive dinner plate options, three separate salad/dessert plates, soup bowls, mugs, cup and saucer, and serving pieces. The design combines matte, gloss and textured glazes and showcases Ugone’s popular pomegranate pattern, which is accented by pleated borders in glossy celadon, little vases, detailed midlines and graceful botanicals.
Licensing Industry Pro Jeff Grinspan Joins Wild Apple
July 2, 2007. Wild Apple announced today that Jeff Grinspan has joined the company as Director of Licensing. Previously Grinspan ran licensing and sales at Sakura, a division of Oneida, Inc., manufacturer of fashion dinnerware, flatware and tabletop accessories. He has worked with dozens of top name licensing agents and artists to bring art & design to a wide range of products. As an acknowledged industry pro, Grinspan was recently tapped to run the licensing seminars and conference component of the 2007 Surtex Show. He has spoken frequently at licensing conferences and guest lectured on licensing, most recently at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
Grinspan will succeed Charlie Kimbell, who has started his own company, Kimbell Sales & Marketing, a phone & internet based business focusing on launching clients’ new products and new markets.
“Wildly thrilled is what we are,” said John Chester, Wild Apple owner. “Jeff Grinspan is ideal to lead our licensing business. He has a strategic mindset, loves sales and marketing, and eats and breathes art & design. He is ‘dual-brained,’ adept in the commercial and creative worlds. Jeff brings a licensee’s perspective to our expanding business and understands what is most important to customers. And he meets the important Wild Apple criteria of a good sense of humor and love of chocolate.”
Grinspan will run Wild Apple Licensing from his office in New York, maintaining close and frequent contact with customers. “This is an exciting move for me,” Grinspan commented. “Wild Apple has a treasure trove of artists, it has invested heavily in state of the art technology, and has cultivated an incredibly creative and productive staff. I look forward to contributing to the company’s growth and to strategically craft great programs for licensees.”
For additional information on Jeff Grinspan and Wild Apple Licensing, please contact John Chester.