We are so excited to announce the four Artist Shops chosen for our Artist Shops Accelerator! A little background: a few months ago, we opened applications to the Artist Shops Accelerator – a program that would split $100,000 up between four talented shop owners to help them grow their brand and business. They had to have a strict marketing plan, set goals, everything from an About Page in their Shop to a social media posting requirement, a 90-second video about themselves, etc. And after combing through literally hundreds of amazingly talented applicants, we have our final four! Meet Emeline Tate-Robertson of Project M, long-time Threadlesser Tobe Fonseca, #ButtsOnThings mastermind Brian Cook, and pop culture expert Ego Rodriguez. Get to know them below as they start their journey to growing their shop & brand! Congratulations to the final selections!
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Emeline Tate-Robertson
Emeline is a British artist & designer living the Cali life in San Francisco as a full-time artist. Before starting her own brand – Project M – in 2010, she channeled her fashion degree working at Ted Baker in London and painting in her spare time. She started exhibiting her work in her home, then at trendy bars, restaurants, and bookshops in London. She has now been exhibiting for 15 years across the UK, US, and Canada. What makes her work extra unique is that it’s all done by hand. She makes stencils by hand or paints in blocks of color and develops prints and patterns before making them into digital designs.
Tobias ‘Tobe’ Fonseca
If you’re familiar with Threadless, you’re probably familiar with Tobe Fonseca’s Thread-famous work! (“Feed Me and Tell Me I’m Pretty” ring a bell?) This artist is from South Brazil and has been working as a freelancer for almost a decade (!!). As a fan of nature and animals, many of his art pieces involve a combination of the two, combining them with human characteristics and a modern twist.
Brian Cook
No butts about it: Brian Cook is all-around awesome. You may know this Michigan-raised, Portland-based illustrator from his fantastic project #ButtsOnThings where he gives regular butt-less objects a comedic twist by giving them, you guessed it, a butt. Brian has worked with massive brands like Capitol Records, Warner Bros. Records, Facebook, Target, & more. His work has appeared in comics, gig posters, tees, and company logos.
Ego Rodriguez
Ego Rodriguez was born in Spain and is currently based in London, where he’s lived and worked for the last 20 years. He’s a man of many artistic mediums – from watercolors to acrylics to mixed media – but he’s currently focused on digital media. His art show “Macho” was featured twice in London and has been featured in Pride events all over the world, but his preferred area to work is in editorial work in magazines, where he’s been featured in Gay Times, QX, Attitude, and more.
A huge congratulations to the top four selected artists! The competition was steep, but we can’t wait to see what they do with their shop and brand!
