We love talking to other artists to learn about their process and what inspires their work. There’s something fascinating about people who are constantly creating. Not long ago we came across Jenny Kiker’s [a.k.a @livingpattern] work online while doing inspiration research. It was a beautifully shaded painting of a tropical leaf that caught our eye.


We decided to check out Jenny’s Instagram feed and were immersed in an amazing world of nature, plants, and paintings. We clicked on image after image of beautifully styled paintings of cacti, tropical leaves, barnacles, butterflies and found ourselves wanting to learn more about the artist.



It turns out Jenny lives in West Palm Beach about an hour from our studio and her partner Chris went to high school with Ryan, our Art Director. Talk about a small world! We contacted Jenny to see if she would like to be featured on our blog to share her work with all of you. Check out our conversation below.
hc: Tell us a little about yourself and your company, Living Pattern.

LP: I am a traditional artist who focuses on flora and fauna using watercolor and ink. I sell original artwork. Prints and textiles coming soon!

hc: It’s obvious your inspiration is nature. How do you continually find new elements?

LP: I grow most of my inspiration myself. My studio gets great morning light and it is an indoor greenhouse. Recently, I’ve been working from a collection of photographs taken at Monet’s garden in France. And of course, I go out in nature to find it myself!




hc: We saw one of your recent Instagram posts was a picture of the largest cicada species on earth that you had ordered. We thought it was so cool that you had ordered an actual specimen. Is this something you do on a regular basis? Why?

LP: Yes, I order all kinds of reference if I can’t find it locally. I have developed quite the collection of cacti from our favorite nursery Amelia’s in Lake Worth. I strongly believe in completely surrounding yourself with your inspiration.

hc: How much time do you spend creating your artwork vs. managing other aspects of your business?

LP: I’d say 70/30, creating art vs. shipping, emailing, social media, accounting. Chris, my partner, handles my graphic design and web work. It’s amazing to have a symbiotic relationship!

hc: You have an amazing Instagram following. What do you attribute that to?

LP: I am very engaged with my audience, they are amazing and keep me inspired! Photography is very important, I always have the tripod out and wait for the perfect lighting. I love styling too, a consistent feed is a must!

hc: Our work is in the branding and marketing world and we could potentially use your artwork as digital illustrations in our designs for clients. Is that something you would consider or do you prefer that your creations remain as individual works of art? There’s no wrong answer here. We’re just curious how you feel about that. Every person is different.

LP: I really appreciate the aura of an original piece of art and art being displayed as art.

hc: How do you think custom art can distinguish a brand?

LP: For me, the art is the brand. To elaborate on the previous question, using it as digital illustrations would imply that it represents a business, but it is important to me that Living Pattern art only represents itself.

hc: What advice would you give to young artists who are looking for a way to create a business around their art?

LP: Go make! Then get ready for failure and learn how to move on until you find just the thing that works.

hc: And most importantly, what’s your studio music playlist? LOL We listen to music all day in the studio so we had to throw that in there.

LP: I love love a nice thunder storm playlist. When it’s music, I’m listening to the RHCP… haha everyone knows my obsession.

It was great talking to you Jenny! Thanks so much for chatting with us.

Check Jenny out on Instagram @livingpattern and, of course, us @heliumcreative.

Artifact Uprising is a company we’ve had a crush on since discovering them in February. They are an internet-based company that creates beautiful, tangible products for your digital photos. Your images are printed on thick, matte card stock that can be displayed with or without a frame. The thick card stock is just so delicious.







And the photo books are works of art. Meticulously bound, filled with 100% recycled, matte finish paper.




After visiting their website we fell even more in love with the brand. The clean design, the imagery, the language, the dedication to storytelling and their audience engagement had us reading their website in detail for more time than we care to admit.

The website features an idea gallery where they share products people have made and posted to Instagram. It’s not only inspiration for future clients, but they’re giving people an opportunity to show off their creations, which makes them feel special. The gallery is also an amazing social media marketing tactic, because people are hashtagging #ArtifactUprising for the chance to be featured.




Another genius social media marketing move is the TellOn category of the Artifact Uprising blog. It’s a curated gallery of inspiring photos selected weekly from their Instagram #TellOn. The campaign stems from the belief that everyone has a story to tell, a story that inspires possibility.
Their brand statement and core values, the heart of a well-defined brand, are cohesive and inspiring.

The Artifact Uprising Manifesto
ARTIFACT UPRISING // inspired by the disappearing beauty
of the tangible / bettered by a community of inspired
storytellers / driven by the belief everyone has a story
to tell. Tell On.

Our [Artifact] Core Values
CREATIVITY / for all things, endless possibility. for every story, endless ways to tell it.

COMMUNITY / we seek to cultivate a community of inspired storytellers – of movers, shakers, do-ers, designers, creatives, artists, thinkers, joy-makers. we believe in the power of community to ignite creativity.

LEAVE A LEGACY / we believe in the story that is archived for future generations. we believe in moving stories off our computers…and into our lives.
THE POWER OF ONE / to create art. and change the world.

PASSION / without it, we are nothing.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY / we strive to be kind stewards to mama earth and her happy forest. we are committed to using environmentally responsible papers and are always seeking ways to minimize our impact on the outdoors – a playground that shapes so much of who we are.

AUTHENTICITY / in all things. in our communication. in our company. in the transparency of our supply chain. in our own story.

When crafting core values for a company we always consider the history and how each word relates to the culture. Artifact Uprising is a great example of how a company can embody their core values. In fact I could illustrate how they meet each one of their values, but I won’t bore you with that. The most obvious is their commitment to environmental responsibility. All of their products are printed on 100% recycled papers and the wood products are made from reclaimed mountain beetle pine wood, which is otherwise considered waste.

So to wrap things up, Artifact Uprising is this month’s #heliumlovesbrand feature, because they have fantastic products, an inspiring voice, well formed brand statements and they engage with their audience in an incredibly authentic way through the power of story.

We’d love to hear about your favorite brands or your brand story, just #heliumlovesbrand and follow @heliumcreative on Instagram, Facebook + Twitter!