From Studio to Shelf: How I Choose Which Art Becomes a Product

Artist Interview Series — Studio Stories: Conversations with Kirsten Katz

Part 4: From Studio to Shelf — How I Choose Which Art Becomes a Product

This is Part 4 of the Artist Interview Series with Kirsten Katz, Australian botanical artist and surface designer based in Sydney. In this series, Kirsten shares the stories, inspirations and decisions behind her art and her brand — in her own words. [Start from Part 1: My Creative Journey →]

You work across both fine art and product design — from original paintings to tea towels, stationery, textiles, and more. How do you decide which artworks become prints, homewares, or licensed designs?

I don't usually start out thinking "this will be a scarf" or "that one's for a tea towel." I begin by simply making the art — painting, drawing, and creating what I feel drawn to in the moment. It's always about the artwork first. Over time I build up a body of pieces — finished paintings, sketches, illustrations — which become a working portfolio. Then, when I'm creating a product line or presenting to licensing clients, there's a wide variety of unseen work ready for them to choose from.

That stockpile approach is deliberate. It means I'm never scrambling to make art to order, and it means the work comes from a genuine place of passion rather than commercial pressure. Everything starts with what I want to paint — and the product decisions come later.

The surprise of what gets chosen

It's often surprising what gets selected. Art directors regularly pull together combinations that I wouldn't have thought to put together myself — or they fall in love with a piece I'd completely overlooked. Once I've made something, I tend to move on to the next idea quickly. I don't always have time to stop, sit with the work, and really imagine how it could live on in the world. So when someone else sees something special in it — that's a beautiful moment.

What I've learned over time is that when multiple clients independently choose the same piece — say, one for bedding, one for fabric, and another for greeting cards — that's when I know I have something with real universal appeal. Sometimes it's not even my personal favourite piece, but if it resonates with others consistently, I trust that signal. That's often when I'll decide to release it as an art print or include it in one of my own product lines.

I've had pieces that I genuinely didn't expect to perform well go on to become consistent bestsellers — outselling everything else in a collection. And the reverse is also true. You never fully know until it's out in the world. That's one of the humbling and exciting things about this work.

How paintings are different — living with the work

My paintings follow a slightly different path. I like to let them sit in the studio for a while — sometimes unfinished, sometimes ninety percent done — and live with them before deciding what comes next. A piece might hang on the studio wall for weeks, even months. I walk past it every day, and eventually something becomes clear — it needs one more highlight, a brushstroke of white to lift an area, a touch more colour in a corner.

There are times I think a painting is completely finished, only to come back to it weeks later and realise it needs just one more thing. That living-with-the-work phase is important. It's part of how I know when something is truly ready.

Building collections — hero pieces and visual language

Once I see which art prints resonate most with customers, I start thinking about how to build them into collections. It's not just about putting a design on every product — it's about how a piece fits into the visual language of an existing collection. Does it complement what's already there, or does it compete with it?

My Garden of Eden collection and my Mid-Century Botanicals collection are good examples of this — each has its own distinct colour palette, mood and character. When I'm considering adding a new piece to either of those, it has to genuinely belong. It has to feel like it was always part of that world.

When I'm developing a collection for licensing — say, for bedding or homewares — I might start with two or three hero designs and then build a full story around them. That means pulling from older work where it fits, creating new supporting designs, and making sure everything works together cohesively across multiple product types — fabric, wallpaper, wall art, cushions and more.

Sketchbooks, slow ideas and working in bursts

I always have sketchbooks, loose drawings and rough concepts tucked away. Some of those sketches sit for two or three years before I find the right moment to turn them into something finished. An idea that didn't have a home when I first drew it can suddenly make perfect sense years later when a new collection starts to take shape around it.

I also work in bursts — sometimes painting daily for thirty days straight, other times batch-creating during quieter studio seasons. There's a rhythm to it that I've learned to follow rather than fight. Some periods are about generating volume and experimenting freely. Others are about editing, refining and developing the strongest pieces into products.

In the end, the decision of where a piece ends up is part instinct, part customer feedback, and part the magic of timing. It's about trusting my creative flow and staying responsive to what resonates most with the people who bring my art into their homes.

Browse the art prints and original paintings by Kirsten Katz, or explore the full botanical collection of homewares and gifts.

This is Part 4 and the final instalment of the Artist Interview Series. Continue reading from the beginning: [← Part 1: My Creative Journey — From Ballet Shoes to Botanical Art] [← Part 2: Why I Paint Flowers — A Botanical Artist's Story] [← Part 3: Inside My Studio — How I Bring Each Design to Life]