In 2011 when my illustration “foxaphone” (a t-shirt illustration I created for one of my favorite musicians, Gregory Alan Isakov) was selected for the annual I was truly honored to be part of the publication alongside so many talented illustrators from around the country. It was a dream I never imagined would be repeated, much less back to back.

So when I found out that my illustration “Vampbanjo” (the poster i created for my annual Halloween concert) was selected to be featured in this years illustration annual, I was deeply inspired and amazed. This is an even sweeter honor to have my work once again featured with the industries best.

I still anxiously await the arrival of the annual, just as I did when I was a back in art school and imagining how incredible it would be to one day see my art on the pages of my favorite publication. As I sat in stunned amazement I very humbled by how many extremely talented illustrators there are creating some of the strongest work imaginable every year. To be among them is a blessing that fuels me with incredible inspiration as I head into my 3rd year of Luke Flowers Creative!

This clock looms over my workspace in the creative cave as I create the days away. I absolutely love the vibrant colors, ominous size and the fact that my wife picked it out for me. However, it’s the blurred overlapping digits that I have come to appreciate most. They capture the way I feel about time these days so perfectly.

Hard to imagine how 7 months could have slipped by so wildly, but here it is, 7 months since the launch of LF Creative. What an incredibly inspiring time it has been from day one. Though there has been a bit of growing pains, such as finding that zen like balance of the new found freedom of working at home with finding full on focus to allow the imagination to illuminate the day! Overall, it has been such a sweet blessing to not only be embracing a decade long dream of owning my own company, but enjoying the perks of spending lunches with the family, coffee breaks with Tess and the kiddos slipping in to proudly show off their latest creations and inquire of mine. However it has been the flood of unique creative opportunities with clients, old and new, that has really exceeded my expectations. So, I want to thank all of you who have invited me to work alongside you the past 7 months, you have been a vital key in making the past  215 days an unimaginable success. I can’t wait to see what’s ahead in the next 5 months, but be sure to check back regularly for the latest updates. I will try to be better about keeping up this humble little blog … all this wonderful work just has me going full speed ahead!

But you know what they say, time flies when your having fun … it’s no wonder them numbers are so blurry!

Happy New year to all, and may your days be blurry with blessings and inspiration!

The event was held at Rooster & Moon Coffee Pub (I highly recommend this clever establishment … coffee shop by day, pub by night … brilliant!) in Denver, CO. Local artists donated work to be auctioned off to raise money for Art for Africa. I was invited to play a few tunes, and donate some art. I enjoyed learning more about the vision of Art for Africa, seeing the wide array of pieces the artists donated, and connecting with fellow creatives.

Little did I know I would be bringing home a new employee to join me in the creative cave/octopus garden. But, there he was … a whimsically crafted octopus. The piece was created by Kate Nickel (a fellow alumni of Rocky Mountain College of Art!) I knew this masterfully crafted mollusk would be the first of what I hope will soon be a massive octopus collection. So I put in my bid, and won the little crocheted cephalopod!

Kate's cleverly crocheted cephalopod creation

He now resides near my desk (with Tessa’s handcrafted crow … another favorite iconic creature of mine), so I can keep an eye on him, he is after all a Bandito Octopod. He has been eyeing my ipod all day, not sure if it is love or theft he has in mind. It is nice to have a new member of the creative team, though, tess will always be employee of the month! Mr. Octopod has that crafty cleverness that is always welcome here at the creative cave. Thanks Kate for your donation/creation.

As for the octopus collection, I am on the hunt for more wonderous octopus creations … had my eye on this pricey little gem since creating my brand …

the crown jewel of the octopus collection

Here are a few other items on the wish list:

for playtime in the office

because every studio needs a bit of Pixar magic

not sure if this would fit in the studio space ... but talk about a conversation piece!

I recall hours of my childhood watching these sticky little fellas crawl down the windows

this would be official dress code for the office (all other clothing optional)

OK, this would also be part of the dress code

an odd lamp ... a pretty close match to the lfcreative brand ... illuminating!

Just you wait Bandito, soon you will have many friends and the Octopus garden will thrive with creative oddities!

In honor of this monumental occasion, let’s take a stroll down memory lane …

Hard to believe it has been a decade since I first began to pursue the dream of owning my own design/illustration studio. After graduating from Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design in 2000, I began my creative career with Young Life, spent 10 incredibly inspiring years as the Senior Designer there. During that time I was juggling my freelance creative work by night … a sort of caped creative crusader of the midnight hours. I still recall some of the early freelance work, one in particular was a comic a client wanted me to create about the stock market (being a starving artist, I can’t say I had a whole lot of experience in with that world!), but it was the first big paying gig and I could not have been more excited. From there I mainly worked with musicians and ministries. Both areas I have a deep passion to help bring the music and missions to life with high quality creative resources. For the first 3 years it was pretty slow going, and it wasn’t until our son, Owen, was born and we made the decision to have Tessa quit her job (quite sadly) at Compassion (a ministry we continue to love and support). That meant I had to kick it in to high gear with the freelance work. I was nervous yet excited because that meant expanding the possibilities and pursuing more clients. We were amazed how quickly the word spread with little to no marketing, and soon I was spending more time than imagined creatively cranking away. All the while I was still feeling a firm calling to continue to serve the mission of  Young Life (a ministry that has been part of my life since I arrived on this earth! but that’s a whole other story). So I continued juggled my full time gig, and my night time gig. This worked well for the next few years, but soon the freelance work began to expand beyond our expectations (and time limitations). Jump to 2009, and the creative career was at full speed in all directions, though it was highly inspiring it was starting to feel like a high speed train heading a bit to fast down life’s tracks. So we went right back to where it all began, in prayer, asking God for guidance in how He wanted to use the work and where it would lead us. After a very difficult few months, we made the decision to leave Young Life and launch Luke Flowers Creative. So on June 11, I said goodbye to my creative cubicle, and was released into the wild where I began to build the business in my new creative cave. It took a month to get it all in order, but on July 17 we are officially launching! An absolutely amazing adventure, and I am so incredibly excited to see how the next chapter of my creative career unfolds …

I hope that you continue to journey along with me as I share the stories and updates through lukeflowerscreative.com and here at the blog. I greatly appreciate your ongoing support, encouragement and inspiration. I strive to be the same for you through my work and writings.