Meet Ken Crossland | Artist & Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ken Crossland and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ken, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I credit the actual starting of our business to reading So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport. The book totally floored me. It broke away the notion that business has to be some grand idea in order to get going. Instead, it can be something as simple as placing a small bet on a particular skill you’re good at.

So I took the advice of the book and decided to sell some of my illustrations of my cats on a handful of greeting cards. The reception was really strong, and it’s led me to draw over a hundred more pieces for the various stationey and gifts we make. Without the permission to start really small with a skill I was super comfortable with, I’m not sure I would’ve taken the plunge. The book was a life-changer.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I grew up idolizing Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes fame and Charles Schulz of Peanuts. I was attracted to how much feeling they could convey with a few simple pen strokes.

If I have any strengths in my art, it’s the ability to capture real feeling and life in my work. To me, each character is truly alive, and I try to listen to them as I draw them, something I learned especially from Bill Watterson. What they do on the page is a result of me paying attention to what it is they’d naturally like to do. I think my best attribute as an artist is this internal meter inside me that detects when something is false. I’m turned off heavily by forced emotion, and I work hard to make sure that each sentiment in our art feels authentic.

I grew up drawing constantly, and went to college as an illustration major. I grew disillusioned with the illustration business after I graduated, and decided to persue other creative avenues. I learned how to write screenplays (like pretty much any guy in his 20s!) and independenly studied to learn graphic design. I even spent a few years writing a TV blog!

At the end of 2017, I had an immense stroke of luck. A family member had bought an iPad Pro for their child in error, and they didn’t know what to do with it. My wife piped up and said that I liked to draw and that I could make good use of it, and brought it home. From then on I started drawing non-stop, remembering why I enjoyed visual art so much. Divorced from the expectation of needing to make art to have an illustration career freed me up to practice and have fun again.

If there’s anything I want people to know about our brand and story, it’s that it’s always okay to enjoy your childhood loves. What you experience as a young person stays with you for life and informs your likes, dislikes, and deepest interests. I hope that our product line allows you to enjoy simple childhood joys, if only for a moment.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite places in New York City are spots where you can talk with a friend or a date. The best part of New York is finding a hole-in-the-wall that’s cozy and small, where you and a companion can just sit and get to know each other.

Offhand I can recommend Rubirosa for eating out (it has the best gluten-free Italian in the city—my wife has an allergy), and the Dublin House for getting a drink. Dublin House is a distinctly un-charming Irish bar that purposely has no frills—you’re there to be with your friends, and that’s it. The music is either low or off, meaning you can actually hear who you’re with. Rubirosa is warm, comforting, and is exactly what you might expect an old-style New York City restaurant to be like. It’s like getting a window into another era of NYC.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Obviously I have to shout out Cal Newport. So Good They Can’t Ignore completely changed my outlook on business. I also need to credit my wife, who is a major part of our company, and I couldn’t do this without her partnership and support.

I also need to credit a group of friends of mine who are also in the statioenry and gift business. We belong to an informal group we call the Stationery Gang, and it’s comprised of Krishna Chavda of NANU Studio, Kate Murray of Quick Brown Fox Letterpress, Cecily Moore of The Paper Curator, Daniel Durkin of Daniel Durkin Illustration, and Janine Kwoh of Kwohtations. These people are my rocks in the business, and we’ve relied on each other to help navigate the ups and downs of running a small company.

Website: https://thelobsterstudio.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelobsterstudio/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thelobsterstudio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelobsterstudio/

Other: We have a wholesale shop on Faire: https://thelobsterstudio.faire.com

Image Credits
Alan Lessig