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Tim: “My journey is longer than most because I’m just starting my 30th year! Before I came to Hallmark, I worked in advertising art for about 10 years. The art there was a bit more commercial. I always loved Hallmark, and as my work slowly became more character-centric and fun, I thought Hallmark would be a terrific fit for me, so I applied and I got in. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but my portfolio included things like The Flintstones and Marvel and DC characters and other properties. I loved working on them but to me, they had been advertising clients.

So, when Hallmark asked me where I wanted to work, I asked where I would fit in best, and that led me to Licensing. When I learned I would get to work on all these properties I love, I thought wow, what a cool opportunity! In fact, I was only at Hallmark 2 weeks when they sent me on a trip to Disney. To be in a place working on properties that were so dear to me was just amazing—especially having the opportunity to be trained by Disney artists. Hallmark is one of the only companies outside of Disney that’s allowed to create original Disney artwork.
 
I’ve had the opportunity to go to the places where these properties were created and immerse myself in the properties and storytelling, and I just love it. I do non-property work as well and I love that too, but there’s just something about helping people connect back to their childhoods. In fact, one of my specialties became Winnie the Pooh to the point where coworkers were calling me Timmy the Pooh. What I love about Winnie the Pooh is it brings you back to the innocence of childhood. Like when you step into that world, you’re stepping back to before you had any of life’s pressures and it’s all about being with people you love and doing special things with them. The ability for properties to do that for you—to take you out of your life and bring you into a loving and imaginary world—is really special.
 
I’ve also focused on Innovation a lot while at Hallmark. I worked as an Innovation Art Director for a while and then about 10 years ago, I transitioned to fully focusing on creating 3D product. I’m full time in Keepsake Ornaments now, and I love working on 3D products because you get to hold them, you get to play with different materials and you to play with more physical storytelling. With a sculpt, you’re capturing a whole story in one pose. It’s been a lot of fun. And we do a lot of collaboration in the studio, which is great. I’ll do research and detailed sketches to get the poses right, and then I’ll pass it along to another artist that does the sculpt. It’s a team effort!”