Cris Villa Turns Imagination Into Something You Can Hold
New Jersey artist on playfulness, patience, and treating licensing like a marathon
Ask Cris Villa to describe her art in one word, and she picks “playful”‚ a fitting summary for a New Jersey-based artist who thrives on variety. “I love creating wall art and patterns,” she says. “I need variety and constant change, otherwise I get bored!”
That restlessness is part of what makes her work feel alive. Cris moves fluidly between illustration and pattern, letting geometric shapes, plants, animals, and the natural world guide her compositions. It’s a well that never seems to run dry‚ and one that, after years of licensing her art, still surprises her. “It still amazes me that something that starts in my imagination can become a tangible object,” she says. “Seeing an idea transformed into something people can hold, use, and connect with is incredible.”
Letting Ideas Simmer
Cris’s process starts with patience, not a blank page demanding to be filled. “After reading my client’s brief or being inspired by something in particular, I like to let it simmer for a bit,” she explains. “Usually ideas for color and motifs start popping up and forming in my mind. I try and loosely sketch these ideas in my notebook as they come.” Only once a direction feels clear does she build a moodboard and plan out a full collection.
Geometry and nature are the two forces she returns to again and again. “Geometric shapes and compositions are always in my mind,” she says. “Plants and animals and the natural world are a constant source of inspiration.”
A Marathon, Not a Sprint
If there’s one thing Cris wants new licensing artists to understand, it’s that patience is part of the job. “Think of art licensing as a marathon, not a sprint,” she says. “Success rarely happens overnight, and opportunities often take time to develop. You really have to love creating art and be committed to the process, otherwise it’s easy to become discouraged or feel like nothing is happening.” Her other piece of advice: keep making. “Be prepared to make lots and lots of art. The more you create, the stronger your portfolio becomes and the more opportunities you’ll have to find the right match for your work.”
Her personal fine art practice and her commercial work feed each other, but they serve different purposes. “My personal fine art practice is the engine behind my creativity and what makes everything I create feel authentic to my style,” she says. “That’s where I give myself permission to play, experiment, and explore texture, color, and composition without expectations. That exploration often becomes the foundation for my commercial work.” To stay sharp on the retail side, she makes a habit of walking stores‚ from boutiques to big-box retailers, to see, firsthand, how art shows up on real products.
Trend-Aware, Not Trend-Led
Cris keeps an eye on what’s happening in the market without letting it steer her work. “Once you’ve established your personal style, I think it’s important not to focus too much on what everyone else is creating or how they’re doing it,” she says. “Trends will always come and go, but a strong personal voice is what gives your art longevity.”
Her prediction for what’s coming: “We are going deep and moody, with rich saturated colors. I will be here for it when it happens!” And she’s ready to see one particular animal retire from the spotlight. “I am extremely over highland cows,” she says. “I’ll take any other farm animal, chickens? pigs? Bring it!”
Behind the Scenes
A day in Cris’s studio comes with coffee, music, and a fair amount of happy chaos. “A complete crazy mess, with paint tubes and canvases everywhere,” she says of her workspace, she likes working on multiple pieces at once‚ “music playing, and me accidentally drinking my paint water because my coffee cup was placed too close to it.”
Outside the studio, gardening keeps her creativity renewed. “Spending time outdoors observing plants, insects, and birds brings me enormous joy,” she says. “Nature has a way of slowing me down and helping me notice the small details, textures, colors, and unexpected combinations that often find their way into my artwork. It’s one of my greatest sources of inspiration.”
From notebook sketches to gallery-framed prints, Cris Villa’s work is proof that a playful eye and a patient process can go hand in hand. She’s still chasing variety, still letting ideas simmer, and still amazed every time one of them ends up in someone’s hands.
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