About

Artist Tanja Konwinski in her studio

Rose Hollow Design is a fine art and design company offering limited edition art prints, stationery, and custom installations with a focus on black ink abstraction. Owner and artist Tanja Konwinski hand draws each design from her Schoharie Valley based studio. Her largest work “Reunion”, measuring 10 x 10ft, can be publicly viewed at Trellis coworking in San Francisco, CA.

Rose Hollow puts an emphasis on designing with re-purposing in mind – such as utilizing a flat printed format to turn cards into elegant pieces of home décor to use year-round. The company has made a plastic free pledge in all its products and packaging, committed to planet over profit at every turn.

 

From Tanja:

I started Rose Hollow with the express intent of making my work accessible and affordable. I love my originals, I love making them and sharing them. But they are also not cheap. I believe that artists need to charge for their time, just as every other traditional job does. I have more than 20 years experience working with pen on paper and I calculate my originals cost at $25 - 50/hr, depending on complexity, to get to my end price. 

With Rose Hollow, I have adapted my production technique to be able to offer prints at $6 (4.5 x 6.25 inches), $10 (5 x 7 inches), and $35 (8 x 10 inches).


How have I done this?

  • For Rose Hollow, Everything (as of 2024) is drawn digitally to hasten the number hours spent on one creation. I utilize as few automated functions as possible to stay consistent to my style and work that I know I am capable of on paper.
  • Digital drawing reduces the amount of time I have to prep an image before it goes to the printer.
  • Open editions (meaning prints are not numbered or signed) allow me to charge a lower cost even for drawings that take a considerable amount of time. While they might warrant a higher price, selling MORE of the print at a lower cost eventually gets me to the number I am aiming for - and providing affordable art in the process.


Do I still work on paper?

Oh god yes! It is my favorite thing and it is the practice that grounds my entire creative life.
I also passionately design holiday ornaments, furniture, home items such as candelabras, blankets, mugs, and tiles. I also create original artwork that is not *entirely* paper based that I’m going to be sharing more of going forward.


What about limited edition prints?

My Limited Edition (meaning numbered and signed) prints are made from work that originated on paper. These prints range from $50 to $350. Based on size and the number of prints in each edition (50 or 100 is my sweet spot). Far more labor goes into printing these works, including high resolution scans that have to be outsourced, and sometimes many many hard copy proofs to get to the right balance in the print.

What remains consistent no matter the drawing technique, edition type, or cost is my commitment to planet over profit and people over products.

 
How does that manifest in business?

  • My products and packaging are plastic free.
  • I do use a compostable cellophane at this time, but I'm fairly unsatisfied with its decomposition timeline and will hopefully be moving away from it in the next year. They are also one of my only product elements not made in the US.
  • I chose to print less in each print run so that I do not end up with stock that does not sell. The practical result of this is that I am opting to pay more per piece instead of printing a large quantity just to whittle down my cost-per-piece. My margins are less stellar, but I can sleep at night.
  • I will not purchase materials of any kind from companies that disregard the climate crisis. Looking at you Uline.
  • I prioritize purchases from small businesses within my community.
  • I source materials and paper from American mills.
  • At present, I am committed to selling wholesale only in the United States to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the transportation of my goods.
  • Recycled materials are a priority across the entire company.
  • Honoring the time and value of human help. I don’t get to hire a lot, it’s mostly me right now. Seasonal help with packaging or other tasks are hired in at the highest possible wage I can afford. A building block of my company is lifting up my future staff with myself.
  • A commitment to education. We can only do better and honor our planet and its inhabitants by educating ourselves on what can be done to improve.