2006 March 7 : Mela Bolinao, art agent

A
GATHERING
OF
ILLUSTRATORS

Talk and
portfolio critiques
by NY art agent
Mela Bolinao

2006 March 7 Saturday
Makati, Metro Manila

Below, top to bottom : Mela telling a rapt audience all about her work as an art agent in New York while Nikki takes notes at her left. Mela looking at portfolios, giving comments to individual artists, and chatting with Beaulah while everyone else hobnobs and exchange notes with each other. (Photos by Mark Taguiwalo)

Beaulah writes : Here are the other artists who were there, just as eager as I was to hear what Mela had to say. I’ve heard it many times, and read it in numerous FAQs - the do’s and don’ts in preparing your portfolio. It was something else, however, to hear it again right there, from an honest to goodness artist agent. I certainly picked up more than a thing or two last March 7. And I also finally and completely understood a few things that I knew beforehand, but only in theory. “Have a distinct, signature style,” for example.

Here’s more, from Nikki : On March 7, 2006, from 5:30 to 9:30 in the evening, the SCBWI hosted a Gathering of Illustrators. Our speaker for the evening was Mela Bolinao, a Filipino American who is also a New York based illustrators’ agent with 11 years experience, specializing in children’s books. She critiqued portfolios and gave a brief talk on the art and craft of putting together a portfolio. But this was not what the evening was solely about – at least not for me.

Read Nikki's whole account here.