Artist Interview: Tom Rent

This week, since he’s such a cool and helpful guy, we’re interviewing artist Tom Rent at Comical Captions, who has been a member of Greeting Card Universe since February 2008.

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Tom, what drew you to join GCU?

I made a few self-published Comical Caption books in 2007 that were hard to sell, so I was looking for another way to market my humor and thought I’d try greeting cards.  It has worked out well.

Tell us who you are, where you are, and what you do.

I live in Minnesota USA.  I’m an electrical engineer, freelance technical writer, and website designer.  I run a small company called Fearless Thinkers, Inc.

What’s your favorite greeting card on GCU that you’ve created?

This is not a very good seller, and it is also not very attractive, but it was one of my original cards and the type I like to create.  I like to take a regular old photo with a person in it and wrap a nutty but plausible 1-line story around it that just seems to bring a laugh no matter what. Humans are fun.

Where else can we find you on-line?

Zazzle
Facebook
Web

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

I was a chief engineer at a large defense company for 25 years.  Odd to emigrate from that to being a greeting card tycoon.

How did you become an artist?

I am not really an artist in the traditional sense, but I have learned enough to do some rather fancy cards using programs like Photoshop incorporating my old photographs.  I’ve learned a lot from other GCU artists as well.  My knack is really in the humor writing area.

What or who inspires you?

Life! … I see humor in just about everything.  I can’t shut it off!  I need help!

What motivates you to design greeting cards?

It is entertaining to create these Comical captioned cards, and the fun continues when I see others enjoying them.

What’s the most indispensable item you use to create your work?

I have a huge photo, negative, and slide collection, all in protective sleeves and smartly organized.  It takes a lot of work but it sure has paid off.

What tools do you use to create your work?

I’m a Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 fanatic!

What do you do to promote your greeting cards on GCU?

I find posting my sales on my Facebook page via the SHARE link to work well to keep my vast friends network (kidding) laughing and buying.

Is there a tip about GCU or promoting your GCU designs you’d like to share with other artists?

Send you own cards as often as you can.

Name three other GCU artists whose work inspires you or that you admire.

Robin Chaffin (Rycky Creations)

Lisa Charlton

Patri Feher

Is there something you’re really proud of having done?

Hit 10,000 cards sold in 36 months.  Never in my wildest dreams!

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?

Unhappy!

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Thank you, Tom, for sharing your humor with the world (and your peeps love it, too) 🙂