Artist Statement:
Shay Ometz and Jeff Barfoot are the cofounders of bee things, where they make art prints and posters, apparel, and products for kiddos and the home.
Jim Henson once said, "My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here." Shay and Jeff love to create things that make them happy, and they hope to make the people out in the world that see them a bit happier, too.
Their design and illustration work has appeared in Communication Arts, Print Magazine, Graphis, the One Show, and the Dallas Society of Visual Communications show. Their home and work has been featured in ReadyMade magazine, The Dallas Morning News, D Home Magazine and on the popular blog design*sponge.
Jeff and Shay live and work in Dallas, TX, with their two moppy-haired sons and their two mini weenie dogs, all four of which eat their food.
Awards & Distinctions:
Jeff and Shay’s design and illustration work has been recognized by most major awards shows and publications, including Communication Arts, the Art Directors Club of New York, The One Show, Graphis, Print magazine, The AR100 (for annual report design), the DSVC, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and The American Advertising Federation. Their home and work have been featured by ReadyMade magazine, The Dallas Morning News, D Home Magazine, The Working Proof, The National Audubon Society, and on the popular blog design*sponge. They have been asked to show their work and address several professional groups and university programs, and they are honored to have judged several design competitions.
Over their careers, they have done design and illustration projects for 7-Eleven, the American Heart Association, Blockbuster, the Dallas Museum of Art, Fossil, Hallmark, Hasbro, IBM, KEXP Seattle, Neenah Paper, Nickelodeon, Pepsi, Pier 1 Imports, Sappi Fine Papers, Sony, W Hotels, and Yum! Brands, among others.
Professional/Teaching Experience:
Shay loves fashion. She has travelled all over the world as international art director for Fossil. After globetrotting, she helped start Fossil’s catalog at their Dallas headquarters, where she still photostyles and art directs each issue. Shay has a hard time focusing on any particular interest, becuase she loves everything: reading (she and Jeff have over five hundred books!), creating fine art and crafts, playing her guitar and clarinet, listening to music, decorating, and scrounging hundreds of blogs and ebay for inspiration.
Jeff is a principal of RBMM, the special forces branding arm of The Richards Group. He is a past president of the the Dallas Society of Visual Communications (DSVC), and served on its board of directors for eight years. He is past editor in chief of Rough, monthly publication of the DSVC. He is very proud to be the cofounder of the National Student Show & Conference, the nation’s largest creative competition and conference designed for communication arts students, now in its sixth year.
Artistic Influences:
Ray and Charles Eames. Their design aesthetic is marvelous, and everything they touched - be it furniture design, architecture, graphic design or textile design - turned to gold. The married couple created an amazing body of work together for all those years; they are our inspiration for creating a harmonious studio life and a home life together.
Artist Tags:
screen print, modern, illustration, happy, colors
