Please note: Some artists are still in the process of adding their artwork to this new website. Our previous web catalog of images can be viewed here.
Nene Thomas
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Nene Thomas
ARTWORK CAN BE SEEN ON OUR OLD WEBSITE: https://tatelicensing.squarespace.com/nene-thomas
Why Nene Thomas is a Licensing Powerhouse
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The Queen of High-End Collectibles: Nene’s artwork is the gold standard for the collectible market. Her designs have been the foundation for legendary, high-demand figurine and sculpture collections that have spanned decades, proving her art’s immense “collectibility” and perceived value.
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Master of “Elegant Fantasy”: Unlike traditional “warrior” fantasy, Nene specializes in a more refined, sophisticated aesthetic. Her work features high-fashion costuming, graceful movement, and ethereal lighting that appeals to a premium home décor and lifestyle audience.
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The “Dragon Witches” Phenomenon: Her signature Dragon Witches and Fairies collections are among the most successful brands in the fantasy licensing world, offering a unique blend of feminine power and mythical elegance that is a proven winner across textiles, stationery, and apparel.
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Narrative Depth & World Building: Each piece of Nene’s art is part of a larger story. As the creator of the Zarryiostrom epic fantasy saga, her artwork carries a built-in narrative richness that adds “story value” to every licensed product, making them more than just images.
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Hobby & Craft Category Leader: Her intricate compositions and lush color palettes make her one of the most requested artists in the Puzzle and Diamond Art industries, where her designs consistently rank as best-sellers and fan favorites.
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Unmatched Retail Longevity: With over 30 years of professional success, the Nene Thomas brand is a “safe bet” for manufacturers. Her work is instantly recognized by a global audience and has a historical track record of consistent retail sell-through.
Social Media & Reach
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Facebook: Over 275,000+ Followers (An exceptionally loyal community that tracks her new art books, figurines, and apparel releases).
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Instagram: 11,000+ Followers (Focusing on new digital works, behind-the-scenes doll-making, and textile design).
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Global Presence: Nene is a perennial “Guest of Honor” at the nation’s largest fantasy and renaissance festivals, providing direct-to-consumer marketing that supports her licensed product lines.
Artist Links
- Official Website: nenethomasart.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/nenethomas
- Instagram: @nenetinathomas
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Nene Thomas
Nene has been drawing and painting her entire life, but she began her career as a professional artist in 1994 when she was approached by a company called Wizards of the Coast to contribute work to the popular collectible card game “Magic: the Gathering”. She worked for WotC and many other CCG companies for the next several years, until she grew tired of bringing to life other peoples’ visions. So, she left contract art behind and became a print artist, painting only the things she wanted to paint.
Making the switch from contract artist to print artist wasn’t easy, because the pay is much better in contract art, but the freedom to paint whatever she wanted more than made up for the loss of revenue. Eventually, she made a name for herself in the world of faery art, selling her paintings at shows around the country and online, and now products adorned with her art can be found in stores all around the world.
For the first ten years of her professional career, she worked exclusively in watercolor. In 2004, she became enamored with digital art, and the more she studied it, the more dissatisfied she became with her older paintings. So, she set aside her watercolors, bought a digital art tablet, Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop, and began experimenting.
Her first digital pieces were actually hybrid works with watercolors mixed with digital elements, but eventually she became comfortable enough working with the art programs to complete the transition to fully digital works.
The inspiration for her works comes from a variety of sources, but the vast majority comes from a story she has been working on since high school. “The Zarryiostrom”, her most intensely personal project, is an epic fantasy series that she tricked her poor, unwitting husband, Steven Plagman, into writing. As of this date, the first four novels of the Zarryiostrom, “Powerborn”, “Usurper”, “Marionette”, and “Tyro” have been released as self-published works, and they are hard at work writing “Concubine”, the fifth book in the series. All told, there will be nine books in the series by the time it is completed. Each book contains 20 paintings by Nene, showcasing the various characters of the series.