We recently connected with Jerry Lofaro and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jerry, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Morning Thunder tea was one of Celestial Seasoning’s original products, and I used to drink it all the time. In fact, I would steep two bags at a time of this very caffeinated tea when I used to stay up all night in college working on projects! I really wanted to work for this company, and after knocking on their door for a long time, I was finally hired in 1998 for a project. It turns out it was to update the packaging for Morning Thunder, and thus began my long association with the company. A huge mural of my Morning Thunder art even greets visitors at the entrance of the headquarters in Boulder, Colorado.

Jerry, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Jerry LoFaro employed a lifetime interest in dinosaurs, animals, fantasy, and art history into a long and successful career as an illustrator and licensing artist. He grew up in a great and supportive family, and was especially blessed with a creative, colorful and pretty eccentric father. He became “famous” in high school for his hand painted rock & roll t-shirts and denim jackets, and finds it poetic that all these years later he’s created album cover art and became so involved with the music scene. Jerry is mostly self taught as an artist, and only lasted three semesters in college. However, he truly learned how to draw after a stint at The Art Students League in NYC.

The recipient of many awards, he has created book covers for all the major publishers along with countless advertising projects for Aflac, Claritin, Purina, Discovery Channel, Time Magazine, Coca Cola, Dole Foods, Minolta, Disney, and many others. He is particularly renown for the more than seventy tea boxes he created for Celestial Seasonings Tea over a twenty-year period, including Morning Thunder and Sleepytime Bear. As an illustrator, Jerry enjoyed the challenges of visually solving
 an advertising client’s problem, or coming up with the solution to create an engaging book cover.

Jerry was also a highly regarded and popular instructor, and taught classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC as well as New England College. In addition, he conducted airbrush seminars around the US, and was head of the Digital Illustration program at The New Hampshire Institute of Art from 2010-14. He also enjoyed mentoring many aspiring artists throughout his career, and hosted field trips from high schools and colleges in his studio.

In recent years, Jerry evolved into an award-winning fine art, nature, and concert photographer, and has been the official photographer for The Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, NH since 2017. His first book of photography, “Abandoned Vehicles of New Hampshire: Rust In Peace” was published in 2021.

Jerry is now retired from the commercial art industry, but continues to manage his successful licensing career. He has also become a music promoter, and he and his wife host concerts in his large art studio with well-known musicians and bands. He best describes himself at this stage in his life as a Professional Free Spirit!

Photography has truly become his passion, and recently went on a photo expedition in Iceland. Creating art in the demanding illustration world for over thirty years has given Jerry the skills to bring out the best in his photography, from a masterful sense of color, drama, detail and composition, to simply being able to visually relate a story with an emotional and thoughtful eye.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

NYC was my primary source of clients, and my longtime agent was located there. After the tragedy of 9/11/2001, I didn’t get any work for nearly 6 months and my wife and I were living off of credit cards. A friend in New Hampshire ran a computer school, and asked me to enroll and commit to the course for free, but help the other students with my industry knowledge and creative experience as I learned myself. I wasn’t particularly interested in going digital, but the writing was on the wall and it was clear I needed to climb that mountain. It enabled me to re-invent myself, and I became more in demand than I ever was!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Essentially, my time has always been my own, and I’ve always been able to work from home. Because of my freelance status, I’ve been able to live in the woods of NH on a beautiful expansive property that is like a nature preserve, and have a huge barn as my studio.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jerrylofaroprints.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jerrylofaroart/ https://www.instagram.com/jerrylofarorust/ https://www.instagram.com/jerrylofaromusic/ https://www.instagram.com/jerrylofarophotos/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jerry.lofaro.3
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jerrylofaro1103
• Other: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jerry-lofaro

Image Credits

Jerry LoFaro