APPROVED BY DISNEY
Saskatoon artist Denyse Klette grew up enchanted with Disney characters and is now the first Canadian to be signed and published with the Disney Fine Art collection.
When Denyse Klette was six years old, she visited Walt Disney World with her family and saw Tinker Bell — her favourite character — soar across the sky during the fireworks show.
Just like that, she was hooked on the magic of Disney.
“You fall in love with every aspect of it,” the Saskatchewan multidisciplinary artist says. “When I'm working on a piece, I put on a Disney movie or put on Disney music so that I'm always constantly inspired. It's magical.”
Klette is the first Canadian to be signed as a published artist with the Disney Fine Art collection, which means her work will join the global Disney Fine Art portfolio. Only about 30 artists worldwide are part of that prestigious group, according to the collection's website.
Disney Fine Art “showcases artist inspired, interpretive artwork of Disney's beloved characters and classic animated films,” according to a press release. The Disney Fine Art collection is organized by Collectors Editions, an official licensee of The Walt Disney Company and the exclusive global publisher of the collection.
In other words, Klette's beautiful renderings of heartwarming Disney moments and characters from movies like Mulan, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and more, will now be published and available worldwide.
Two pieces in particular — inspired by Moana and Klette's childhood favourite, Tinker Bell — led to Klette being signed by Collectors Editions to create art for the Disney Fine Art collection.
“When I got the call and they welcomed me to the family, it was very exciting,” she said. “It was a dream come true.”
Klette said she knew she wanted to be an artist since she was a child, and she stole a book from her sister on how to draw cartoons. It was created by a Disney artist, and it got her hooked on drawing.
That book still sits on her bookshelf today.
Before she was signed, Klette's artwork caught the attention of the Wyland Gallery at the Epcot Center in Florida, which offered to host some of her work. The gallery also presents and sells Disney artwork, and Klette asked how she could do that. She was told the only way to get into that prestigious Disney art club was by creating something truly “unique.”
So Klette went back to her studio in Saskatchewan and created something different — Disney-inspired artwork with a hand-sculpted frame — and in February 2019 sent it in so she would be considered for the Disney Fine Art collection.
Then in December — on the birthday of Walt Disney himself — Klette was officially signed.
Looking back, she said it's still hard to believe.
“Every emotion hits you. I was ecstatic. There were tears of joy.”
Klette is not signed or employed by the Walt Disney Company directly. To have a piece officially become part of the Disney Fine Art collection, she has to send samples to Collectors Editions, which in turn brings the art to Disney artists for feedback and approval before it can be produced for the public.
That means each and every one of Klette's Disney creations is examined by the Disney artists who work on those films the world knows and loves.
“Though I'm not working for Disney, I still get to work with their artists,” she said. “For (newer movies), it's the actual creators of it ... get to critique my work. It's really cool.”
Her work for the Disney Fine Art collection doesn't mean Klette is only creating Disney pieces now, but her website shows off the uniquely sculpted and framed Disney work that earned her a spot in the prestigious group.
As the first Canadian to hold that distinction, Klette said this is undoubtedly the “pinnacle” of her career.
“It didn't really hit me ... but wow. I'm speechless,” she said. “I still wake up every morning pinching myself, that I get to go up to my studio and just paint what I want in Disney.”