Joseph Stumpfl of Annandale is not your typical 11-year-old.
He has a rare talent for drawing and painting, which has already been established at the local level, but his work recently caught the eye of a Minneapolis-based art company and has led to a business contract of sorts.
That company, Bobiam, is located in Uptown and produces a wide array of products and accessories, from T-shirts and hats to greeting cards and cellphone covers. Each of those products is emblazoned with art submitted by artists under the age of 18.
When Stumpfl’s grandmother Mary heard about Bobiam, she naturally thought it sounded like a good opportunity for Joseph. But Bobiam handles a large volume of student art and only a select number of artists are accepted for contracts that provide a royalty for each item sold with that artist’s work on it.
"Not every kid is going to make it on our brands. Some art is just better than others, and the other thing is, we can’t keep up with it all," said Bobiam general manager Joel Baardseth.
But Joseph’s work, and particularly a coffee mug design, stopped the Bobiam evaluators in their tracks.
"He put the words ‘What, no coffee?’ on it. So it was a no-brainer to put it on a coffee mug," said Baardseth. "It looked like somebody that needed their caffeine fix. It’s just this mouth and eyeballs."
Joseph was quick to give credit for his inspiration regarding the design.
"I based it off of mom," he said.
"I’m the muse and he picks on me," admitted his mother Stacey. "I need my coffee in the morning."
Art despite adversity
Joseph has been drawing and painting "from the time he could grip a crayon," said Stacey with a laugh. "We used to say, ‘Are you going to be an artist when you grow up?’ He’d say, ‘I already am an artist.’"
Art has been one outlet for Joseph to deal with a variety of health issues in his life. He has Asperger syndrome, which is a mild form of autism, has a mild form of Tourette syndrome and was diagnosed about two years ago with Crohn’s Disease. A variety of other ailments have complicated life for Joseph, who does his schooling at home, and he is on a regular treatment schedule in St. Cloud.
"He takes it very well. He just keeps on trucking. It doesn’t slow him down. And art is a fun (escape) for him," said Stacey.
Joseph isn’t afraid to use his talents to bring a smile to others. During a stay at Children’s Hospital for a procedure several years ago he drew up a picture of a teddy bear saying "Hope you feel better" and the nurses made copies to distribute to all the other children on the floor.
"I thought that was great, that he would share that even though he was feeling pretty rough," said Stacey.
Joseph said it was a natural reaction to the situation.
"I was feeling their pain," he said.
Wunderkind
Local art enthusiasts might already recognize Joseph’s name. He had some pieces displayed a few years ago for an art crawl, one of his drawings of a Cardinal is on the back cover of this year’s Annandale Elementary school folder, and he recently took first place with the only entry he submitted at the Wright County Fair.
The coffee mug design isn’t the only piece that Bobiam chose to put on its products, but the other designs had not yet been designated for particular items as of last week.
That coffee mug, which should be available for purchase locally at In Hot Water Coffee-Tea House in the near future, might also become an attraction over a wider area. Baardseth met with Dunn Brothers Coffee officials last week, who are planning to introduce Bobiam mugs in their stores.
The selection of his work on a scale of that potential magnitude has been a whole new level of affirmation of Joseph’s skill.
"I was kind of suprised and pretty excited," he said.
It’s in the family
Joseph comes from a line of skilled artists, beginning with his grandmother, who formerly taught art at a university and still is active
"She is very good, very talented. When we would go visit with her she would give him a little art lesson," said Stacey. "So she gets to share that with him, which is fun."
Joseph’s dad, Chris, inherited artistic skills from his mother and also joins Joseph on occasion for projects.
"It’s in the family, but he sure didn’t get it from mom," said Stacey.
Another source of inspiration was Bob Ross, who had painting instruction shows on PBS.
"He found Bob on TV one day and said, ‘I like him. I like how his voice sounds. It’s relaxing,’" said Stacey. "He would watch him paint. And then he would go paint. He actually learned a lot from watching him. He’d get his paints, watch a show and then go paint something. That’s how it kind of started, the painting. He would watch and get inspired."
Joseph said that influence has lingered.
"I always tried paint like him," he said. "The one I took first prize at the fair, I used his tips on painting trees."
Some of Joseph’s favorite subjects to draw or paint are nature scenes, and he generally spends several hours per week on average honing his craft. If he gets excited about a project, however, he can put in over an hour per day.
When not pursuing his art, Joseph enjoys playing legos and X-Box, swimming, swinging, playing with his pet gecko and computer games.
Stacey said it has been fun to watch Joseph’s skills develop to the point where Bobiam wanted to set up a contract for his work.
"It’s very exciting. He’s pretty young, only 11," she said. "When you see someone who kind of has a natural gift like this you just want to share it with people."
■ To learn more about Bobiam, which is named for the founder’s son Liam, also known as Liam Bobiam, see www.bobiam.com.