From Hobby to Full-Time Artist: My Journey
How paint, passion, and persistence turned into my full-time dream.
I've been creating art for as long as I can remember. As a teenager, I would use my babysitting money not on clothes or outings, but on sketchbooks, canvases, brushes, and paint. I'd stay up late painting portraits of the children I babysat, gifting them to their parents as a thank-you or for a special occasion. I also found myself painting scenery, team mascots, and spiritual artwork. Even back then, I wasn't just painting, I was trying to spread joy.
In 2006, at 19 years old, I spent a year nannying in Park City, Utah. I would walk into local galleries and ask what it would take to get my work on their walls. No one said yes, and though I did get one piece into a boutique, it never sold. Still, I kept painting. I kept asking questions. I bought art books, watched YouTube tutorials, and kept learning and practicing.
In 2007, while attending college, I began painting seasonal art (mostly Santas and nativities) for my mom’s friends and their extended circles. Around the same time, I launched a game-day dress business called Fan Frocks, where I enjoyed sewing dresses for girls using team t-shirts. I continued making dresses throughout nursing school and during my first few years as a nurse, but after a difficult partnership, I knew it was time to close that chapter and begin a new one. I got married, moved to New York, and in 2014 everything changed and we welcomed our first baby.
After I had my first child, I stepped away from my nursing career and found myself picking up the paintbrush again. I painted pieces for my daughter's nursery, for baby gifts, and for friends again.
By 2016, we were back in Arkansas. I continued painting the same Christmas art for families each year. It was meaningful, but repetitive and I began to wonder: Could I find a way to make this sustainable and enjoyable? I began dreaming of turning my originals into prints.
In 2018, we welcomed our third child, and my husband, Matt, took a job in Tulsa, OK. While settling into our new home, I continued painting custom portraits for families and also started experimenting with watercolor abstracts and animals. During that time, I met an older gentleman who began digitizing and printing my artwork. He shared a few helpful tips, and after lots of research, trial, and error, I learned how to digitize my own work using a professional scanner and Photoshop to prepare it for prints. I was starting to see the foundation of a real business take shape, even though, at the time, I was still focused on printing the seasonal holiday pieces I had been painting year after year.
In 2019, I built my first website (side note: the logo I created was pretty terrible! ha!). I researched manufacturers, figured out packaging and shipping, and opened up the virtual doors to my art shop. I began printing my Santas, Nativities, and Last Suppers. I also donated several of these new canvas prints to various charities and organizations, hoping to spread a little joy through my art and to help with marketing.
In early 2020, Matt lost his job due to COVID. It was a season of fear and faith, but also clarity. My new art business became a blessing. With people spending more time at home, many were looking to make their spaces more joyful and inspiring. We eventually moved back to Arkansas, where Matt started his own practice and I poured everything I had into our growing family and art business.
Today, I work as a full-time artist. It's wild to write that. What began as a childhood joy, has grown into a full-time career that supports my family and fills my heart with so much happiness. My prints are now carried in hundreds of stores across the U.S. I have never stopped creating and I have never stopped believing that art is meant to be shared.
My mission has always been to share the joy that art has given me. Every time someone gifts a piece of mine or hangs it in their home, I feel like that joy is passed along again. Thank you for your continued love and support! -Chelsea