Gift is Unwrapped Guest,
episode number 397.
I Was talking with somebody who has a background in Hebrew
languages and they were like,
it sounds to me like it's like Ruok,
like breath of life.
And I was like,
that's it.
Attention Gifters,
beggars, crafters and makers.
Pursuing your dream can be fun.
Whether you have an established business or looking to start one,
now you are in the right place.
This is Gift Biz Unwrapped,
helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Here is your host Gift Biz Gal Sue Moon Height.
Hi there,
it's Sue and thanks for joining me here today.
It's the week before Thanksgiving.
Can you even believe it's here already?
This is one of my favorite holidays and I think I'm
set Recipes planned.
The first grocery run done.
And now I just need to organize the timing of my
Turkey making.
Extravaganza Included in the guest list this year are three dogs,
my new puppy Biscoti,
and my daughter's two dogs,
Oscar and Bug.
So that should be interesting in the spirit of the season.
I also wanna take this time to tell you how very
much I appreciate you as a podcaster.
This show doesn't mean anything without you.
Your emails to me on how a particular episode helped you,
your downloads that keep me in the top rankings and your
participation in doing reviews and joining Gift our Facebook group are
all so important to me.
Thank you.
In return,
I work hard to bring you guests that will provide information
to help your business grow,
ideas for getting new customers,
ways of doing things differently and more efficiently behind the scenes
and even mindset tweaks for you to consider somehow when you
hear someone else putting into action the things we talk about.
It helps convince you that it's doable and something to consider.
Today's guest plays right into this with an extraordinary story of
business development.
You'll hear how a friend virtually pushed her into business.
A surprising affirmation of her products appeal right in the beginning.
And probably the most important of all,
Stephanie's heartfelt underlying mission that's behind her art.
That and more all coming your way right now.
Oh my gosh,
I am so excited for this episode.
I cannot wait for you to meet Stephanie McDermont.
Stephanie is the self-taught artist of Canary artwork.
She invented what she's Coined,
the RUOK technique,
which uses her breath and acrylic paint to create bold abstracts.
Discovering this talent after a long season of caregiving helped bring
her out of deep depression and has given her a new
career and purpose along with the world's most supportive husband.
She sells her paintings at high end art fairs and galleries,
but the most important work she does is to spread the
word that art heals and hope is real.
Stephanie, thank you so much for coming on the show and
welcome to the Gift Biz on Wrapped podcast.
Thank You Stu.
I am delighted to be here.
We are gonna get to know you in a little bit
of a different way just to kick everything off,
and that is to have you describe yourself by way of
a motivational candle.
So if you were to envision a candle that just speaks
totally you,
Stephanie, describe to us what this would look like.
So I've been giving this a lot of thought,
and I think my candle would look like a gradient.
It would be maybe a dark gray leading into like a
bright white.
And so that when you lit the candle as it's going
down, like in life,
as I'm learning things,
it's letting go of that darkness and becoming lighter,
letting go of grief or learning to live with loss,
just flowing down into a better,
brighter version of myself.
Like the process.
It's a process.
Exactly. And do you have a motivational quote or anything over
and above that?
Absolutely. My motivational quote that I keep going back to is
that you get infinite chances.
Oh, that feels so refreshing.
Oh, I can't tell you as a rules girl,
somebody who really was born this way.
But I love to follow rules.
I love to have these blocks of things that you just,
you don't go past that block.
Being able to think about infinite chances,
let's say I blew it completely.
Well, I used to just stop and now I realize,
let's say I was having a bad day and I was
mean to somebody and now I will go back to that
person, say,
I am so sorry,
I really blew it and could you please forgive me?
And then that block is just totally gone.
So it's in any form.
Any time you're taking a chance,
you can always get another one.
This is so great because it's so freeing in the idea
that do what's on your mind and think about within reason.
Right, right.
Don't put barriers on yourself.
And as we get into the conversation that I know we're
gonna have,
cuz it's all about your business.
If you didn't take chances or do something different,
you would've never come upon the process that you're now known
for. Exactly.
And just keep taking chances in every aspect of your life
because what's the worst that can happen?
Somebody says no,
great. You get infinite chances.
Try again.
Do a different venue or a different person or in a
different Way.
Yeah, or in a different way with your product.
Like I'm thinking,
you know,
I talk a lot about,
especially in this maker world,
there are only so many things that can be made.
And we're gonna talk about how this applies to your craft
in a second.
But someone who's making jewelry,
you learn how to make jewelry.
Let's just say it's beaded jewelry,
just to really define it and niche it down.
And I'm doing this for all of us listening,
just so that you understand where my mind is going with
this. The first thing you learn is how to make jewelry,
how everybody else does.
And if you stop there,
then your creations are just like everybody else's.
Exactly. To your point about infinite chances,
if you go past the limit,
we used to say outside the box,
right? Thinking outside the box.
It's similar idea.
If you go past that,
you may happen upon and develop something that is so uniquely
your own,
which you're going to completely demonstrate here.
And that separates you from everybody else.
Gives you a story to talk about and makes you truly
unique. So this is where I see like these infinite chances.
Take the risk,
try it out.
Maybe it'll work,
maybe it won't,
but when it does,
you've landed on something that's golden.
Yes, exactly.
Yeah. All right.
So how long has Canary artwork been around?
So I started painting in 2017,
so five years.
So five years.
Okay. And what did life look like before that?
Right. So before that I was married,
I have two kids.
We, everything was family and fun and we had our own
business. And then we had some relatives who were getting older
and needed help.
So because we had our own business,
I was the one with the schedule that was able to
take them to doctor's appointments or help them find care or
facilities. And I did that with a lot of our relatives
for about 15 years until 2016,
at which time that season ended.
You know,
when you're taking care of so many people,
if somebody passes,
you are sad,
but you can't let that wave of grief completely engulf you
because you've got somebody else that needs to go to a
doctor's appointment in two days.
So you are just working through all the time and never
really stopping to have that season of grief.
So when I was able to stop all of that grief
just took me down.
It was bad.
Oh my gosh.
And you had multiple people then that you were grieving I'm
thinking. Yes,
exactly. Oh,
I wanna just reach out and give you a big hug
right now.
I would take it if we could Just even talking about,
takes me back to that time because it's so very emotional
and that work that if you were a caregiver listening,
no, that I would absolutely give you a hug too,
because it is the most daunting.
It's just,
it's mind numbing and backbreaking work that just,
it doesn't feel like there's any reward for at the time,
except that you get to spend time with your loved ones,
which is a huge reward,
but it is exhausting is what it is.
So you reach the end of that,
you're exhausted from years of it.
I was full of grief.
And what happened was,
luckily I have a great support system and my best friend
is an artist.
She saw I was drowning and came over and had paints
and said,
look, just paint something.
And I laughed at her and said,
that's ridiculous.
You're the artist.
I don't do anything with art.
However, I do love her.
And I trusted her enough to be like,
well, I'll try it and we'll just so I can tell
her I did it.
That's kinda like appeasing her.
Yes. I mean,
and also again,
exhausted grief stricken,
don't really wanna try something new,
don't wanna do it.
But also,
I mean,
it can get worse.
So Right.
I took out the pace and I started painting and I
could tell that she was onto something because I could start
to see these swirling designs in my mind,
but I didn't have any of the training or skill to
get them from my mind to my hand to the canvas.
So I would continually try and I could see it and
I couldn't make it happen.
So now on top of grief and exhaustion,
I also,
Stephanie, you get another chance.
Exactly. This Is when I found that out.
Yeah. Cause what happened was I was trying to make these
designs and I kept thinning down the paint,
thinning it down cause I wanted it to move in a
certain way.
And I just,
I had that breakdown that had been coming for a really
long time.
I had one of those moments where you literally just like
huff in anger,
like, ah.
And then I threw the canvas down and I walked away
and I went outside and I just curled up in a
ball outside of my house and did that screaming,
that guttural screaming.
And those noises that you make when you're literally naing your
teeth because you can't get the words out and just dissolved
And you needed to,
I think.
And it was so cathartic,
but it was also a turning point because I literally remember
walking back and thinking,
well, I can tell Nicole I tried.
I can tell her that it got me to this point,
but at least I'll never ever have to clean up paint
again. Little did you know exactly,
Because when I went to go pick up that canvas,
it had the exact designs that I had been seeing in
my mind.
Wait, so had you really created them and you just didn't
realize it?
Or did something happen while you were doing the breakdown or
In that moment of the first moments of the breakdown,
I had breathed on the canvas that huff of anger.
Oh, Exactly.
I wish everyone could see my face right now.
Like is that like divine intervention or like,
I don't know.
I would absolutely chalk it out to a divine intervention because
I would've stopped had I not seen the exact design that
was from my mind on that canvas.
And then I had to look at it and go,
wait, how did I do that?
I think,
did I breathe on it?
Did I blow on the paint somehow?
And so I reverse engineered it and I thought,
yeah, not only did I breathe on the paint,
but I can do it this way and this way.
And I spent I for probably six months,
that's about all I did was learn the different ways that
I could make the paint respond to breathing across it or
down at it.
If I added hot water or cold water to the paint,
it would do something different.
If the day's humid and you have to have longer for
it to dry,
you need to tighten up that design so that it doesn't
go past what you're trying to do.
And then sometimes there are parts of it that you just
can't control.
And I really feel like that's something that I'm learning is
that When you can't control it,
it might create something totally different that then allows you to
play off of that in a different way also.
So that I'm thinking just by way of experience when you're
creating, there are probably times when you know and everything works
the way you intend.
So it all turns out the way you want.
But then there's also times when it,
for whatever reason,
you know,
whatever variable,
shoot, maybe,
I don't even know,
but I'm gonna guess maybe it's even the temperature in the
room where you're doing the blowing,
I don't even know what you call it.
Well, I do know what your technique is called,
but you see what I'm saying?
Like it doesn't go the right way until then.
It's all an adventure from there.
Yes. And then I'm following the paint,
then I'm following it to see where it wants to go.
So sometimes you're absolutely right,
sometimes I can actually execute exactly what I'm looking for and
sometimes I get to just see where the paint wants to
go and follow it.
And that does usually lead me to learning something new about
how it works that I can then incorporate the next time.
Yeah. Oh my gosh.
Okay. So I'm thinking of our listeners and they're probably like,
what does this look like?
Like I have no idea what they're talking about.
What does this look like?
People can see an example over on your website,
right? Yes.
Canary art group.com.
Okay. Yes.
And we're gonna have all that in the show notes as
everybody knows who listens.
So you can go peek if you're somewhere right now and
you're curious to see.
But could you try and explain through audio Oh what your,
see this is,
I'll give you more than one chance if you have to,
but like,
because some of your art is,
what did you call it in the beginning?
Abstract Is abstract.
That's the word I was looking for.
But then some like I remember seeing some pieces that looked
like flowers.
It's still the same technique,
but so you can actually make things that we relate to
in real life that aren't just abstracts in your painting.
Exactly. And that's new.
That's that learning process going from totally abstract to this summer
I really focused on can I make it look like a
pedal if I breathe on it this way,
can I do that?
And really dove into like I made an entire botany collection
with leaves and flowers and really enjoyed that that.
But yeah,
that's something that's new and I'm crazy about.
I've enjoyed both.
Right. Gives you options.
Exactly. And I did.
We love all the options.
Love the options.
All right,
so this is so interesting.
Have you taken Nicole out to lunch or dinner or done
something as a thank you?
Cuz she just like,
she's the origin of this whole new business you have.
OK. And the cheerleader because yes,
my husband is amazing and supportive and I think that's integral
to the business,
but Nicole too is just still right there by this night
going, why not?
I'll come up with some crazy idea of a show that
I wanna do or something that feels really like further reach
beyond what I could do.
And she's like,
but why not?
And it reminds me,
but you've done all these things,
why couldn't you do that?
Oh good for Nicole.
So important.
Yes. So having cheerleaders really important.
Oh you Have to.
So you were starting to make these creations and seeing that
you were enjoying the whole process and the huge added benefit
that it got you to a point where you could even
do that after all of the depression and all of that,
which is totally warranted obviously.
At what point then did you start thinking about Hmm.
A business?
Okay, so very quickly it kind of took off beyond what
I ever imagined because cheerleader,
Nicole, my best friend,
looked at what I was making literally in April of 2017
and said and started sending me emails with things I could
enter, which at that point I thought,
well why not?
I really don't have anything to lose,
which is not my normal personality.
I am terribly risk adverse.
But in this stage where you're already kind of low and
down, it really did feel like,
well, I mean,
okay, well just give,
What do I have to lose?
Yeah, exactly.
So one of the things that I entered was the Maow
Run Artist series wine label contest.
And so I started paying in April,
I entered that in May and in July I got a
call that I won.
So you created the label for their wine?
Yes. One of my paintings was a wine label.
It was fantastic.
Also in that short amount of time,
I had a friend of a friend here that I was
painting. She came over and saw what I was doing and
then purchased two pieces to put in their house and that's
all I knew about it at the time.
Then a few weeks later she came back and she said,
oh, I forgot to have you fill out this paperwork because
they'll wanna have it in the show and I'll need you
to have signed this paperwork so they can do that.
They said,
I'm sorry,
the show they were actually building a tiny house that was
being taped for hgtv.
My gosh.
So in the first month or two of painting,
it was already gonna be on tv and it had already
been one contest as an artist,
which was insane to me that August they have a like
a reveal of the wine label reveal of the painting.
I had dinner in a vineyard with all of these people
to celebrate me as an artist who started painting in April.
This is now August.
It was insane.
Everything about it was surreal and that's how it took off
because I was just hanging onto the back of it going,
I wonder where we're going next.
It's like that when you follow the paint.
I was just sort of following and continuing to enter things
and try things and tell people about this and the fact
that art can help you heal.
I really wanted to talk more about that.
And that was the driving force.
Like, let's try more.
Let's reach more people.
Let's tell more people about It.
Yeah. So your mission is way more than your beautiful painting.
Oh yeah.
Okay. So I'm gonna ask you a really hard question.
Okay. I bet you've never been asked this before,
Mr. Okay.
What do you think the attraction was like?
Why do you think you won the wine label?
I think when people connect with my paintings,
and not everybody does,
people are drawn to a lot of different types of art
for a lot of different reasons.
But the people who connect to my painting connect to them
on such a deep level,
they can see that I'm putting my emotions myself literally into
the painting and they wanna talk about it.
I have people come up and just tell me their life
story because of what they've seen in a painting.
So I really believe that's how it started was that deep,
deep connection that people feel to the painting and then hopefully
to me and they get a place to exist in that.
Yeah. Is free of judgment and infinite chances exist.
Yeah. And the rock technique that you use Yes.
Does create such a different result.
You know,
when I saw you,
I was attracted to your booth at a fine arts show
here in my community,
right? Yes.
And I was attracted cuz I'm looking at them and it
like drew me in.
Yes. And I'm not an artist in that way at all,
but there was something different about it and I just kept
looking and I couldn't figure it out.
And then when we started talking and you told me how
you did it,
I'm still in awe of the whole thing that you can
do that.
I mean,
I knew that a brush couldn't give the qualities that are
in your painting,
but the fact that you are using air from your mouth
to spread the paint and they're going to go where they
may, it is just incredible.
So this has nothing to do with your business journey kind
of in a way it does,
but not totally sure.
It must take so much energy out of you to make
a painting.
It absolutely does,
depending on the size of the painting.
And the other thing is it's acrylic so it dries fast.
So you kind of have to know where you think you're
going and make a plan and have everything mixed and ready.
So it's once you get to that,
the actual physical part of it,
it is exhausting in the best possible way because there are
only two times when I am really laser focused and I
don't have that tape running in the back of my head.
I'm actually just doing the one thing and only thinking about
the one thing.
One of the reasons when I go to the movies,
I think it's cuz I'm so visual,
I'm stuck in that movie.
And the other time is when I'm creating.
So there will be times if it's a larger piece and
I make really large paintings sometimes that I'll have to remember.
Oh, inhaling.
That's good too.
You need to remember to do the whole breath,
not just the exhale.
Yeah. So it's very physical.
Yeah. And it's wonderful.
Wonderful for your body and your soul.
All right.
I just have to ask you this one more question then
we're gonna get back on track.
You promised to answer me honestly.
Absolutely. Okay.
Have you ever coughed or sneezed when you're creating?
I have not.
I imagine that it will come,
but because I can make my own schedule.
If I'm not feeling a hundred percent,
maybe I wait till the next day.
Well, but you never know what that would produce.
You don't know.
Yeah, it might be fantastic.
Yeah, it came to mind.
I had to know.
All right,
so you were seeing success right away.
I call this validating your product.
You're seeing that people are attracted and interested and either want
for themselves,
in your case,
wanting it for a show,
buying it,
et cetera.
So your product was validated before you'd officially even started a
business, which is great because then you know that you've got
something there.
Yes. What were your next steps to start formalizing the business?
Right. So we had run our own business for many years.
So I am curious,
what was that business?
It was awnings and signs.
Okay. All right.
Just that's a side note.
That's okay.
But you already knew about business development?
I knew about business development.
Thankfully I knew about if I really turned it into a
business that it wasn't gonna be a hobby anymore and that
this was going to take a lot of work.
So my first steps were,
I actually looked for,
and this is so important,
I knew to look for the people whose job it is
to help you to succeed.
The people who literally have chosen for their job to want
to help other people succeed.
You're one of them.
Exactly. Yeah.
And You can find them at any level.
One of the most important things I did was I applied
our state,
Indiana has the Indiana Arts Commission and they have a program
called On Ramp.
And it is a literally business training for creatives because I
might know some of the business training,
but I didn't know it as a creative.
And so I applied the first year in 2017 and I
didn't get it.
And then I applied again in 2018 and got in.
And that business training,
that model and the people and meeting the people,
again, people whose job they chose to do is to help
you succeed.
So important.
I can't speak highly enough about the people and the process
and having,
there are more people who want you to succeed.
They're more cheerleaders.
They are people touch points where you can go when you
have a question.
So look for those people.
Listen to your podcast.
You can go to a state level or on a local
level, the small business association in your town.
They can give you demographics of where the people are.
That might be your audience for your product.
Yeah. And they're happy to help and they have training,
free training all of the time.
So those were the resources that I looked To.
That's interesting that you did it that way given that you
had already started a business before.
Because the natural thing would be,
I know what to do,
I'm just gonna go in.
But a maker business is different for sure.
Absolutely. Okay.
All right.
So did you start by going out to shows?
When did you create your name?
Tell us about a little of the development part.
I wanted to pause this discussion for a second to let
you know that I recognize you may be feeling overwhelmed right
now. I mean,
I bring on great guests who are specialists in their fields
and we get into fabulous conversations that you know can help
grow your business.
So after the show,
you have the full intention of grabbing a download,
making an adjustment on your website or any number of other
ideas that arise as a result of this podcast.
But what happens,
you get back to your other activities and the momentum you
once had gets lost.
What you've planned to do is forgotten,
then you feel bad because your business is going on as
usual without implementing anything that you know would help grow your
business. We're just too busy doing all the things like a
robot moving from one thing to another without thinking because we
have to.
I get it,
I've been there.
But guess what?
There is another way.
Since I recognized this exact behavior in my own business,
I set out to do something about it.
And now what works for me,
I'm sharing with you.
I formalized the process and it's called the inspired daily planner,
made specifically for gifters,
bakers, crafters and makers.
But it's not your ordinary planner.
First off,
it comes with a video explaining my productivity strategy.
Plus it's not dated.
So you can start using your planner the second it arrives
at your doorstep.
And that's not all included for each day is a motivational
message or business building tip and plenty of space to capture
and book in time for to-dos,
schedule appointments and all those other ideas that are now getting
lost. Think of it as a book and a planner all
in one,
yet compact enough to carry with you and resource as necessary.
It's the perfect solution to truly act and move your business
forward. Go to gift biz unwrapped.com/inspired
to get your hard copy planner along with my power of
purpose video that will set you on the path for true
business growth.
This makes a great gift too.
So if you have a biz bestie,
pick up a planner for them too.
That link again is gift biz unwrapped.com/inspired.
Okay, let's get back to the show.
Okay. So yeah,
when you start a business,
you have to name it.
And that was daunting.
The label artist had been kind of given to me before
I was ready to accept it.
And I don't think that I was quite ready to just
call it like Stephanie McNair Art.
I felt like I need some sort of maybe a shield,
something that was,
could be me,
but representative of me,
not my actual name.
I don't know why.
It's just the way my brain worked.
Cause You could have had your name easily,
you're the artist.
I could,
yeah, that could have been it.
But when I was thinking about taking chances and working it
as a business,
when I was thinking back about the steps that it took
to even get to this part,
and in years before I ever started painting,
another friend had given me a book by Glen and Doyle
called Love Warrior.
In that book,
the part that I highlighted,
the stance that I highlighted was this.
It says,
because yes,
I've got these conditions,
anxiety, depression,
addiction, and they almost killed me,
but they're also my superpowers.
I'm the canary in the mine and you need my sensitivity
because I can smell toxins in the air.
You can't smell,
see trouble,
you can't see and sense danger.
You don't feel my sensitivity could save us all.
And it was from that passage that I really understood more
about myself and the type of person that I was born
as. I'm just a really sensitive emotional person and was always
told that that was wrong or bad or to like take
it down a notch again.
It was sort of that hiding part.
That passage allowed me to see it as a superpower,
as something different,
as a positive.
And I think years before,
had I not read that passage,
I would never have had the guts or the ability to
accept that we get infinite chances and to try to make
this a business.
So I really wanted to honor that step that happened far
before I even ever learned how to paint.
And that's how Canary artwork got started.
Oh my gosh,
that is so interesting.
And I love the result too,
because Canary has so much meaning because of that passage.
Exactly. And also your mission underneath the artwork,
but you also have artwork in the title,
which is good when you get into the business strategy perspective
for SEO and all of that.
Exactly. You need to know what I'm making in the business
name. Right.
But I think this is food for thought for people who
are at the juncture,
where they're thinking about their business name is to take it
in the angle of what's gotten you here,
what in your soul is important and is there an angle
to incorporate that into your name?
It's something to think about for sure.
Absolutely. Cause every time I hear it,
I'm reminded of the reason I wanna continue to do this.
It's very helpful to have that right in the name.
Okay. All right.
And then did you establish the business as sole proprietor,
llc? What did you do right away?
Sole Proprietor.
Okay. And That's something,
the business training that we went through,
what is gonna work best.
And while I thought I had a handle on it,
it's really nice to have somebody who knows exactly what they're
talking about,
walk you through the different options.
But right now I'm a sole proprietor.
Okay. All right.
Perfect. And now still in this naming stage,
yes. You created a whole process.
You named the process,
which I love that so much.
Anybody who has something that's unique to your product,
title it so you can claim it as yours.
It makes you different for sure.
How did this all come about,
The naming of the process?
Okay, so I was doing this and like we talked about
earlier, there are certain words that,
like I now call it painted with breath.
I usually have to show somebody a picture of me doing
it to really explain the process or make it easier for
people to understand.
But when you're thinking about naming a process like this,
you don't,
there are words you wanna avoid.
You don't wanna use the word blow,
you don't want the,
you know,
things like that just aren't a great idea.
So it was really difficult and I was really spending a
lot of time,
how do I call it,
to really explain it.
And I was talking with somebody who has a background in
Hebrew languages and they were like,
it sounds to me like it's like ruak,
like breath of life.
And I was like,
that's it.
That's it.
Breath of life.
That is what I'm doing.
I'm taking that breath,
that God given breath that exists in your belly.
And I'm using that to take my emotions out and onto
the canvas to share with everybody.
It's a really vulnerable place to be.
But that ruok technique was born from that place.
That is amazing.
And I'm so glad that you talked to that person because
you would've named it something totally different.
Yeah, I think again,
that was a Gift.
Yeah, it was another gift.
Yes, I'm on the right track.
People are coming alongside in ways that I had never even
imagined. It's that validation,
that continued validation that this is the right track.
I'm supposed to be doing this.
Right. But you also were willing to share Oh Yeah.
In that is a level of vulnerability.
Yeah. Right.
Especially for makers cuz we are actually creating what we're selling.
Exactly. And this is a great example of just,
there's so much goodness in sharing.
First off,
you can find new customers,
the word word can be spread.
But then here,
like an example of naming and defining,
you know,
breadth of life.
Like that's exactly the whole thing,
right? It sums it all up beautifully.
All right.
And so you had initial success.
Now how did you start expanding the business?
It was the same process.
Just more of it applying to more shows,
telling more people.
It took a couple years before I was ready to do
like a fine art fair because there's expense in getting,
you have to have something to take your paintings to different
cities. You have to buy a tent,
you have to buy the walls to put up.
I was lucky enough to be able to borrow some of
those things at the beginning.
That was certainly extraordinarily helpful.
But the idea of taking it out and selling it was
a process from exhibiting it to now how do I make
this? How do I scale this up?
And the one I saw you at,
you had to be approved to even exhibit.
It's not like you could just pay money and be there.
Your work had to pass the mustard,
if you will,
to be Yeah,
exactly. The shows that I do are all juried shows.
Ok, so that's all You're doing?
That's all I'm doing.
So you've positioned your pieces at the higher tier fine arts
juried shows.
Yep, absolutely.
So you're applying,
you know,
six months before the show you're spending money to apply and
then you're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to be there.
I had to get the whole business marketing and process down
to what can I afford to do this year?
What is this gonna bring?
How is this a benefit to the business?
And it was just slow over time.
And then C happened and everything just sort of shut down.
And for me it was just a waiting game.
I was one of those people who lost all creativity and
the ability to think things through.
So there was some pause right there and I'm glad that
I was able to just pause that part of my life
for a little while.
But there wasn't a business benefit to that for me.
So there was slow and steady adding the things that I
needed to get to the places where I could find people
who wanted to buy my product.
Okay. And so with the shows now,
do you do shows year round?
No. And that is something that is also,
it's not new,
but me getting rid of that rule that you have to
do them year round or that you have to create every
day. There are a lot of people that tell you that
to stay on top you have to be doing it every
day. And while that works for some people,
what I finally figured out this year for me is that
I work outside because I make such a huge mess with
these paintings.
So I only work,
I've decided this year,
but I work from April to October painting.
And then the other way that I'm creative is I write,
this is the first year I've actually put away all of
the paints and set them aside.
And so then from October to April I will be writing
and being creative that Way.
Okay. This is coming out of left field writing.
What are you writing?
It came out of left field for me too.
I'm a big proponent of running a business is so incredibly
draining and wonderful and daunting that take little breaks.
So one of the things I got to do as an
artist, we call them artist residencies and there are different purposes
to them,
but I and an artist friend went to Paris,
Tennessee in February and we talked about in the how I
named Canary artwork,
that quote starts with anxiety,
depression, and addiction.
When I got to this residency where I thought I was
going to paint,
what I ended up doing was writing those stories.
I needed to have them live somewhere else than inside of
me. And it needed to be even more intimate than the
paintings I really needed to have them just exist somewhere else.
So that's what I've been doing.
I think I've got 12 full chapters.
So I guess what I'm doing is writing a memoir I
didn't set out to,
but I think that's what it's gonna be.
And actually just very recently I got accepted to,
I can't pronounce French words,
but it is a residency in France.
I will be there for all of March in 2023,
which will give me enough time to then finish and I
will have a memoir and I have no idea what will
then happen with it.
Maybe it's just for me to get it out.
Maybe we will go on to see it published or self-published,
I don't know.
But isn't that exciting that you can do things that you
dunno what's gonna happen.
Where are you?
Where are you gonna be in France?
I will be in,
it's an hour south of Paris.
And if I really need to work on Frenching Asians,
cuz I can't even tell you exactly,
it's Maren.
So it's right on the river but Hour South.
Okay. So after this I'm gonna give you some information.
I have a very dear friend who lives in France.
Her husband is a huge art fan.
Like he knows everything about art.
They used to do tours and he was an art specialist.
Wow. There's something there.
She now does French tours.
But I'll tell you,
Pam, if you're listening to this podcast,
you and Stephanie have to talk.
I'll tell you all about that afterwards.
But oh my gosh.
Ok, real quick.
This is a perfect example of that.
You're on the right track.
Yeah, I didn't know that I was gonna talk about that.
But talking about that in the flow of the conversation and
having that you have somebody for me to be contacted with
that is another.
Like you're on the right track.
Isn't that fantastic?
Yeah. And They come every time.
And acknowledging those little moments is really,
really important.
So thank you so much.
Well thank you.
It's just,
it's so exciting.
Like I love how when things like this happen,
you feel like there's a reason.
It just like is crazy.
Okay. So this is an interesting concept too because again,
you are not doing what seems to be the way,
right? You're doing what's right for you by doing your,
I'm calling it painting,
but we all know at this point it's not painting.
Okay? But you're doing your artwork for a portion of the
year and now you found another creative avenue for the other
portion of the year,
which is writing.
But all of that sits still under that same umbrella about
your mood and depression and mindset and internal feelings and creating
something. Yes.
And that's why we really need to make sure that people
understand all of that.
The depression and the moods and everything.
Art and any type of creativity.
Because as soon as I say art,
people say,
well I'm not an artist.
Well neither was I,
but I guarantee you that there is some way in your
life that you are creative.
So let's use the word creative time.
You use your creativity,
it engages a different part of your brain and it can
absolutely heal and help make better those things that you deal
with, whether it's anxiety or depression because you get to be
in flow,
even if you're just coloring a coloring book or maybe the
way that you're creative is organizing your closet.
You know,
there are millions of ways to be creative and anytime you
use that creativity,
it is healing.
It has been proven scientifically.
It is healing.
So set sign a little time,
even if you feel silly.
Can you imagine how silly I felt trying to paint not
being a painter And you didn't even wanna do it,
you were just doing it so Nicole would stop asking you
and telling you.
Yes, exactly.
But I'm telling you,
it has changed everything about my life.
Everything. It's amazing.
Lean into that creativity,
art heals,
creativity heals.
It has the power to change your mood.
It has the power to connect you to other people.
I can't speak highly enough of just that idea of dive
into your creativity for a little bit.
Set aside a few minutes here or there,
whatever you can spare the rewards you reap from it.
The benefits so outweigh that little amount of time that you
can put into it.
If that's all you got more.
If you can't Love it.
Oh my gosh.
Love, love,
love that.
I almost wish we would've talked about something else earlier cuz
this would've been a great way to end.
Oh yeah.
But I can't cuz I have question for you.
Let's, let's go.
Ok. At what point then did you put your website up?
You know,
all of the online presence?
How does that Yes.
So the website went up too soon.
Here's what I would tell You.
Oh that's interesting.
Okay. Yes.
Because I had such immediate success and people kept asking me
to see my work,
I thought,
I've gotta get this website up.
I went ahead and I paid it.
It's not so it's not a talent of mine.
That's ok.
You be talented in everything.
Yes, exactly.
And if you're,
you can't focus and do it all.
Well anyway.
Exactly. So this is one of the things that I did.
I rushed headfirst into it.
I paid some people to help me make a website that
I was never comfortable with.
Cuz I didn't know,
am I gonna sell on a website?
Am I gonna use it for this?
I didn't understand what I needed it for other than I
just wanna show people my art.
And so the people that I worked with,
and they were well intentioned,
but the people I worked with took it a whole different
direction. Whereas if you see it now,
and also keep in mind that I am doing it now,
so please be kind.
I'm still working it out.
But so a couple years later,
so I started it and just wasn't happy with it ever.
Like I just wasn't happy with it.
But one of the benefits of going to that on ramp
program was it was also a fellowship.
So there was a possibility of a grant at the end.
You had to apply for it and do the work.
But that's when I got a substantial grant and was able
to work with somebody else to make a website the bare
bones of the website that I was really proud of that
had focus and that I knew what I needed for it.
Then she taught me,
I have the ability to put up the paintings and do
that every time I put up a new painting.
I'm just so proud of myself that I just couldn't do
a little happy dance like you Do because it's online now
or because of the painting.
Yeah, because it's,
I have the ability to change some of the parts.
Well and need to because each of your paintings is unique.
So if it sells,
Absolutely It's gotta go.
No one else can buy it.
You can see there,
it just gets marked sold.
But I can do it myself.
And then that keeps a portfolio of all of your different
Paintings. Right?
Exactly. And I treat it more like a portfolio now because
I realized if I'm doing the high end markets,
they rarely sell online and I'm okay with that.
But I need to have something that I send people to
so they can see what I'm doing.
Right. So that's the purpose of the website now is to
have a place where you can come talk to me,
contact me on there.
I love to talk to people about what I do.
As you can tell,
please contact me.
And then you can see sort of the evolution of my
painting and a little bit of kind of where it's come
from. What I love to do,
where it's going.
Yeah. What platform is it on?
It is on WordPress.
Okay, so it's your very own.
Yeah. That's the harder way to go.
But you have way more flexibility with everything that way.
Exactly as I'm learning.
And one of the things that I'll be working on probably
this winter where I'm not actually painting will be getting back
with that woman and saying,
okay, let's tweak it now because it's only been five years
as I'm going,
I'm learning more about what I want it to look like,
what I want to share on there.
And there's some things that I need to change that I
don't know how to do.
So I can go back to her because you get infinite
chances and say,
Hey, can I pay you to just walk me through these
things? And she will.
And those contacts just gold,
those contacts just gold.
Yeah, Yeah,
for sure.
And listen,
you know,
a website is always a work in progress.
I go back to both of my websites,
well one more than the other,
but update it,
adjust it,
change it.
The feel that I want looks different.
Maybe all of that all the time.
So it's not like you put a website up and you're
Done. Exactly.
Ever, ever.
And I'm one of those people who really likes to be
done and I'm learning,
you're just not.
You're just never done.
It's always evolving everything.
But you still have that online presence,
which I think is really,
really important.
It's really important.
It gives you,
and I think why I jumped head first into it was
it gives you legitimacy.
People can see that you really mean what you're doing.
This is a real product,
this is a real technique.
This is,
I'm really doing this.
And you can see where I've been and the things that
I've done.
But I did,
I would say maybe wait until you know a little bit
more about,
cause I did it months in,
I was just super unfocused.
Really. Wait,
maybe think about it.
Think who you wanna work with,
think really what you want it to look like before you
work with somebody or make it yourself.
Just because that focus is important.
Yeah. And I think,
you know,
you really do want to still,
what we were talking about in the beginning,
validate your product because that leads to what your business is
gonna be named,
which leads to your domain name.
And if you get everybody going down one path,
cuz you will attract some people.
You know,
you'll tell people about the website,
et cetera.
And then if you change it later,
it's just so confusing and just way more work.
I like that idea about delaying.
Now what about social media?
Okay, so first of all,
I had no social media before I started painting.
It is not an area where I'm comfortable.
I think that because I'm a sensitive person,
if I read good things about me,
I might get a little too excited or maybe feel a
little like,
ah, I'm really killing this.
Which is good,
but not if it's a superficial good then if,
but if I would read something bad,
it would crush me.
So I didn't have social media until I started this.
And I just was so excited at the beginning because it
was a way for me to take something that was really
hard and make it into something that was beautiful.
And I really wanted to share that message that Art heals
and hope is real.
And the best way to do that nowadays is social media.
So I am on Facebook and Instagram.
It is still one of those things that I sort of
struggle with sometimes.
How much to share,
how not to share,
what not to share.
The thing that you have to remember about social media is
that you do not own that platform.
And they can change it at any time in a way
that does not benefit you.
So that's why I really think it's super important to have
a space that is just yours.
That website,
super important.
That's where you say most of what you wanna say.
The social media can point you there,
but you don't own those platforms and it can be taken
away. You just decide to shut it down.
Speak in my language,
Stephanie, me.
Yeah, I mean it's a compliment.
It's one of the tools in your toolbox of your Business.
Exactly. But your website for sure.
I call your website and not if you have an Etsy
account. Cuz Etsy,
same thing.
You don't own the Etsy platform.
Right. But when you have your own website,
whether it's WordPresses,
you're doing Shopify,
which is another one of my favorite go-to places,
but I have one account on each of those platforms.
So we're talking the same things.
But that is like your headquarters in the online space.
Exactly, Yeah.
And so you wanna point people there and that's where you
house everything because you have a hundred percent control over that.
You know,
unless your internet goes down.
But there's that,
there is that.
You can't control everything,
even though I've tried.
Can't control everything.
All right.
So let's look out into the future.
Yes. You are going to be starting to write pretty shortly
here. Yes.
You are on your way to France.
Yes. What else can you share with us about your vision
as you proceed forward?
Well, I will,
I'll spend a little time in the holidays with family and
not doing much for a little bit of that.
But as I'm doing that,
what I'm working through for the painting part of the business
is I'm taking in,
maybe I'm thinking about travels that I've done already or that
I'll be doing.
I'm letting those,
the pictures or the memories of places and people,
I'll sort of watch them like a slideshow and kind of
take in and really think,
oh, I love that moment.
What did I love about that moment?
And maybe make a note somewhere so that when I start
to paint again in April,
I'll go back to those notes and go,
these are the moments that we're touching.
These are the moments that have really meant a lot to
me. This is what I learned in France,
that river,
that watching in March,
watching it go from the beginning of March to the end
of March,
and how the nature changed and started to bloom.
These are the things that I'm taking in to enhance the
painting process when I start it.
So it's never really stopped.
Oh my gosh.
So would you,
or have you thought about putting a little bit of a
story behind the painting as to what inspired it?
Like adding that element in to the painting on the back?
If it is representational,
yes. But if it is abstract,
no, because I don't wanna get in the way of what
people see in It.
Good point.
Yeah. I might know what it is for me,
but it could mean something completely different to you.
And I'm not as,
I already know what it means to me.
Right. That doesn't interest me at all.
I wanna know what you see in it.
So when people come to my booth or come to a
show or an exhibit that I'm in,
I really wanna hear,
and people really most of the time wanna tell me,
which I find fascinating and exciting.
They wanna tell me what they see in it,
or more importantly,
what they feel in it.
Yeah. That can lead to those discussions where you actually connect
with somebody.
And those are the important parts of my business.
Yeah, I agree.
That's so deep,
Stephanie. I love that.
I never think of myself as deep,
so yay.
No, I love it.
It's amazing.
Oh, I'm so excited to continue watching what you do.
And are you gonna come back to the Highland Park show
next summer you think?
I hope to.
Again, it's a juried show,
so I'll have to get in again,
but that is my plan.
You'll get in.
I'll track out.
Amy, that doesn't happen.
No, there is no doubt in my mind that you would
get in.
I love the community.
I love that community.
It is warm,
it is welcoming.
They love art.
They wanna come out and talk to you,
and it just,
it makes my job job a whole lot easier when you
have people who want to Connect.
Yeah. It's a wonderful community,
I have to say.
That's why I'm sitting right here in the community.
Stephanie, thank you so much.
I have so enjoyed our conversation.
I knew I would,
when I saw you at the booth,
there was just something I was attracted to your art.
Then you and I started the conversation and I'm so glad
that we were able to find time to come on and
talk together and share your story.
It is incredible and amazing and I wish you so,
so much success in the future.
And I know we'll stay connected,
so that will be wonderful.
Yes, please.
I would love that.
Art Heals and Hope is real Stephanie's message to us all.
It's encouraging,
uplifting, and full of optimism for the future.
I can't think of a better way to close out a
show as we head full blown into holiday mode.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
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