Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Hunt.
Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Ever since I was young, I have always enjoyed all sorts of arts and crafts. My mother has always been artistic so I grew up doing all kinds of different art projects with her. We enjoy trying new things and we have done projects with painting, embroidery, glass blowing, resin, photography, clay, felting, beading, and sewing just to name a few. In 2018 I made the decision to start Chartreuse Flamingo since I had been getting good feedback about the art pieces I was creating and thought I should at least see what I could sell. I had been told that I needed to focus on one type of art and to be consistent in order to have a solid brand. At the time I was creating a lot of abstract acrylic paintings so that is what I chose to focus on.
I ended up signing up for a few local art and craft fairs and discovered that it was the perfect opportunity to test other items that I was considering selling since I could talk directly with customers and see what they gravitated towards. I began adding some of my photographs to my booth and then starting experimenting with 3D beach paintings. The test didn’t exactly go as planned as I now have several very different types of art that I was selling and all were selling well and one type of item did not specifically stand out as a clear bestseller. Now I continue to sell abstract paintings, 3D beach paintings, photographs and have added digital illustrations to the list. I enjoy so many different types of art and I am glad my customers have allowed me to continue to be creative and sell so many different styles of art.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. In the past, I have struggled with maintaining the right amount of inventory. It is pretty much impossible to determine exactly what people are going to want and it varies from day-to-day. I was trying to have enough inventory to be able to display at the art and craft shows that I was attending but didn’t want to create too many pieces upfront if a certain style wasn’t selling as well as others. Luckily at the shows, I was able to get a lot of great feedback and see which pieces people were purchasing more than others and I have also worked with a lot of great clients who wanted custom pieces. Website like Zazzle and Society6 have also helped with this since they allow me to upload my designs to create custom products and people can purchase directly from those sites without me having to ever actually stock any of the products.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Even though I create pieces using many different mediums, all of my artwork is bright and colorful and usually has some tropical beach aspects to it. I really enjoy using a lot of bright colors in all of my work and I think that is what has helped me to be able to create all of the different things I love.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My mother deserves a ton of credit. Without her doing all of the craft projects she did with me when I was young, I would not be creating all of the artwork I am today. I also had several really amazing art teachers in high school and college that always encouraged me and pushed me to do more.
Contact Info:
- Email: chartreuseflamingo@gmail.com
- Website: https://chartreuseflamingo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chartreuseflamingo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chartreuseflamingo
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChartreuseFlamingo
