My view on art and my experience creating art, has been such an exciting journey thus far. My interest has always been prevalent throughout my childhood, upbringing, and landed me in many different careers. I have experimented with different mediums, tools, and creative career paths. I decided to make two separate businesses to showcase those areas of myself and my work. When I hit the age of 20 I met a large community of talented artists, and it was something I'll never forget. I was introduced to legitimate starving artists, where all they did, 7 days a week, was art, or "illegal" stylistic symbolism of some sort. It was dope. Met individuals who marketed themselves well, made a living in large galleries or spent the majority of their time posted up at art events. Found myself in that position. But then, I ran into my fair share of successful business owners, who ran a store for themselves and finally made a name for themselves. That's where I wanted to be and that's where I aim to be.

I began to see at an early age, that within different cities, streets, and businesses, at art events, for those who were, or weren’t in the scene, that there were always silent battles of territory, people just trying to get by, and people stepping on one another to achieve their own goals and dreams. It's an apparent struggle to make a living in this day and age. Through that time in my life, it may not make much sense to some people, but it spoke great lengths for me on how I was going to make a name for myself. I had never had more respect, love, and care for those that I met, and what was shown to me when I had the privilege of being a part of it all. It was a whole other world really, and it gave me a true sense of community. Leaving from that experience taught me a lot about my own art. I really honed in on the question, so how are you going to make a living, and how can you become a respected professional artist? My early 20’s propelled quickly and I’ve been on my toes ever since figuring out, okay what am I good at, what are my passions in life, and how am I going to create a career out of this. You don’t really know what the hell you're supposed to do with your life, and to anyone reading this, that’s normal. You'll figure it out.

During November of 2021, I decided I would create a designated website for people to be able to not only view and purchase the pieces i’ve made, but also add in the option of taking custom orders, doing commissions, and take on fun projects like apparel, birthday cards, mystery boxes, design logos for people's businesses, or create home decor for people to hang on their walls. I wanted to distinctively showcase my areas of work in their own light and in their own ways. I am fortunate for my experiences in all that they were and all that they continue to be. I am grateful for all of my clients, and the ability to be creative whenever and wherever. Lastly, I am thankful to be around like minded creatives and to have the support that I do. If it weren’t for societal pressure of “having a real job”, or working a 9-5, I mean I knew how scary it would be to pursue all of this, but I would have never known how lucky and rewarding it would be, to start and see where things go. I want people to know that I truly started with asking myself what am I good at, what do I like to do, what are my passions, regardless of it being the norm. Personally, it was unfortunate I couldn’t find many jobs that could tie in all of the three things I decided to pursue, but fortunately it introduced me to entrepreneurship and the world of starting a business of your own. With everything continuing to progress, it's truly surreal for me to think about. It’s one of the things I can look towards myself, and be proud of the woman I am today. We don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.

- Gina Vandewater -