MY LITTLE LEMONADE STAND

 

I do. I have a show space for my art. While it is not a gallery, it is my own space in which I report to work every day.. a space that clients can visit, and that holds within its four walls everything from my paint brushes to my fears and celebrations...

Three and a half years ago, I left my job at a magazine publication with the plan of "making it" as an artist. I had sold a few pieces of my original artwork and was confident that my talent- when given my full attention- would expand into a big ol' business. I learned quickly that Rome certainly was not built in a day, and that every idiom I had ever heard about tenacity, grit, and patience was painfully true.

The art business grew slowly, as I divided my time between two, sometimes three, supplemental jobs in order to meet my minimum. Among these, I found my favorite role at lululemon in Charleston.. the vision, the people, and the unusual aspect of a company to support entrepreneurship outside of the store gave me a sense of self. Staff meetings included writing down goals, and being held accountable for them. Mine was to be self-sustained by my art business...

In early 2018, I wrote down my goal to "have a show space for my art." It was a bit ambiguous, but it became a reality that spring, as I signed a lease for an independent art studio... across the street from the OG "lemon stand," lululemon. 

It was a labor of love, as I painted the - oddly-enough- lemon yellow walls white and made myself an agreement that I would build my future within this space.