Hi friends,
I want to continue sharing a ‘Business Blog” every now and then documenting the behind-the-scenes of starting a small art business. Since rediscovering my creativity and falling in love with Botanical Art, I decided in late 2022 to embark on the journey of becoming a Full-Time Artist and start my own Floral Productive Stationery Line (Florals x Stationery).
Creativity and art have given me something I had rarely felt before: a strong sense of purpose, drive, passion, love, and aliveness. It brings me into the present moment and brings me so much joy. In this joy, I feel such love and gratitude for life, and I want to spend my lifetime nurturing and cultivating this feeling.
Starting this journey, I loved reading and listening to others who had also embarked on or are still on this path. Opening myself up to other artists has inspired me to move forward and trust in my own capabilities. I am reminded that I am capable of creating a sustainable and successful life as a Full-Time Artist, just like others. This dream is indeed a BIG dream, and it will need to be achieved by taking many small steps—success is not an overnight process. The journey itself is meant to be cherished and enjoyed, not just the destination and I feel in my entire soul that in this life this is my journey.
I found this quote the other day and absolutely loved it and felt it is so fitting for this blog.
Without other artists sharing their journey and knowledge, I wouldn’t have had the trust and courage to start this journey. They provided the right tools to help me plan and navigate through difficult times and obstacles (e.g., incredible overwhelm, lack of support). So, I decided to start this “Business Blog” series to help and inspire others and bring more light to the many ways of becoming a Full-Time Artist and Entrepreneur.
This first blog post is about the beginnings, which were an incredible learning experience for me and still continues to be. I jumped straight into the deep end and pretty much drowned instantly. It took me several months to find my feet, the right resources, and figure out the paths I wanted to grow. It has been a year since, and I am still cultivating this and the more I walk this path the more clarity I have in deciding where I want to take my art and how I approach and plan every step of the way. I am still learning how to start and run a business from scratch as a one-woman show (for now). I have found a few critical things that served as the foundation for growth. These areas continue to serve as my anchor; my north star, which you can read about below.
MY WHY
The first thing I had to articulate was my "why." I asked myself, “Why do I want to do this?” Over the past couple of months, I learned how difficult it is to start your own business from scratch, especially on your own. It's a lot of hard work—from marketing yourself on social media, creating artwork, editing and designing, maintaining your website and social platforms, continuously learning and refining skills, uploading to Print on Demand sites and shops, creating/updating your portfolio, pitching to clients, managing your time, and keeping on top of your newsletter, blog posts, and email list. The list is never-ending, and you wear ALL the hats unless you can afford to hire help. Without my “why,” I might have given up upon realising how much work and effort is involved. Remembering my “why”—the reason I am doing this—has been pivotal and continues to fuel my determination and drive.
Everyone’s "why" will look different, but they ultimately do the same thing for us—they bring joy, meaning, and love to the journey and life. By sharing my "why," perhaps it will help you articulate your reasons for chasing your dreams. My "whys" are:
To have the freedom to work from anywhere in the world, to travel while I work, to take time off without needing permission, to work on my own terms, and to spend more time with loved ones.
To live a life doing something that lights me up and brings me joy—something I am passionate about and truly love. To strive for a purpose and dream and show others that there is another way to do “life.”
To create a business that brings in passive income, allowing me financial freedom (how much I earn is not directly tied to how much I work).
What are your why's for showing up every day?
Doing Research & Finding Clarity
The start of my journey was abrupt and sudden. Feeling incredibly burnt out and unfulfilled in my job, I decided to quit and pursue something creative. I thought all I needed to do was paint, edit my work in Photoshop, and upload it to Print on Demand sites. I believed showing up and doing just that would be easy. At that time, I was unaware of my botanical artwork's potential, and the hard work required to start and run a business. I lacked a clear direction of where I wanted to go and what I wanted in my business.
I believe the Universe guides you to where you need to be and helps you discover parts of yourself you are unaware of at the right time. When I felt lost, I came across Surface Pattern Design and Art Licensing from Cat Coquilette, Elizabeth Olwen, and Bonnie Christine, as well as Scientific/Botanical Illustration. I discovered incredible Botanical Artists like Dianne Sutherland and Isik Guner by chance. This exposure opened me to other artistic avenues to explore. I also listened and consumed a lot of information about all things productivity and how to intentionally create a life that aligns with the best version of ourselves. Bit by bit, I was guided to different aspects of Botanical Art and life. The more I was exposed to, the more clarity I had over what I wanted to share with the world. I spent a lot of time researching these areas, their potential, and what I needed to learn and do, which helped me put together a pathway or plan. I will detail this in the next section.
Finding clarity allowed me to figure out what I wanted to do and what my business and services would be. For me, these are the four main areas I wanted to build my future Art Business around:
Whimsical Botanical Art Prints in Watercolour & Gouache: A part of me loves very detailed and realistic Botanical Art, but another part loves artwork with more play and experimentation—unrealistic and vintage colour palettes with interesting arrangements, shapes, and sizes. This part of the business allows for that sense of play using watercolour and gouache.
Botanical Illustration/Scientific Illustration Prints in Watercolour & Coloured Pencil: Nature continues to inspire me. As I learn more about nature, I become interested in the details and characteristics that distinguish each plant, flower, or fungi. This part of the business will help me continuously improve my art skills while appreciating and being more aware of the nature that surrounds me.
Floral Surface Pattern Design & Art Licensing: This is something I recently discovered in early 2023. It showed me how to leverage my art and turn it into patterns that could fill homes and bring more nature and beauty into people's lives worldwide.
Floral Productivity Stationery (Flowers x Productivity): I am an avid reader and learner of all thing's productivity, and I love this topic. Productivity isn’t all about hustling or trying to do the most amount of work every day. It is actually a form of self-care. Productivity allows us to be more intentional about how we spend our time so that we can spend more time doing the things we love and move into alignment with the best version of ourselves by cultivation and choosing habits and actions that serve us. I love productivity stationery, and it has helped me plan and keep me productive. I love planners, sticky notes, habit trackers, notebooks and am starting to work in the background releasing my own stationery line using my whimsical artwork, botanical illustration and surface pattern designs. This part of the business allows me to combine the two things I am passionate and love most: flowers & productivity.
Making A Plan
With clarity over what I wanted in my business and what I wanted to bring into the world, it was time to plan my path—how I was going to get there and break everything into manageable steps. I had to consider everything needed to make this business happen, including:
Public Reach: Managing social media accounts, sharing regular content, maintaining my website and portfolio, connecting with my community through newsletters, and uploading work to Print on Demand websites.
Extra Learning & Development: Continuously making time to learn from others, discovering new methods, and building my skills. Completing tutorials and online courses.
Artwork Production & Shop Updates: Creating artwork, editing it, and creating prints and patterns to upload to Print on Demand shops, my website, and portfolio.
Pitching: Researching and reaching out to potential clients and regularly updating and sharing my portfolio.
Project Work: direction and continuous improvement for the business.
With all aspects of the business considered, I made a 5-year business plan. I used Bonnie Christine’s Path To Success template to help plan my goals, breaking big goals into stages: Sprout, Seed, Bud, Root, Bloom, Blossom, Flourish and Thrive . Each stage is dedicated to an entire year and is broken down into projects which are then broken down into single tasks. The projects are larger than daily tasks and can include courses, tutorials, working on collections, or editing all artwork in a collection. I have this all set up in Notion.
I believe consistent and regular action, no matter how small, is how we accomplish big goals. To ensure I give equal time to every aspect of my business, I have set up an 18-day roster based on batch working, which has worked best for me. Each day is dedicated to a different type of task, rotating through the roster on my days off to ensure all tasks, fun and not-so-fun, are accounted for. I don’t always stick to the schedule entirely; some days, I repeat tasks if the workload is heavy, but having a roster helps me move forward in all areas of the business. I also use a weekly Kanban system so I can plan out the week and where to allocate tasks and projects and accommodate what I have going on that week. At the moment I work a FIFO job which means I have 6 days every fortnight to fit in business, travel, rest and time with loved ones.
Something new I am currently implementing in 2025 is working in quarters. This will allow me to know exactly what needs to be completed per week and split the year into collections. For example, one of my goals for 2025 is to produce 10 pieces of new artwork for a Whimsical Botanical Collection and by placing this in Quarter 1 which is 12 weeks I then know I have to complete a painting almost every week between January and March.
Here is a peak into how I plan my weeks in Notion:
Establishing A Routine
In 2023, when I had the year off, I realized how strange it was to have so much time to myself. Most of my life, my time and schedule were tied to work and other activities, and for the first time, I was in the driver’s seat. I had to figure out what routine worked best for me and what was best for my mind, body, and soul. It took about three months to realize that batch working was best for me and that I focused better with one main task per day rather than 2-3 different tasks.
I also found that practicing self-care activities in the morning, such as running or gym sessions, yoga, meditation, and journaling, made the rest of my day go much more smoothly. I would be in a better headspace, more motivated, and enjoy the day more. Even though my morning routine takes 2-3 hours, it is non-negotiable for me, so I start my days early, around 5:00-5:30 am.
I have followed this routine for at least six months and found a groove. My days generally look like this:
5:00 - 5:30 am: Wake up & get ready (no phone)
6:30 - 7:30 am: Workout (1-hour run or gym session)
7:30 - 8:00 am: Shower & freshen up
8:00 - 8:45 am: Meditate
8:45 - 9:15 am: Yoga with Adriene
9:15 - 9:30 am: Morning pages/journaling
9:30 - 10:00am: Check emails and schedule the day
10:00 - 11:30 pm: Time Block 1
11:30 - 12:00 pm: Lunch Break
12:00 - 1:30 pm: Time Block 2
1:30 - 2:00 pm: Break
2:00 - 3:30 pm: Time Block 3
3:30 - 4:00 pm: Break
4:00 - 5:30 pm: Time Block 4
5:30 - 6:00 pm: Check social media & emails
6:00 - 7:00 pm: Cook & have dinner
7:00 - 7:40 pm: Clean & general housekeeping
7:40 - 9:30 pm: Paint and nighttime routine
Closing Thoughts
If you made it to the end, I hope this blog post has been helpful and enjoyable! I am excited to be on this incredible journey and forever grateful to the universe for guiding me back to my creativity amidst the constant noise, rat race, and societal expectations.
If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s to know what you want in your life and business and what tiny steps you can take every day. Don’t be discouraged by others who are ahead of you. You are not behind; you are exactly where you need to be.
In the next quarterly blog, I will delve into my plans for 2024, where I currently am, what I hope to achieve, and of course, the journey and my learnings.
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