Featured Artist

 This Months Featured Artist is Elizabeth McClure, owner of Flourish and Ferns, a floral designer specializing in weddings and special events.

Elizabeth shares with us how she started her own business and gives advice to anyone who wants to use their creative talents to make money in todays market!  

Tell us about your business:  I am a floral designer specializing in weddings and other events.  I work from a home studio so I meet with people by appointment rather than have a storefront that's open everyday.  Each of my clients has their own sense of style and a vision of how flowers will enhance their event.  I really listen to every client so that my designs reflect both my sense of style as well as theirs. I think this collaboration between designer and client leads to ideas that are fresh and really make an impact.  Then it is my job to bring these ideas to life.  I create centerpieces, bouquets and other arrangements that are tailored to each client.

How did you get started?:  I've always had a creative mind it just took me a while to figure out how I could channel my creativity into a career.  I'm a huge nature lover as well, so working with flowers is a perfect fit.  I was very lucky to be taken under the wing of a talented floral designer.  She taught me so much, not only about flowers and design, but about being a woman in business for myself.  She eventually closed her shop and I felt the time was right for me to go off on my own.  I decided to have a home studio so that I could focus on my events without the distraction of running a day to day shop at the same time.

What is your favorite thing about your job as an artist?  I have two favorite things about being a floral designer.  The first is that every day is different.  I've had office jobs before and sitting behind a desk is just not for me.  Of course I still have days where I spend a lot of time doing paper work and making phone calls but they are balanced out with days where I visit the flower market and get to take in the thousands of flowers, days meeting with clients and talking about design ideas and days where I get to work with the flowers bringing my designs to life.  

My other favorite thing is that most often my clients come to me because they are celebrating an important life event like a wedding, baby shower or anniversary.  I feel honored and lucky that my work can enhance the celebration of these memorable days.

Any Wisdom to give other artists that would like to make their art their full time job?   Be confident in what you have to offer.  It is a really different experience to market your ideas and share them with a public audience than it is to share your art with family or friends but it can be very rewarding.