Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elizabeth Myers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Elizabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
As a watercolor artist I create many different styles and types of artwork. The type that I am comissoned to do most frequently are custom house portraits or renderings. These pieces are directly inspired by the clients home and capture all the fine details that make their home unique. Each house is different and has a special amount of character, but one common thing that share is a story. This is such an honor for me because a home is a very personal asset in ones life. A house is much more than just a building made up of walls. It is a sacred and safe space where one can dwell and make completely their own. Apart from all of this, a home also houses memories. This special bond where families can feel safe and secure while taking in all the wonderful moments that life brings. It is also a place where we can be truly and completley ourselves. My clients often come back to me once they have recieved or gifted the portrait, telling me how incredibly special it was. Often paired with happy tears and stories being shared. This, to me, is priceless. I know how special my family home was growing up. Another aspect that makes these house portraits so special is that the first one I ever painted was of my grandmothers house. She has since passed away and I am so grateful to be able to have her home captured in my portrait, as well as to be able to reflect on that being my first ever watercolor house painting. Each home I paint is unique and tells a story of its own. I am so very grateful to be able to bring joy through capturing all of these special places in peoples hearts.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
My name is Elizabeth and my business is called e. holland designs. I create handcrafted watercolor designs as well as comisson pices for my clients. In high school I took art all 4 years. Growing up I was always creative and loved to paint and write. Starting at the age of seven I would sit and practice my handwriting over and over. You might have called it a slight obsession, but I enjoyed it so much. I constantly wanted to better myself with this. This trait of wanting to improve and better a skill directly reappeared once I started painting with watercolor. I started dabbling with watercolor in 2018 making Christmas gifts for my friends and family. One night I got a project on my mind and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was so excited and the next day I immediately went to the store to pick up some paints. Crazy thing is, its the same paint set I am still using to this day! I quickly realized how much I enjoyed this new watercolor hobby. One piece led to the next and I kept trying out new things. Once I sarted painting my house portraits things really changed for me. I picked up traction on instagram pretty fast and every thing just kept getting bigger and bigger. This was all a huge shock to me because I never would have thought all of this would have come from making a few Christmas presents! I am truly so grateful for all the blessings that have been poured out on me these past few years. I have officially taken my buisness full time which is a dream come true. I went from being a Dental Assistant to being a full time artist! It’s so surreal! I can’t wait to see what all is to come, but I am enjoying this wild journey each and every step of the way!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Once I started painting more and more I decided I needed to start making a presence on social media. I picked instagram to be my main platform, mainly because it was so easy for me to navigate! This decision wasn’t easy for me because it seemed so overwhelming. Putting yourself and your product out there for others to see isn’t a cake walk, especially as a new artist! Fear, lies and intimidation can easily set in. I am so grateful I pushed through and went through with making one because it has had more positive impact on my business than I ever would have imagined. I have been able to run my small business primarily on instagram. I haven’t needed to make an etsy or a website because all of the orders that come through my instagram keep me so busy! It is truly incredible. To anyone who is wondering if they need to take the leap and promote their business on instagram I highly suggest it!
One thing that gave me traction on instagram was starting offering custom house portrait orders. My orders drastically increased! I decided I really wanted to start giving back to my awesome followers and offered instagram giveaways which also really helped my traffic on my page! This was a fun way to be able to pick winners to recieve house portraits for free as well as get my name out there!
Another key way to building a following on instagram for me was posting regularly. The more posts I had would show the variety in styles of work I created. Building followers wasn’t a super quick process, but to me it was more about the number of orders being made. You really just have to be authentic and show what you want your people to see!
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
In recent years, there has been such a resurgance of people spreading the word about suporting local. Even before covid I feel like people were more inclined to shop small instead of going to the big box stores. This is the wave we as small businesses need and thrive on. I know how much it means to me personally when someone shops local and chooses to support the little guy! I think people and consumers really like giving the special and unique gifts that they can find at local shops. Its also a kind of gift people like receiving because you can usually tell they have more meaning and thought behind them. Sometimes I think people stay away from shopping small because they think it will cost more. I think this mind set is quickly beginning to vanish because individials are coming to appreciate the craftsmanship and time that goes into creating each unique piece! All of these factors working together helps small businesses succeed, which is something we are all so very grateful for!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @e.hollanddesigns