We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amber Rae. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amber below.

Amber, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Art is very personal. As an artist, we can become very close to a piece, attached even, as we have put so much of ourselves into that work.

In my younger years art was a form of catharsis. I could pour whatever I was feeling onto the page and have it embody those emotions for me. But because of this, I was making art for my own personal enjoyment and not for others. There were so many pieces that I made and never shared with anyone.

However, over time, I began to realize that my art wasn’t just capable of making me happy. That when I shared my work with others I could actually spread that feeling around. And seeing how happy others became when seeing my work made me feel even better about what I was doing.

I am a positive person, always have been. At the core of my personality I’m always trying to cheer people up, make them laugh, and just overall brighten people’s days. This world can be too negative sometimes. The hardships that people can go through on the day to day can get people down real quickly. And honestly, it’s usually the little things that lift our spirits back up again.

I decided to make it my mission to share my art with the world in order to put more joy and love into it. If I could make people smile, lift their hearts, and share some daily joy, then being an artist would truly be worth it.

I think about customers taking home some of my work and decorating their home or office and being able to glance over and find their inner joy makes me feel good.

What is the point of being an artist if I never share my work with anyone? What is the point if I’m not adding some sort of value into someone’s life? If I can make even the smallest difference in someone’s day, I consider that a win.

Amber, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hey! For those of you who don’t know me I go by Amber Rae and have been running my art business Ambrosia Rae Designs since 2009.

I started drawing when I was three and never stopped. By the time I was entering college I knew I wanted to pursue a career as an artist but didn’t fully have a direction on which industry to pursue. I ended up graduating with a BFA in Animation, which I LOVE! However, graduating during a recession derailed my plans of entering the animation industry. So, I started my own company instead!

Over the years I’ve gone from traditional to digital art and tried many different approaches to what art I wanted to create and how I wanted to distribute it. I even changed styles and eventually landed on what I like to call the ‘adorably nerdy’.

Even though I still have plans to one day run my own animation studio, I am currently focused on selling adorably nerdy art for everyone. Prints, keychains, bookmarks and stickers. With the main focus being graphic tees for the entire family!

As a mother of two and a fan of video games, comic books, anime and most geeky genres, I could never find fandom apparel for the entire family. So I decided to make my own. I took the dance moves from the Bluey family and mashed it up with popular fandoms from marvel, dc, anime, and more!

The best part is I love to offer my customers the ability to customize items and make them truly unique. Each family member can pick their favorite character and add their name, nickname, or gamer tag. Not to mention some designs are even completely customizable with your own personal characters, like the Fortnite and D&D designs, which are coming soon.

I want to be able to offer people the chance to own something meaningful to them. To have a slice of joy that brightens their day. To show off their love of the geeky. And to do it together as a family, whatever configuration yours may look like.

I’ve spent a lot of time slowly building my brand and really focusing down on the things that I love and really want to do. I’m proud that I have come so far truly believing in never giving up on my dreams. I have always wanted to make my own apparel and now I’m finally doing it. I just want people to know that I am here and be found by the people who belong in my adorably nerdy family tribe.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I tend to make a lot of unique pieces for people. Not only for clients but for my friends and family. I love getting them something that is more personalized and meaningful.

What makes that so rewarding is seeing or hearing about the outcome of those gifts being given to their recipients. The excitement and joy they get from seeing my artwork, and then all over again, when they realize all the little and uniquely hidden details that were added.

They know the time and effort it took, not only to create the piece, but that their loved ones took in selecting it for them.

It makes everything I do worth it.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

It’s hard for an artist, especially, when starting out because most artist struggle with how to price their work appropriately. They feel the need to under value themselves because they don’t have experience, not to mention they are fighting against a lot of other people who are willing to work for cheap.

So many times in the beginning it was hard for me to say no to offers that were not paid well or with customers that didn’t have a clear vision because I really wanted to make work and do a good job.

My first freelance gig I worked as an illustrator for a woman making rubber stamps. She always wanted revisions on the work I made for her. I must have done ten revisions each time. And in the end I only got paid $10 for a handful of artwork she accepted.

I was extremely underpaid for my time and services, but I was fresh out of college and didn’t have the confidence to stand up for myself.

And I, like most artists, started out trying to do commissions and client work because that is where the steady income is at. Even though I would have preferred selling my own creative works, I understood that no one knowing who I was meant I couldn’t do that full time. So I would need to find income to fund what I really wanted to do.

As I got older I gained more confidence to decline clients that didn’t align with my needs. I was clear on my prices and also had distinct requirements for what clients needed to provide. And even still I received push back from clients who refused to take no for an answer or didn’t want to adhere to my policies.

At one time, when I was offering my animation services. I had a potential client that insisted she wanted to work with me but wanted me to lower my price, didn’t want to pay a portion upfront, had zero script, and was also asking for a deadline I couldn’t accomplish. I knew accepting would only mean a headache for us both, but I didn’t feel good having to tell her no multiple times.

I don’t think people understand how tiring it can be working with clients. Yes, there are some beautiful ones where everything works out great. But there are also some bad eggs. So many times, I’ve been asked to do work and get paid in exposure. How can I accept that type of job when I need work that pays the bills?

The choice to not do freelance, take commissions or to take any work outside of what I want to do is hard for people to understand. They hear that you are an artist and say things like “oh I need a graphic designer” without thinking twice about if you specialize in that artistic area or not.

I want non-creatives to take away from my story that they need to be more prepared when asking an artist to create something for them, to respect the prices set, and above all, to pick an artist you LOVE, that way you’ll never be disappointed with the outcome.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ambrosiarae.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/ambrosiarae
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ambrosiaraedesigns/