Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisa Pearcy.

Hi Marisa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My husband and I are entrepreneurs by trade and always have been. I have included him in this part of the article because without him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. We have owned and operated up to three martial arts businesses for almost 20 years. I am an artist as well, but have put it on hold due to life, a marriage, our business and raising two kids. In 2020, during the pandemic, I had a lot of time to paint. I painted all the things but loved painting views of the ocean and ocean life the most. In 2021, I discovered the Emerald coast and a year later, we purchased a condo in Destin. And then, it seemed the ocean was all that I could ever paint about. Last year, my husband came to me with the idea of launching my own personal brand, Florida Girl. It was a way that I could turn my paintings into reproductions as well as other items. We first started with coffee mugs. Then, it quickly turned into beach towels, purses, sundresses and tumblers as well! Florida Girl a great way to share my love for art and the sea with others.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I have always struggled with balancing life with work. It took us twenty years to build our primary business. There were many years of 60-70 hour work weeks. But today, I am at the point that I am able to step back a bit to focus on my new passion,Florida Girl. I also struggle with balancing being a mom of two teenagers and finding time to create my art. Some days, I find painting comes with ease and other days, I struggle to pick up a paintbrush and create. Art is funny like that!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I loved drawing as long as I can remember. I took drawing and painting classes as a child. I remember drawing a modern version of the Mona Lisa in middle school which peaked my interest in learning how to draw portraits. After high school, I earned my Bachelors Degree in Art from Eastern Illinois University, also certifying in Art Education. My favorite classes were life drawing, painting and printmaking. Today, I mostly paint, but love to pick up a charcoal for sketching figures. I have always been drawn to sea life, and most of my early work consists of dolphins and whales. In life drawing, I learned how to draw figures from live models. The human form is very intriguing. Once I started painting again, I started to do commission work for local patrons. I still do commission work from time to time, but I mostly focus on creating Florida girl art for my website. I often include a lady enjoying the beach life but my art ranges from under the sea life to tropical foliage, palm trees and flamingos.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The Covid-19 Crisis was my “renaissance” period. It was my re-birth for my love for painting. I headed to our garage to escape the world as we knew it and started to paint. My first painting was a Disney memory with our children. It brought so much joy to me that I painted one for a friend as well. Then I painted a small vintage Christmas style painting and someone of Facebook wanted to buy it from me. At this point, I have never painted to sell. I never thought that my work was worthy enough. Another local artist commented on my post and told me “Marisa, it was time to make people happy again”. And from that moment on, I painted over 40 8×10 canvases in a month and a half for people who purchases them as Christmas gifts that year. I am forever grateful for being able to light up someone’s world with art in such a dark time. And I never stopped.

Pricing:

• canvas reproductions $29-79
• custom artwork price ependng on size and difficulty
• coffee mugs $19
• tumblers and beach towels $29
• sundresses $29-$39

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shopfloridagirl.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floridagirlshop/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopfloridagirl
• Other: https://linktr.ee/marisapearcy