We recently connected with Amori Bieller and have shared our conversation below.

Amori, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My business was a long time coming. Strange Fauna represents my identity and growth as a human being, so the story of my business can’t be told without telling the story of myself.

In my early formative years, I was a quiet daydreamer. While my classmates focused on lessons, my mind wandered to animals, plants, and dream-like landscapes. I was endlessly fascinated by nature and would use art to “study” or compartmentalize concepts that I didn’t realize were scientific at the time. Art became my sanctuary—a silent confidant where I could capture the beauty and wonder I found in the natural world. Nature, with its quiet wisdom and gentle rhythms, offered solace amidst the turmoil of my upbringing.

As a teenager, my life was chaotic and this resonated by both my subject matters and my motivation to create. Trauma beyond the scope of my understanding disrupted my connection with both art and nature. I would go through prolonged droughts followed by intense periods of creation. This ebb and flow of motivation resulted in work I felt was too personal to share. My most proud pieces were depictions of myself at my most vulnerable and I felt distastefully exposed when showing them to people. At this time, I had minimal control over the turmoil I was subjected to, but guarding my artwork was one thing I had control over.

As a young adult, I was eager to find my way forward but hungry for the comfort I once felt in art and nature. I lacked the wisdom to break the disorganized cycle I grew up in and struggled to escape such a comfortable pattern. This was a deep drain for anything comprising my identity and autonomy, and I ended up more isolated from art and nature than I had ever been. Trying to create while merely a shell of yourself is equivalent to pouring from an empty cup. Nothing about this situation was sustainable or nurturing, in any way. I didn’t have much, material or otherwise, but I eventually was distant enough from my identity that I yearned for the fond parts of my childhood. Through this emotional evolution, I found a profound desire to find me and never lose her again. So, I worked hard in therapy, intensive outpatient programs, and began pursuing a degree in conservation biology. With time, patience, and reparenting my inner child, I finally made contact with that compassionate girl.

The pieces of her identity are so deeply rooted that she couldn’t pretend to be interested in something she didn’t like even if she tried. She has an innate empathy for living things- from the trees to the bugs. She was the one who boldly stood up for the girl being bullied. She loves to be outside, talking to birds, catching fish, and feeding squirrels. Driving past industries and watching smog billow into the atmosphere made her well up. She knew nature was to be respected and protected. She found comfort in the silent wisdom of her 30 year old horse. She walked barefoot everywhere and was fascinated by bushcraft. She made an anatomy chart for her goldfish who had a tumor. She would sit quietly next to her garden to watch the blind armadillos scuffle around. Then, she would paint about it. Little by little, adult me learned to embrace child me, and I began seeing color in the flowers again.

By the start of 2021, I was emerging from this artwork abstinence in a place of maturity. I felt more comfortable being vulnerable and was able to fully open my heart to creating the images in my mind. At the time, none of the belongings I owned were “mine”. So, I started making them mine. I cut up and painted on my clothing, made my own jewelry, and adorned my apartment with my own paintings. Dressed in my own upcycled items, I started getting compliments and questions about where I bought them. My response being, “Thank you! I made it myself!”, prompted the idea that other people may actually want and benefit from owning my work.

The initial conceptualization of my business was formed through collaboration with like-minded artists. I refined my artistic vision and explored ways to infuse sustainability into my creations. I channeled my academic knowledge in environmental science and ecology into artwork that celebrates and raises awareness about ecological subjects. Here, I was segued into the local maker markets of Baton Rouge and learned to navigate business relationships. Through active participation in my community and fostering creative partnerships, I gained invaluable insights into running a business and engaging effectively with a community passionate about art and environmental conservation. These experiences laid a strong foundation for my entrepreneurial journey, culminating in the idea of Strange Fauna, a business that blends my artistic vision with my dedication to environmental sustainability.

Strange Fauna was born from a profound desire to blend my love for art with a deep reverence for nature. The name—Strange Fauna—captures the unconventional beauty and diversity of the natural world, reflecting my belief that art can powerfully celebrate and raise awareness about conservation initiatives. Driven by my zero-waste values and the inspiration behind my creations, I upcycle materials and only purchase second hand. My academic background infuses each piece with ecological significance, while my inner child finds joy in making paints and dyes from natural elements found in my yard. To give back to my community, I craft seed bombs from local businesses’ shredded paper, using native wildflower seeds. Strange Fauna has evolved into much more than a business; it is a heartfelt extension of myself, embodying integrity, passion, and a commitment to making a positive impact on the world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and later moved to Baton Rouge to study conservation biology. I have a degree in Natural Sciences and am currently studying Renewable Natural Resources Ecology and Management with minors in Oceanography and Environmental Science at Louisiana State University. Outside of Strange Fauna, I work in academia doing research on topics within my major of study.

For my artwork, I pull inspiration from the things I learn in school as well as my personal ventures in nature. Each month, I select a topic in ecology that has personal significance to me. Whatever my topic be, I create designs for each product I specialize in- jewelry, clothing, and paintings. Typically, I make a few pieces of jewelry per week, one painting per week, and one piece of clothing per week.

My clothing is a labor of love. I thrift pieces that contain fabrics that hold dye well and use food waste from my personal kitchen, or that has been gifted to me, to dye them. Usually, processing my dyes consists of boiling the foods to extract their colors. Then, I simmer the clothing, treated in alum, in the dye bath. Sometimes I wrap up the cloth to create a tie-dye effect and sometimes I shoot for a solid color by placing it directly in the bath. Using foods like turmeric, cabbage, and beets, I can achieve a wide range of colors. I absolutely love this process and everything it represents because of how sustainable it is. I am able to reduce potential landfill waste by using second hand clothing and food waste while producing unique clothing! The best part is that the entire process, from start to finish, uses no harsh chemicals that are environmental and health hazards– like bleaches, detergents, and synthetic dyes.

My jewelry is all made from 100% upcycled materials. Every bead and piece of wire is sourced through donations, broken lots, and thrift stores. Back in the studio, I deconstruct and sort through all the usable parts before turning it into something new. I have old necklaces, a rancher’s old electric fence wire, and even broken guitar strings to make new pieces inspired by ecology!

My paintings are certainly the most sentimental. Using my topic of the month, I pick images that spark a memory or a feeling and pour my heart out. Currently, I am working my way through an old gouache collection of paints to do these, and incorporating more colors from my newest project: earth pigments.

Earth pigments are pigments extracted from plants, dirt, and other organic materials. The pigment extraction process can take anywhere from hours to months, but the results are so rewarding. Like making dyes, I usually boil or steep the material in hot water and use a precipitate (baking soda or chalk) and mordant (alum) to extract the pigment. Afterwards, I use gum arabic and vegetable glycerin to formulate a paint with a consistency to my liking. This is still very much a work in progress, but the more I incorporate these paints in my paintings, the more sentimental they become. I love this process because it forces me to utilize my knowledge about pigment enzymes, botany, and mineralogy to create art.

I also recycle paper! Of course, being a lifelong artist, I have a ton of old sketch books and scrap paper. Using this as well as paper collected from local businesses, I blend it into a new pulp and make new sheets of paper- as well as seed bombs. This is an aspect of Strange Fauna that I am really proud of because I have collected over 50 pounds of biodegradable waste from businesses and my own artwork since starting it. Putting potential landfill waste to good use and benefitting local biodiversity is my biggest passion.

I try to keep things as versatile as possible with my business to keep myself focused and always provide something new for my customers. My idea is and has always been to identify my passions and values, then to find avenues of expression for them. Through this ideology, I view each piece as a genuine accomplishment and representation of self!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of unlearning lessons within my business is the temptation to place profit before integrity. When Strange Fauna was first being experimented with, I invited a fellow artist to collaborate with me and participate in vendor booths, which initially seemed like a promising partnership. However, I soon realized that our values did not fully align. I was committed to a zero-waste philosophy and only using eco-friendly materials, while my collaborator took a less sustainable approach to save time and money. There were differences in how we approached making art, with my collaborator buying cheaper, less sustainable materials and whipping up products so fast that quality control was disregarded. Touting environmental stewardship while not being transparent about the origin of the materials used did not sit right with me and this divergence in values led to our parting ways.

Despite the initial appeal of lower costs and faster profit, I decided to honor my commitment to sustainability and maintain a slower-moving business model with my integrity intact. Although it was challenging, the experience proved rewarding. I found that staying true to my values attracted like-minded customers and collaborators who appreciated my dedication to eco-friendly practices. This reinforced the importance of upholding my principles, even if it means taking a more deliberate and measured approach to business.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The beautiful thing about running a sustainable art business like Strange Fauna is the low direct costs! Direct costs, those that are directly tied to the production of my artwork, include the cost of thrifted clothing and jewelry materials, food waste for natural dyes, and supplies for making earth pigments and recycled paper. By sourcing second-hand materials and using food waste, I keep these costs minimal and can go months without breaking $100.
To start my business, I spent about $200 on booth supplies, hardware, and thrifted clothing. Everything else came from donations, such as old jewelry. I have successfully maintained my hardware and have received enough donations to continue making projects throughout the year using what I already have!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sites.google.com/d/1Z4UbvTNsYxAwemHbMvz6hEcrLkq_oBGM/p/1sGTPlmK24c2nNAQ_igVTYW3txFRWvCE8/edit
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strange_fauna
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strangerfauna/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amori-bieller-860b21207/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRn6wcyaEDMx-QdoeegFgHw
• Other: tiktok- https://www.tiktok.com/@strange.fauna
  Etsy- https://www.etsy.com/shop/strangefaunaart/?etsrc=sdt