We were lucky to catch up with Andrea Acevedo-Philpott recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Andrea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

For a long time I wished I had started taking my art career seriously a lot sooner than I did. I have been an artist my whole life, but I didn’t start taking my art career seriously until I was in my late 20s. I always knew I wanted to do something creative with my life. After I graduated high school in colombia, I moved to New York City to start art school at Pratt institute. I was certain that art school would point me in the right direction in terms of what I wanted to create and how I wanted to turn that into a career. I quickly discovered that what I was being taught in art school was not keeping me interested and engaged. I already knew how to be creative. I dropped out of art school and I didn’t look back because I felt like art wasn’t for me after all. I worked in the service industry to make quick cash and be able to travel the world, which at the time felt invigorating and inspiring. It took me a few years to even look at my art supplies. They were collecting dust in a closet while I was collecting life experiences traveling the world and being carefree. I decided to start painting one day out of nowhere, because I had an idea come to me in a dream. This was the first time I felt the urge to create in a very long time. I painted my first piece and it was intended to be for my eyes only. Every one that came to my apartment and saw my work which I had as a hobby, mentioned that I should show my work and sell it. I hadn’t thought I wanted to be a painter before because I really didn’t have anything important I felt I wanted to say through my art. The more I painted the more came out of me. Turns out I had a lot to say. At this point I’m 27 and I just had my first child. For the first time in my life I felt I had a big responsibility to take care of another human being. I also felt I wanted my son to grow up and be proud of his mother. And that was the biggest motivator I had at the time. Starting in 2011 I used my social media platforms to share and sell my art. Using these networks to grow my career was not something they taught artists in college and it was something I had to learn to navigate as I went. At this time beginning my career with little guidance I realized that perhaps I should have studied marketing so that I knew how to market my product and my brand. I also wished I had started treating my art as a business from an earlier age instead of ‘wasting time’ traveling the world. But what I now realize is that I had to go through the journey of self discovery at my own pace so that I could really know what statement and message I want to share with the world through my art.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I and a Colombian-born, NYC-raised, multimedia artist known for my paintings of brazen, fearless women in all their blunt, outspoken, full-frontal glory.

Being surrounded by unapologetic women from the sex work industry I was inspired to challenge society’s diluted version of female sexuality by painting the power, sincerity, and badassery that depict the women in my art as exactly who they know they are, and not how people want to see them.

Each of my collections is a lived experience in my personal life as well as a celebration of women who consume, say, and do what they want, with complete awareness of their power and control of their bodies and minds.  They are mothers, fighters, bootstrappers and protagonists of their own stories just like me.

Their narratives are individual, but they are a collective force. these pieces connect me to a community of women from all around the world. I never would have thought that anyone would relate to my art, but I receive messages daily from women from all walks of life telling me how my art has inspired them, and how they see themselves in my creations. That alone has made this journey worth embarking on. Each painting now is an expression of gratitude to all these women that have existed and connected with me through my art.

I share my art with the world on social media, and through murals in the streets of New York City for free. Through street art I am able to connect with endless people who want to own my art, wether it’s a large original canvas or a tee shirt from my online merch store.

Prior to starting my art career, I studied Fine Art at Pratt Institute in New York City. I am an ex stripper turned SLUTMOM activist.  For the past year I have been living in the jungles of the Colombian Caribbean coast with my two children, as I gather more inspiration to continue creating art that imitates my life.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I remember when Instagram first came out. It was just a simple grid and you shared artsy-abstract photos with some sort of pre made filter that was provided. I opened an account for personal use. But I quickly realized I could show people my work. The more art I shared the more followers I gained. Through trial and error I learned to use the hashtags to my advantage. In the beginning I would share personal photos and mix it in with my art. Then I decided to get really professional and intentional with it and only share my art. I would curate my grid to always showcase my best work and keep a color theme going. After a while I feel I plateaued and my following stopped growing. Instinctively I began to share a bit of myself the artist behind the art. It was a revamp to my otherwise only art related content. This is when I realized that the consumer, the art client, the customer, the fan, they want to know about the process. And the woman behind their favorite creations. When Instagram stories came out I began sharing my personal life on there. I thought it’s fine because it’s only up for 24 hours. That quickly gained popularity with my following because 75% are women. They related to my every day life. Most were moms, they could see how I would balance my art life with picking up the kids from school and cooking dinner. This became my niche, the artist mom woman who doesn’t only share her art she also has a life and she shares it with the world. People want to see if today I’m gonna paint a giant piece or go work on a mural. Or take the kids to the skate park. After discovering that my vulnerability through my every day life is actually also part of my art, managing my social media isn’t a chore: it’s a creative outlet in itself. So I get to creatively express myself while simultaneously showcase my art.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

Early on in my career I realized that there was a group of people who would not be able to afford to purchase original paintings. Also that my art following was a younger crowd who also wanted to have my art on merchandise like teeshirts and backpacks. I started to work with printful. They are a print on demand company that integrates with Shopify to provide all these different kinds of products on my website for sale. I think it’s important as an artist who is creating a brand, to have different tiers of art available for the public. You can sell your original paintings to art collectors while also selling teeshirts and hoodies to younger audiences who want to support your art but can only afford so much. The same goes for prints. Having prints of all sizes available for sale is a great vantage point because it means more people have access to your art. If you’re about inclusivity then having a merch store is the way to go.

Contact Info:

• Website: Shop.Butterflymush.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/butterflymush?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==