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

Annie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Before I ever had a business, I was the creative friend. I was always painting things for friends or helping them with their own DIY projects. In October of 2018 my friend asked if I could paint her a bunch of canvases, signs, and little trinkets to gift to her friend. We were living in our first house at the time and I was working out of our spare bedroom that was so small we used it as a closet and a make-shift office space. It would get pretty cramped when I was in there painting while my husband was working on his computer so he got to see what I was doing up close.
Whatever I was painting some random day must have really impressed him because he said “You should paint more stuff like this and sell it”. That was never something that crossed my mind so it took me a little to wrap my head around it. He said he could see how much I loved doing it and said all I had to worry about was making the art, and he would manage the rest.
After a few days of hearing him hype me up I started to look into it. I ended up starting out on Etsy, I made an Instagram, and it took off from there.
Looking back, it almost feels like it fell into my lap. I never set out to have an artistic career but I am so happy doing it now.

Annie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve categorized my products into a few main categories: Art, Accessories, Home Goods + Stationery. I really love functional art that is more accessible. Sometimes I find the artist space to be really intimidating, both as a consumer and an artist. I actually rarely refer to myself as an artist in real life because I’m not professionally trained in any way. So if you’re checking out my website you won’t find some high-end art pieces. Instead, you’ll find cute and funny items that you can use in your day to day life, and hopefully they brighten your day every time you see them!

My art usually revolves around my interests. You’ll find most of my stuff is plant or book related because of that. Most of my customers have heard this story, but I started running out of room for plants in our house so I started drawing them. I also was saving up for a super-rare plant at the time but was so scared of buying it because I was worried I would spend so much money on it, and then fail to keep it alive. I figured if I drew my dream plant and turned it into a keychain, I could take it everywhere with me but I didn’t have to worry if it was getting enough light or water.

I love earth-y tones, puns, and disco balls so those are usually featured in my products. I will draw and design something digitally on my iPad and use that artwork to make things like stickers, notepads, bookmarks, keychains, etc. I also really love painting, I could spend all day painting wood slices and canvases and whatever else I can get my hands on (lately that’s been tumblers).

I am most proud of the community I have built around my business. Northeast Ohio has some very cool people, I’ve gotten to meet a lot of them at markets or through Instagram and I’m lucky I can now call them friends.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of what I do is creating something that really resonates with somebody. My favorite part about markets is getting to see everyone reacting to my stuff. My favorite responses are things like “oh my gosh, this is SO me” or “wouldn’t (somebody’s name) love this?!” Art is really personal. It can feel really vulnerable to share what I create, even something as simple as a sticker. Everything I draw or paint is personal and is something I’ve created myself so if it’s not well received, I take it personally.

I think that’s why it’s so special when I can create something that somebody else really loves. It reminds me of the humanity behind sharing art.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I feel like I’m constantly pivoting in my business. I’m not sure if everyone else feels that way but I am always gauging how my stuff sells and I use that when deciding what I’m going to create next. If I’m going to release an entire new product I always do it slowly, see how it sells and go from there. Sometimes things are a hit (like the beer can glasses I make) and I dive head first into making more. But other times, they flop and even though I put so much into the first release, I completely pivot and find something else to do that will resonate better with my customers.

I actually went through a complete rebrand a few years ago. I felt myself changing from farmhouse signs into the products I sell today (plant + book themed art).
I was at a point where I was starting to sell in more local stores, had established myself in the small business market scene, and was finally getting traction online. From the outside maybe it looked like I was on a trajectory, but I felt so unaligned with my business. I struggled to explain what I did, I felt like I was creating what people expected of me but not what I wanted, and I knew something had to change. I changed my business name, launched a website to move off of Etsy, and it felt like a complete 180. It was very scary. At this point, I was working for myself full time and I worried I would lose recognition and business.

It turned out to be the best thing I ever did and I’m forever thankful I took that jump even if I was terrified.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.claycollectionco.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/claycollectionco
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/claycollectionco

Image Credits
For the image of my husband and I sitting on our front porch- please credit Heidi Lynn Photography