We recently connected with Christine Marecki and have shared our conversation below.

Christine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes! Well it took a lot of time, effort, dedication, trial and error to get to where I am now. My first creative endeavor as a surface designer was in social stationery. Seeing my illustrations on stationery was a dream come true but having customers actually purchase and come back for more was beyond anything I imagined! I still create paper products and design bespoke wedding invitation suites but I’ve also expanded into other gift and home decor items. Product design is not without its challenges, finding reliable manufacturing partners is one of the most difficult aspects. It’s a painful and expensive experience ordering inventory that doesn’t meet your quality control expectations. If I had one wish early on, it would have been to connect with more seasoned designers willing to share solid manufacturing resources, that certainly would have sped up the process and saved me from difficult lessons.

Christine, 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?

Art is everywhere. Everything you see has been designed or created by someone – art is abundant in every day life. Once that sinks in, pursuing a career in art doesn’t seem so out of reach. I live an art-filled life, personally and professionally. I’ve spent my creative career painting, illustrating and designing artful products for gift and home. In addition to my designs, UncommonWares products include artwork from other talented artists. I appreciate good design and will always promote other talented artists, I’m fortunate to have a business where I am able to work with other independent designers. Maybe someone will buy a throw pillow from UncommonWares and become a collector of that artist’s original works or they’ll be discovered and land a huge licensing deal. If we’re all creating, filling our days with as much art as we can, that’s a lovely life. If I can help artists grow in their creative careers through UncommonWares, that brings me joy beyond measure!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’ve always known I wanted a career in art, it’s always been a part of my life. Someone told me early on that making money in art wasn’t realistic. Although that has stuck with me, I suppose I was determined to prove them wrong. Although I have had traditional jobs and gained valuable business experience from each, ultimately, my personal successes have been starting creative businesses.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I want to encourage all artists to pursue their creative endeavors, whatever that looks for them. For some, it may be fulfilling enough as a hobby or side-hustle and others may want to pursue art as a full-time career, wherever you land, please just keep creating. If there’s an artist in your life or you see art that inspires you, support that artist!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://uncommonwares.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncommonwares/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncommonwares/

Image Credits

Main portrait by Jodi Feinhor-Dennis
Supporting images by Christine Marecki