Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Claire Chesnut. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Claire, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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.

Creating has always been my solace throughout life. Turning to art to communicate my personal lived experiences connected me with people in such a meaningful way. When I started sharing my art online, I discovered a plethora of hidden artist gems all over the internet. It was so inspiring to see artists building immersive worlds of their artwork for their audiences to step into. I started finding ways to make my art available to those who wanted it in their everyday lives and before I knew it, my business came to life. Seeing the way my creative space transformed into a way to connect and communicate with people all over the world, I knew in my gut I had to take what I was creating and run miles and bounds with it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve created art all my life, creativity is an essential part of my existence. I knew I wanted to find a way to translate that into my adult life, so I built a business around my art. I work digitally and traditionally with Procreate, dry media, and crochet. My digital originals allow me the flexibility to create anything from a piece whether that be prints, stickers, photo books, clothing, etc so that my work can be accessible to anyone who connects with it. My traditional originals are one of a kind pieces that people can bring into their lives and appreciate how slow creation can bring enrichment to a fast paced world. A few times a year I do custom commission work for clients and I find myself creating original work from tattoo designs to album covers. All of this work allows me to get to know the people that have made all of this possible. The support from other humans finding pieces of themselves in my work, having them be emotionally impacted from something I derived from my own life, is something that’s extremely special to me and I don’t take it lightly.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Part of the reason I wanted to create this business is so I had the flexibility to work and create on my own terms. I didn’t want my business to be made up of this phony professionalism you see in the corporate world. From the start, I wanted to be real and transparent with my audience. It was so important to translate that into social media. Sharing extensions of myself online whether through art or conversation brought me together with so many incredible human beings from all different backgrounds and places. Talking with them, listening to them, and sharing a love for art built my audience. For anyone building their own community online, my advice is to always be yourself and don’t let numbers and algorithms dictate who you are or what you’re doing. People are there to experience you and what you have to offer, it’s a disservice to be fake to those who genuinely want to offer their support. At the end of the day, social media is a beautiful way to engage with and get to know your audience who want to get to know you and your story.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I started my business in 2020, and it’s been an interesting experience over the last few years to say the least. Just like life, there’s so many unexpected obstacles that have crossed my path. Things will never go exactly as planned and sometimes everything goes up in flames. It’s how you get back on your feet and move forward that matters. I never thought entering 2020 would flip my life upside because of a pandemic and everything else life was already dishing out. It completely dissolved where I planned to go with art and forced me to move in a new direction. Art is everything to me and I had to figure out a way to adapt and keep going, even in such a chaotic world. That alone taught me life changing lessons, one of those being resilience against all odds. When everything falls apart, I’m ready to pick up the pieces and rebuild. I’ve always seen the value in my creativity and I’ll always persevere to see it through.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clairechesnutart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairechesnutart/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/honeydripppers