We were lucky to catch up with Jasmine Rattray recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jasmine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Drawing has been an escape for years. I found it to be calming through stressful times. When I started high school I jumped into the world of painting and it gave me a new experience. One that included expression. As I continued through my studies in college and post-college I used painting as an outlet for stress and anxiety. While painting was an emotional outlet, helping others has been a passion. I enjoy making an impact in my communities. To make a greater impact on my community, I pushed to get my Masters in Public Health. Being passionate about behavioral health and wellness while also seeing the impact that art has had on my life made me think of ways to share this outlet with others to improve mental wellness in communities. Building mindfulness and using art as expression has been my mission. Through this mission, I have created art classes and kits that encourage a safe space for people to have their own outlet of expression.

Jasmine, 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?

My name is Jasmine Rattray and I created Hippie Queen Artwork, LLC. It is a business that mixes art, wellness, and community. The art aspect came from me painting my life experiences and emotions as an outlet while the wellness and community was associated to my love for public health and community service. (Growing up, I was the kid participating in everything community service at our church because my mom told me to but also because secretly I thought it was kinda fun). The mixture of these passions took me from selling my art to sharing art experiences with communities through classes and paint kits. These classes and kits focus on mindfulness and self-reflection with topics such as “setting intentions” and “gratitude”. It has been an amazing opportunity to watch various ages, race, and genders reflect on the topics and express themselves in their art. Having individuals and groups encourage themselves and each other while having a tangible object to refer back to those thoughts has shown to create a meaningful experience. This is what I want to give to the world.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist and creative is the impact on those who see my art or what I do. I love hearing people’s views on an art piece and how they see stories and emotions from paintings. From my art as well as the art others create with my paint kits and classes, there is always a story. It is great to express feelings visually and feel that release and then have others interpret that expressed feeling. It just shows how many views are out there and how different everyone thinks and feels.

Have you ever had to pivot?

There are many times I have had to pivot within my business. I began as strictly an artist because I was told I was talented and should share my art. I then had an offer to share my art in a local art show which grew to participating in various art shows and getting my art out in the public. After selling my art in Georgia and having a close art community, I had to move to Florida for work. There, I had to find the art community again and reestablish myself. By this time, I had a strong enough presence where I had offers for commission artwork and continued to paint for others to the point that painting became less about what I wanted to paint and more about what others wanted me to paint. Though I did take it as a compliment, this made me take a step back to think about what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to use my form of expressionism to create an art class that encouraged expression through colors so that the artwork told a story. The classes included choosing a topic to discuss and then expressing ourselves through a painting. As soon as I established the class, COVID hit and businesses shut down. I was unable to host classes in person. Again, I had to pivot my class and find a way to teach it virtually. I began teaching virtual classes. Through these virtual classes, I realized it would be helpful to have a kit to send so that everyone had the proper material. This is when I began selling paint kits for my classes. There were many turns that took place to get here but I appreciate the bumps I encountered to get me to a place where I have established my classes as well as my kits and in various formats (virtually and in person).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hippiequeenartwork.com
• Instagram: @HippieQueenArtwork & @PaintwithHeARTorg
• Facebook: Hippie Queen Artwork

Image Credits
Sheretta Danielle Photography