We recently connected with Mindy Hungerford and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Mindy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
My Mother taught me to always try my hardest no matter what you’re doing. She used to say “I don’t care if you become a ditch digger…but be the best damn ditch digger anyone has ever seen.” And that’s how I run my businesses today. Be the best. Try your best. Give your best. Everyday. All. Day.
It’s ok to fail. There’s lots of artwork that fell flat … But what did I learn? Life happens FOR you, not TO you. When a commissioned piece doesn’t go as planned I try to learn and grow and be the …you guessed it….the best.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I came into Glass Painting out of desperation. I was managing a restaurant working 50/60 hours a week and never saw my Husband or kids. I was sad, exhausted and depressed. I lived in an up and coming town called Winter Garden and I pitched the window painting to a very popular pizza shop smack dab in the center of downtown. The owner miraculously said “yes”. I got online and learned what paint to buy, what brushed worked the best etc. Setup my lil’ station and painted this HUGE mural on the window front with hundreds of passerbys watching. I put on my headphones and focused on what I really wanted…which was to share my talent with my community and be able to provide for my family and see my kids more. The windows were a HUGE HIT!!! I now paint over 200 windows in the little town of Winter Garden and have some amazing artists who work with me! Our brand is well loved and we couldn’t be more grateful. We are known for allowing children who pass by and show interest to help us while we paint. We want to encourage young artist to go for it! Hopefully those kids will always remember they time they helped paint windows on Main Street. We recently added car window painting which has been huge for graduations, prom and weddings!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Our mission is to bring beautiful art to businesses! It’s no secret Covid destroyed so many businesses which is why we have something in every price range for all businesses. You’re a tiny book store and only have $25? We got you! We want you to succeed as well and financials shouldn’t get in the way of that. I’ve had people pay me in handmade lotions, pasta and even bagels! Everyone benefits from our window paintings. The businesses get more traffic as it’s very eye catching. The community gets to be immersed in captivating art and we get to do what we love most.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
With digital art being at everyone fingertips I hope that brush artists can survive. I’ve lost customers to digital art and it’s stings for sure. There’s room for all of us! A hand commissioned piece isn’t going to look like a sticker that was designed on an iPad… And I feel some people just want it now. They don’t even see the art. They just see the fastest, easiest way and they’d rather go that route. Art is work. Art is emotional and often times you pour so much of yourself into something and you want everyone to see it the way you do. It’s the artist curse I guess….
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Paintlifeflorida
- Facebook: Wgpaintlife