Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rachel Larsen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Rachel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I definitely wished I would have started my creative career earlier in life!
I went to school right after the 2008 recession, so I was very conservative and went into accounting because of the perceived job stability. But, I never clicked with accounting & was hoping I would like it more once I started working as an accountant. Unfortunately, that never happened – and I was always daydreaming of doing the creative work, instead of doing the accounting for other creatives. I was working as an accountant for 5 years before I switched to pursue calligraphy & art.
Now, I wish I had studied art from the beginning, and had the confidence to know that if I worked hard at my craft in school by studying seriously & networking, I wouldn’t have to be afraid of not making it in a creative industry. Sure, it will bring different struggles, but I think the creative pursuit is so worth it.
Rachel, 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?
I am a mixed-media artist who specializes in calligraphy. I first started out doing wedding stationery & day-of goods, and then transitioned into stationery goods (think greeting cards & gifts). My main focus today is selling wholesale greeting cards, but I also do custom calligraphy jobs & fine art on the side.
With my art, my heart is to “see the good & celebrate it”. I try to weave this thread in everything I make by embracing life as it is, which is imperfect & very hard, and also digging deep to find what’s worth cherishing. Art won’t save the world, but it might save your soul.
I follow my bliss when I create. It’s a very intuitive process, where I really just go with my gut. I use a lot of analog materials & how those materials create a very organic, personal experience that feels honest & heartfelt. I love working with clients who can lean into this & make space for this kind of process in their everyday lives.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I love seeing my progress over time & having the ability to follow my curiosity! My art is such a time-piece and a reflection of what I’m going through in life. I used to make all of my art in sheets, I would use my lightbox and scan everything in and piece it together digitally. It was very fun & efficient, but I was horrible at archiving it all & keeping it organized.
Recently, I started using a sketchbook for everything. Now, I’m skipping the lightbox and putting all my final designs in my sketchbook, and then cleaning it up in post digitally. This has been a really fun change to my process. I’m not sure if I’m going to keep doing things this way, but it is very rewarding to see everything all neatly ordered in my sketchbook!
And I love being able to focus on whatever I want with my art. Being interested in something is enough of a reason to focus on it, I feel like that’s part of what being an artist is – having an opinion! And I love being able to explore that freely.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I am definitely a recovering perfectionist! My history with accounting definitely contributed to that too, I never wanted to make a mistake, ever! Unfortunately, finding your style & voice as an artist comes from making a lot of art & making a LOT of mistakes. It was definitely a mindset shift (that I am still fighting!) to just make as much art as I can and to enjoy the act of making it, instead of being solely focused on the results & how I think it should look.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.everglowhandmade.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everglowhandmade
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/everglowhandmade
- Other: https://everglowhandmade.etsy.com/
Image Credits
Alyssa Elliott Photography