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

Raeann, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing but I paint everything and anything. One day I’ll be painting a mural, the next day I’ll be painting numbers on cars at a dealership, I do fundraisers for nonprofits setting up live paintings at events for example. I also do paw Print paintings and donate a percentage of the proceeds to a local Animal shelter. I teach paint nights, I do live paintings at weddings, I paint fine art with oil and acrylic and have art shows typically 8 to 10 times a year, I do markets all over selling prints and functional art. And my favorite, I do community paint by Number Murals. I also host women’s adventure art retreats! I’m able to keep it all together, I think this is just how my brain functions!

Raeann, 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 remember when I was two years old my parents took my brother and I to see my uncles huge mural on the side of the building. I’m pretty sure it’s spark something in me. I’ve always admired my uncle throughout my life and always wanted to be a professional artist because of him. Most of my knowledge about art came from my high school art teacher and in my mid 20s I went to art school for a year. At the time I was extremely addicted to snowboarding, I got knee surgery and couldn’t ride so I figured I would go learn how to oil paint. After healing I went back to the mountains and didn’t pick up a brush for about 15 years. In 2009 I got asked to do three commissions which started my career back up. I started painting murals in 2020. I fell into a paint by Number project and it’s been my number one passion ever since. Anytime I have a paintbrush in my hand I’m happy!

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

I have been a professional artist in Alaska since about 2009, becoming full-time in 2021. I was crushing it! I was turning down or scheduling murals for the following year because I was too busy. I was hanging two art shows a month sometimes, doing markets and festivals on a regular basis. Then I had to move home to Pennsylvania to help my mom with some health issues and started from scratch! Literally becoming a brand new artist in the area which is absolutely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done! I feel like I had the rug pulled out from underneath me, starting all over. There are times when I don’t know if I can pay my bills, I put out lots of advertising and promotions and hardly anybody contacts me! I wanna cry but I just keep painting! They say it takes about three years to get off the ground, I keep that in mind because that’s about how long it took my business in Alaska to thrive. Just keep painting I tell myself and never give up!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word-of-mouth and exposure! Most of my jobs have come from people seeing my work around and people mentioning my name. Sometimes social media works well too. I definitely have had people come to my art show after they saw my post looking for that one painting I just finished.

Contact Info:

• Website: Raeanntheartist.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/raeanntheartist
• Facebook: Facebook.com/raeannkrugger
• Linkedin: LinkedIn.com/raeanntheartist
• Other: Tiktok @raeanntheartist

Image Credits
Raeann Krugger