We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful the Heirloom Sisters. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with the Heirloom Sisters below.

Alright, Rebecca and Jamie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Rebecca: Our current business has evolved many times over the last several years. Summer of 2015 I attended a retreat for anxiety and depression that I was currently dealing with. During this time I was given the advice by a therapist to ask myself “what have I put into a drawer and set aside that used to bring me joy, but I have forgotten about?” The first thing that came to my mind was art. I had been an artist all my life and after I became a mother I stopped. I took her advice to heart and immediately began doing art again. I decided to try a new medium I had never done before, a new beginning in my art and my healing. Watercolor. I had an idea to do a watercolor silhouette of my children, but wasn’t quite sure if it would work. I sought the advice of my sister-in-law, a fellow artist, and she reassured me that it was a great idea and unique, something we had never seen before. Immediately she responded with, ” I love it, I know how to create it, and we are starting a business.” Now we needed a name. Having a strong belief in the importance of family, we wanted to create art that was meaningful and could be enjoyed for generations to come. Much of our custom art was sentimental pieces that could be passed down and that’s when we settled on the name and The Heirloom Sisters was born. November 9, 2015 we opened an etsy shop and began creating watercolor custom artwork, silhouettes, family recipes, and more. In February of 2018 we launched a website and our business continued to grow as we added traveling art parties and eventually opened a brick and mortar store.

Jamie: After Rebecca’s initial idea, our commission artwork and traveling services kept us as busy as we were ready to be at the time. With 6 young children between us and my husband in the Army who was away often, we weren’t ready to devote more time to our business. My 2 oldest children have Down Syndrome. My oldest was starting her Junior year in high school in the fall of 2022 and I started to feel the push to plan for her future. There are not a lot of options in our area for individuals with disabilities to work or be part of the community. I felt a strong desire to provide that. We decided to start looking at brick and mortar options in our town. We knew we wanted to be in the historical district in our downtown area and that the spaces disappeared from the market quickly. We figured maybe it would happen in a year or so. By pure miracle a cute, small place practically fell into our laps and we couldn’t refuse the opportunity. Although it was small, we had been doing art in people’s dining rooms and living rooms and knew we could make it work. It was a great way to ease us into owning a space as well. We made a profit the first month we were open and knew it was going to be an amazing adventure. We were able to expand into a much larger space within 7 months. The larger space has allowed us to serve so many more members of our community and we have been having a blast providing so many different creative experiences.

Rebecca and Jamie, 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?

Rebecca: I have been doing fine art since I was a child . For a short period it was absent in my life and during that time I was going through a lot of severe mental health issues. As I began to heal and to find myself again, I realized I wanted to share that with others. You don’t have to be an artist to heal through art. We all have an innate need to create and it’s a magical transformation that takes over inside when you are brave enough to try it. My focus for those who enter our studio is to help them realize that art is for everyone and that everyone can improve no matter where you are starting from. My passions are teaching watercolor, process art, our emotional release classes, and to use as much glitter as possible. I want to create a safe space for everyone to find joy in creating.

Jamie: Having formally studied fine art throughout my life and at Georgia State University, I have a strong passion for art history and the technical side of art. I value the need for understanding the basic elements and principles of art in order to have the freedom to truly express yourself. I feel that every individual should have an opportunity to create and be part of the community. I have a strong desire to provide a space for individuals with special needs to create, showcase their art, and find employment. One of my favorite services we are providing currently is participating in community based instruction for special education students in our schools.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met Jamie, when I started dating her twin brother in 2003. I married her brother in 2005 and moved around quite a bit. We didn’t really get to know each other on a personal level until 2009 when my husband and I eventually settled down and ended up moving 3 door down from Jamie and her husband. Being new to town, I had no friends and was determined to have a relationship with her and proceeded to stalk her. We ended up spending most days together and realized we had a lot in common including a love of art. Our friendship blossomed and we have had a lot of ups and downs, lots of laughs and tears and have been through a lot together. Our children, my three boys and her three girls, are the best of friends.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Art is well known for being a pricey hobby. We wanted a way to bring it to the community for a low cost so that creative experiences would be available to all. We decided we would provide a range of services. While we host private events, exclusive workshops, and art clubs (lessons), we also offer seasonal and holiday $5 crafts. While some families may not be able to afford 6 week art lessons, most can afford our $5 makeries. We also offer art experiences for all different ages as well as those with different abilities. It was risky to not offer to one set of clientele, but we knew in our hearts that we didn’t want anyone to be excluded from art experiences. Offering services to all types of families has helped our name spread quickly throughout our community. There is truly something for everyone.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theheirloomsisters.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theheirloomsisters/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theheirloomsisters/
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@theheirloomsisters