We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Roxana Rojas-Luzon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Roxana below.

Hi Roxana, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

While Roxana and her husband Fred were looking for a location to open “We ART Fun” for the first time, the CDC issued federal quarantine. It was January of 2020. That was the beginning of the story. “We submitted our first order to the supplier for $300. Two days later our living room was full of boxes containing gnomes, ducks, owls, dogs, cats, pencil holders, and other ceramic figurines. Fred set up an online shopping store. I created the online catalogue, the website, and opened a Facebook business account. Then, immediately I began advertising” tells Roxana, the owner and founder of We ART Fun.
People’s responses were amazing. Mothers started ordering online, they were desperate for something to do with their families at home. Roxana drove all over the surrounding areas delivering happiness: ceramic figurines, paint, and brushes. She never forgot her mask, gloves, and hand sanitizer. All she had to do was to drop the package at the doors, ring the bell, go back to her car and wave from behind the window.

Before this exciting full time job, Roxana worked for 8 years as a telephonic Spanish interpreter from home. Now, it was the time to do something different, her two daughter were getting ready to go to college. It was the perfect timing to share her passion, art, with the community.

Only two years and two months later, in March of 2021, when Covid-19 was slowing down, the brick-and-mortar studio (with a kiln!) was to be opened right across from the library in Century Boulevard. Roxana knew that a good location was very important. Her husband rearranged the place and fixed the floor, and she painted murals on the walls. Their two daughters decorated in a playful but relaxing style that welcomes both, children and adults.
Roxana runs every role, from receiving and instructing the customers, to marketing, glazing, firing the pieces, and packaging them for pickup. She has two reliable assistants, Sarah and Michael, and the support of wonderful customers from the community (art lovers) who became her friends.

The studio is open six days a week and not only offers painting ceramic but also painting canvases, designing mosaics, molding with clay, a series of art workshops for children and adults, and art camps.
Roxana’s great satisfaction is to hear adults saying things like “this is my happy place”, and children: “this is the best place in the whole world”.

Roxana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was an artist from the moment I grabbed a color pencil with my tiny hands in kindergarten. Because they say artists don’t make much money, I became a communicator. I graduated as a journalist and worked as such, in my country Peru, until I decided to raise my children instead. Then, in this country, while my children were growing up, I worked as an office manager, Spanish teacher, substitute teacher, and Spanish interpreter.

What am I now? I am an artists-entrepreneur. It’s a combination of everything I have learned in my life. Thanks to my experience as an office manager I can resolve the not-so-fun business issues related to money, licenses, permits, and taxes. Then, I proudly utilize my knowledge, as a communicator, when I do public relations, publicity (video and photos), and marketing. And my favorite part is the fact that my art talent added to my communication skills allow me to give a message of love, optimism, hope, and happiness. I do that when I teach children and adults to paint, and when I give my customers the material and supplies they need to put colors in their lives.

Then, it comes the scary part, the worrisome aspect of being a business person. t’s not easy! Like any other industry, it’s risky because it depends on the economy. I am a happy, constantly-busy-person, very tired at the end of the day, but ready to open the doors of We ART Fun the next day again.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Artists need to subsist. Doing art is not free, An art business is the same as any other business. There is a lot society can do to support artists, the arts in general, and any business related to the arts in particular. I am going to focus on my niche: the small family-owned business related to art. What we do is to offer customers the chance to be creative. We invite them to be an artist every time they come to us. There are not limitations of age, genre, level of instruction, or art experience. Everyone can be an artist at our studio, and they enjoy it.
I would ask customers to not criticize the prices. There is a mark up that we follow for the ceramic products and supplies, and lot’s of bills to pay at the end of the month. We offer a brick and mortar space, in a great location, for people to have a great experience and take their masterpieces home. We assist them with care and offer our expertise for them to do their best.
The bigger the piece the more you pay. It makes sense. A bigger piece uses up more paint, it takes more space in the kiln to be fired, and it means more work to be glazed in the back room after the customer is gone.
We ask parents to teach their kids to be respectful with art supplies. Being creative doesn’t mean not to care. We always say, use as much paint as you need. That means, use the paint on your piece, don’t leave the palette full of paint that you never used, and later we have to throw away.
Finally, see all the beauty we have created for you and your family, and write a nice, constructive review on Google about your experience. Leave a tip for the person who assisted you, they are your waiters.
All these things will definitely support a creative ecosystem, and encourage us to thrive,

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

N/A

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.we-art-fun.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/weartfun
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weartfun
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@weartfun1083
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/we-art-fun-germantown

Image Credits
Myself