We were lucky to catch up with Tash Solomon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tash , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

When my God sister and I first decided to do resin, we had to do a lot of research before embarking; because there’s different types of resins for different things. Also now that it’s gained popularity, there are so many brands now to pick from. If you go with the cheaper product, you’ll still get a decent outcome- but we want more than decent. So we’ve already had to switch brands.

Also handling resin can be unsafe. As parents we had to learn about proper handling and exposure because we do our pouring at home. At first the garage sounded like the perfect idea; but with extreme temperatures, it was the worst idea.

Learning resin requires a lot of patience. It’s a lot of trial and error. I’m pleased with the way we went about testing the waters though. We made a lot of gifts and freebies to gain exposure and practice. It helped us with moving on an upward slope by getting feedback from friends, family and coworkers.

With resin art and any other art, your most essential skill has to be creativity. And with creativity, you have to be willing to take a chance and not be afraid of failure. Not every idea is going to be golden. And you can’t let it break you. You have to be resilient. Our biggest fear was being afraid of waste. I feel like that kept us a way from taking chances and being willing to go off the beaten path. And to avoid getting lost with other resin artists, that’s what we need.

Tash , 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?

So first I’ll give a little history of my God sister and I. I’ve known my God sister before I can remember. She was my first sibling before my blood sister was born lol. I grew up seeing her every weekday and some weekends of my elementary school life. So there’s no one else I could think of that would be better to start a business with.

I had been dibble dabbling in different creative outlets especially during COVID. Being laid off gave some of us a lot of free time. And then later I wanted an outlet that can also work as a supplementary income. A friend of mine had gotten into resin and I would suggest items for her to try but it didn’t line up with her vision for her brand. So I researched resin- it’s durable and extremely versatile. So I know if I provide someone with a product, it will last. And also the ability to create things is endless.

My God sister is the ying to my yang- meaning she is the organized and disciplined one and I’m the creative one who tends to get lost in my imagination and ideas. She had offered her support and she’s gone from support to a cornerstone of the business. For our first few months, even her husband sacrificed his gaming space for a place for us to pour.

We started SheXArt by first making small personalized gift items such as keychains and bookmarks. Now we make larger items such as celebration plaques to commemorate events such as christenings, anniversaries, shadow boxes, stationary items, coasters and various tray sets.

We try to make gift items that suit well for any sort of occasion, personal and impersonal. Also, everything we make is fully customizable and available for personalization. Although everything can be changed to your requested colours and style, we try to keep things sleek and modern. When you look up resin art, there’s a lot of sparkle and pizzaz. We try to sway away from that style.

Looking at where we were when we started in July to now, our stuff has come a long way in such little time. It’s really exciting and humbling to see the changes. We have never and will never shy away from feedback because we are consumers too. Whether it’s 3$ or 70$, we never want someone to feel like they’ve wasted their money. And plus we’re still new- lots of space to learn and grow.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I have a blanket my daughter received when she was born from my moms coworker. She made it and that blanket holds more value to me than any blanket that we’ve received from any big box store. I would love for people to take time to hear the stories behind the products they purchase. Get to know the artists and vendors. This will also help people become more intentional about their purchases. Also, where it comes to artisans, some people still look at handmade items through the same lense as mass produced items. So when they see a handmade pen for 5$, they find it hard to stomach that purchase when you can get a pack of 10 pens for 2$. This is where is say again, connect with the vendors and open your mind to what goes into the production of a handmade item.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The best resources for helpful advice and information in starting a business has been through other small businesses. Through this journey we’ve been so thankful for every small business personnel and/or owner we’ve come across during this journey. Keeping yourself personable and willing to engage with others has been a huge stepping stone in our progress. The saying ‘No man is an island’ plays on repeat in our conversations with other small business owners. We all have a little something to learn from each other. And I’ll say it again, we are immensely grateful for the people we’ve met along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: Shexart-11.com
• Instagram: She.x.art
• Facebook: Shexart11
• Other: www.etsy.com/ca/shop/SheXArt

Image Credits
N/a